How do I get my overweight parents to change?

[StillFat53]

How do you get them to jump on?

All my family is overweight by at least 30 kilos or 66 pounds. I have lost about 35 kilos maybe 70+ pounds. I have been trying to get my parents and sister to try and change there mindset, if I can do it they can do it.

I just get shut down constantly. OP feels like they are going to miss out, and especially worries for parents who are almost 60 and at least 66 pounds overweight. Dad been on blood pressure medicine for almost 20 years...he started in he's 40s.

I bring it up almost every day and I get shutdown constantly basically told to 'stop preaching' I think my family would be happier if they also lost weight but I cant get to stop saying 'I cant' I even fear I am doing more damage by bringing it up as it's almost getting to the stage where they eat junk food to spite me. But how do I teach an old dog new trick? Parents especially just will not embrace anything new (not even the Internet) and continue to do mind warping stuff like toast and pasta right before bed.

I come out when they are eating junk and try to say but over calories, but if you just go to bed you wont be hungry but you wont burn this off etc etc and. Even when I watch over them like hawks and complain about their trips to McDonalds or whatever I just get pretty much ignored, worried about parents being so overweight in 60s..Life is taking off and they cant reduce their weight a little they'll miss lots of good stuff and many years.

Has anyone on the got there parents to embrace lifestyle change with them?

I am not asking the world. The demands I made on my Dad was

-Stop buying Potato cakes on the train ride home (he sits on a train then the couch these go straight to the waist)
-Treadmill 10 minutes a day and build it up
-And on a day off make weight loss the focus.


Dad has been on the treadmill twice in 6 months and as far as I CAN tell ignores my food advice? Have you got your parents involved, what other tactics can I try?

Doctor told dad to lose weight
Dad went to new doctor,

Mum tells me to stop preaching, Sister swears at me. They basically just don't want to hear it especially from me as soon as I open my mouth BAM greeted with excuses and go away. I might not be the right person to get them on there journey but who is?

[skyjumper]

Dude, I understand your concern, but at this point its pretty clear they are not going to be responsive. Worse, you may be putting them in a corner where they won't eat right just because you have been badgering them. Let it go. They are adults and will have to decide for themselves. Unless they really want to do it, they won't lose the weight.

[StillFat53]

Dude, I understand your concern, but at this point its pretty clear they are not going to be responsive. Worse, you may be putting them in a corner where they won't eat right just because you have been badgering them. Let it go. They are adults and will have to decide for themselves. Unless they really want to do it, they won't lose the weight.

Yeah I am badgering I just wont them to discover 'it' like I did. By letting it go I feel like I am absolving some responsibility and they are my family and I need to get them going. Even though giving it a rest is probably right, It feels like I am turning my back, taking the easy and saying 'hmph not my problem'

I was pissed beyond belief when I found he moved doctors, sure dont listen to me but the ****ing doctor ****ing heeeeeeeeeellll.

My sister is mostly likely, she partially listen my parents wont have a word of it feelsbad.jpeg

[crupiea]

You are wasting your time with your Dad.

Its your mom most likely thats providing the food so why not address her.

by challenging your dad diet he sees it as you attacking his wifes cooking. Of course he will get defensive about that.

You need to show them by actions. Same happened to me, i tried and tried with no success until I finally just made them the food to try and they loved it.

The are in their 70's and had never eaten vegetables without butter on them. Hard to believe.

Just show them some replacements for what they like to eat now and you will do better.

Also they most likely only eat a couple times per day so focus on getting them to eat more meals per day. This should be a winner with dad especially because guys love to eat.

It will help his body learn how to diets and process the foods at frequent intervals too which is a main goal here as well.

after they start doing this its just minor tweaks to the make up of the meals.

[orangegoblin]

I understand that you are concerned about their health, but leave them alone. They are adults. Nagging them is ineffective anyways. It's not up to you to change their lifelong habits.

[sharpieblet]

Adults are even more stubborn than teens...in short, they will have to teach a point where they absolutely WANT to lose weight before they will actually entertain the idea seriously.

There's nothing you can really do, that's the honest truth. You can't make someone want to change.

[HandoverFist]

It looks like I was typing all that out. My parents are the most unhealthy eaters ever. My mom is 100 lbs overweight and they are both in their late 50's. I try to change their eating habits because I want them to live longer but they just get pissed off at me.

If they don't want to change you can't change them,

[and1_balla52]

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"

[BleachedPink]

Maybe you could offer to cook 1 or 2 healthy and amazing tasting dinners a week. If they can see how good a balanced healthy meal can be, they might be more inclined to change small habits. Baby steps.

