OK... this may sound a bit superficial... BUT Before I brought Dad to live with me I did fitness competitions! I hiked, I lifted weights... I was in the gym at least 5 days a week. At first, I would try to prepare multiple meals but that got old very quickly. Once I put him in IL / AL I never really got back on track. Well, NO MORE. This leaves me in a slight pickle, however. Since Dad moved to my city, I started taking him to a local, greasy spoon diner. It just so happened to be my "cheat day" so I didn't think a pancake or two would hurt. Well, I don't know if it's dementia (routine) or Dad just likes the place, but I get up every Saturday morning and drag him to this diner. The thing is... it's a DINER. I have tried to find a healthy option or two on the menu, and no go (processed turkey sausage... egg white omelet drenched in butter...no oatmeal on the menu). Dad gets testy if I just have coffee (although I'd prefer my Starbucks to whatever weak concoction they are selling), and he eats better if I eat with him. The 25 pounds I've put on can't take the diner anymore, and honestly, I'm SICK of that food. I remember when I visited the diner when I did a cleanse last year, and the waitress rather rudely informed me that my green tea bag and green juice were NOT allowed, so I'm thinking it may not even be an option for me to bring my own food. I don't want to be rude to the staff, and I want Dad to be happy. Any suggestions on a happy medium?
I use to be a gym rat, too.... but once I had to concentrate on helping my parents, after 7 years of not going to the gym I had gained 20 pounds. Lot of it was stress, too, as I wasn't eating anything more.... it was the lack of exercise, as one doesn't get much sitting in doctor waiting rooms every other week :P
Honey rather than vinegar seems to work well when talking to people and it might just work. Failing that hunt out another diner that WILL accommodate you and take him there
is the math - 500 extra calories x 7 meals = 1 pound. And high fat high sugar foods give you a "taste" for more. And some of those places do not even have skim milk, or they maybe have 2%. I would hope that maybe a talk with the management at Dad's favorite diner would let you sneak some of your own stuff in. Henry used to bring his own turkey sausage to a couple places that did not stock it so he could get a better breakfast and they would put it in a sandwich for him.
They say that one of the best ways to lose weight is to get all the higher-calorie temptation foods out of your house - and if you have ever been unable to do that because someone else in the house needs them, you know they are totally right! This is not easy to watch others to eat "regular" food while you try to eat what you really need to eat, and I think there really are better solutions than asking our poster to just suck it up or calling her selfish just for wanting some better ideas too!
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