[StillFat53]

They tried today with the slimfast. Maybe a 1-600 cal deficit for two days. They keep hoping on the scales and complaining they haven't lost enough weight (serious)
I really worry my mother cannot walk for 10 minutes without puffing. This had been the longest she had stuck at weight loss in 3 days. I was dissappointed to come out of my room and see her eating 4 pieces of toast...right before bed. She may have had a 600 cal deficit even, now after bread and condiments probably a fair bit less.

'They've been trying which is rare and have managed about a calorie deficit of about 500 on the first day about 200 on the second day and 1-400 today. Im not sure it can last, it cant last with the constant checking of the scales (5 times a day) and then the tantrums that come when they haven't moved down. My mother literally thinks being a little hungry should mean she will wake up totally skinny tomorrow. I've tried to explain things but arrogance and dogmatism means I am mostly ignored.

I went walking with my parents today I really worry about someone who cant walk for 10 minutes, she was puffing like I do when jogging, no conditioning at all and fairly overweight. She's been on blood pressure medicine for 8 years.

I am concerned if there's not weight loss tomorrow it will be back to quieting while she valiantly claps herself on the back and said she tried, If I knew how to rig the scales to a 3 kilo lighter weight I would!

[kureransu]

This may sound weird, but some people just don't care about health and fitness. Some people would rather do everything they love and enjoy without restraint in a shorter life time, than begrudgingly do things hey don't enjoy to possibly extend their life. Because for one, we don't know when or how we're going to actually pass. Being healthy means nothing if you die in a car accident. We here know that getting in shape, no only possibly extends your life, but it opens up worlds of opportunities and things to do that you otherwise couldn't do without proper conditioning. To each their own is pretty much how it goes.

Also when it comes to losing weight, people really need to be educated on how it works. If they are at least trying. Let them know how it works and explain why sometimes the scale won't move and such. Let them know that weight loss is linear, and that fluctuations happen. Educate them about what they are butting in their mouth and how it helps or hurts the body. The more they understand how it works, the more accepting they can be wen things like the scale not moving and such happens.

[jubjubrsx]

honestly thats an up hill battle that you just wont win. people have got to WANT to change. WANT being the key word there. Obviously your parents dont want to change and they will ignore you or just see you as a nag. I hate to say it but I've fought this battle before.

only advice I can give on this is maybe bring home different foods, healthy food options and have them eat that and not tell them its healthy until they start to enjoy it. Quest bars are a good example of a healthier option, and fruits and such.

[caprica6]

that's an interesting development, op. (post #10.) i was about to suggest that you drop the subject for a while. how have you been cutting the fat? are you eating real food, mostly? i can see that they crave real food, but they also want the shortcuts.

it also looks like they have an ingrained habit of thinking that pre-bedtime is final snack time. instead of radical change - demanding that they drop the habit altogether, you might want to ween them off of that habit gently by finding lower cal substitutions for that final, extraneous meal. and if you can't convince them to substitute something else for the four pieces of toast in your example, ask them to eat just three pieces.

because you watch them like a hawk you probably know what they're eating at most meals. they sound like me. they don't plan out their meals, they simply follow their tastes. i've managed to keep my weight off without counting calories or planning out my meals in recent years because i either make substitutions for what i used to consume, (e.g. coke zero with a bit of sugar instead of full-on coke), or i eat a little bit less of the calorie dense foods that i do end up eating. let's say you know that they're about to order a burger and fries. the simple solution is to tell them to share a medium container of french fries, for example, and that's how you can begin to teach them where to cut 50 or more cals at each meal.

if you want, as a onetime exercise you could do a cost-benefit analysis of the benefits of ordering just the burger and coke for one of them, and the meal deal with fries for the other, lol. show them on paper that what looks like a really good deal actually equates to one hour on the treadmill or whatever. present that as the easy way out, the shortcut. “look, if you eat just half the fries you won’t have to spend x amount of time on the treadmill.”

show them the math and you might be able to convince them that little daily changes over time really will add up. explain that it’s better to make these small changes than none at all and you might be able to get them on board.

[celtic723]

No matter how much you tell them to change, they won't.


Unless of course they want to themselves.

The only person that can change someone is themselves. It's hard having to watch them kill themselves but there is little to nothing you can do only encourage.

Unfortunately for you, encouragement is deemed 'preaching' and you're given an ear full.

You won't win mate, it's up to them.

[StillFat53]

This may sound weird, but some people just don't care about health and fitness. Some people would rather do everything they love and enjoy without restraint in a shorter life time, than begrudgingly do things hey don't enjoy to possibly extend their life. Because for one, we don't know when or how we're going to actually pass. Being healthy means nothing if you die in a car accident. We here know that getting in shape, no only possibly extends your life, but it opens up worlds of opportunities and things to do that you otherwise couldn't do without proper conditioning. To each their own is pretty much how it goes.

Also when it comes to losing weight, people really need to be educated on how it works. If they are at least trying. Let them know how it works and explain why sometimes the scale won't move and such. Let them know that weight loss is linear, and that fluctuations happen. Educate them about what they are butting in their mouth and how it helps or hurts the body. The more they understand how it works, the more accepting they can be wen things like the scale not moving and such happens.

Some truth in that, that's probably more Dad. Mother I know is miserable but wont change any of her actions to do something. Yeah education is a problem lol, in one ear out the other, change the subject. Mother at least also has a bunch of old wive's tales based on no evidence, no studies no nothing...that she follows eg: 'Eggs are bad for you and Cereal is whats healthy in the morning' she actually says this 'I've got to eat I'll faint' after about 4 hours of not eating all these weird warped beliefs that get in the way out of her making more healthy decisions. She has no understanding of Calories. It's 6pm and that's tea time...no matter she does ate a two ice creams a bag of ham and salmon before at 5.15 it is not 6pm and that means dinner. :|

I've been repeating the fluctuations stuff constantly think that might be getting through somewhat eg: 'Yesterday I worked out for 2 hours and ate a calorie deficit but I lost no weight' it doesn't work like maths etc. Think this could be getting through.

that's an interesting development, op. (post #10.) i was about to suggest that you drop the subject for a while. how have you been cutting the fat? are you eating real food, mostly? i can see that they crave real food, but they also want the shortcuts.

it also looks like they have an ingrained habit of thinking that pre-bedtime is final snack time. instead of radical change - demanding that they drop the habit altogether, you might want to ween them off of that habit gently by finding lower cal substitutions for that final, extraneous meal. and if you can't convince them to substitute something else for the four pieces of toast in your example, ask them to eat just three pieces.

because you watch them like a hawk you probably know what they're eating at most meals. they sound like me. they don't plan out their meals, they simply follow their tastes. i've managed to keep my weight off without counting calories or planning out my meals in recent years because i either make substitutions for what i used to consume, (e.g. coke zero with a bit of sugar instead of full-on coke), or i eat a little bit less of the calorie dense foods that i do end up eating. let's say you know that they're about to order a burger and fries. the simple solution is to tell them to share a medium container of french fries, for example, and that's how you can begin to teach them where to cut 50 or more cals at each meal.

if you want, as a onetime exercise you could do a cost-benefit analysis of the benefits of ordering just the burger and coke for one of them, and the meal deal with fries for the other, lol. show them on paper that what looks like a really good deal actually equates to one hour on the treadmill or whatever. present that as the easy way out, the shortcut. “look, if you eat just half the fries you won’t have to spend x amount of time on the treadmill.”

show them the math and you might be able to convince them that little daily changes over time really will add up. explain that it’s better to make these small changes than none at all and you might be able to get them on board.

Yeah I've been good for the past week undisciplined with choices but not to far over cals before that period NYE/XMAS etc. They don't follow my lead they joke about all the eggs I eat and that there's a shortage atm and I wont be able to have them, they know my jig. I cook eggs every morning, think Dad stole one once. Even though my way has worked at least for me they wont to act on their own beliefs.

Caprica that's what I have been doing it's the easiest thing there is available. Whatever they have lined up I tell them 'eat it in the morning' of course no one wants deep fried batter in the morning so it just gets left off. They want it easy, little to no moderation to lifestyle or food choice but still want weight loss shaving off 100-500 cals before bed is the best and easiest thing that can be done for a start.

Yeah pretty sure Dad will be eating out tomorrow for work. I might ring him and give him the still get a chicken and chips but get the smaller meal and the diet drink etc because he might do that, we all know he wont cook chicken and veggies in the tea room though, that we all know.

Done that one too good ideas Caprica6, I am meant with an 'Oh really, wooooww' (and they never go near the treadmill) (because I cant) (because I have responsibilities) (because I have to call x) (because I wanted to watch this) basically everything and anything means they cant get on the treadmill.

Yeah I try they are mid 50's have siblings with health issues to the clock is ticking to make some changes, this is mostly met with flat out denial 'Nothings going to happen' 'It's all BS' etc etc they would both be 40% 50% BF Mums doing better than Dad atm, maybe if she keeps going he'll get more on board.

No matter how much you tell them to change, they won't.


Unless of course they want to themselves.

The only person that can change someone is themselves. It's hard having to watch them kill themselves but there is little to nothing you can do only encourage.

Unfortunately for you, encouragement is deemed 'preaching' and you're given an ear full.

You won't win mate, it's up to them.

Today parent went down the street casually asked 'Oh what did you get to eat' snapped called me obsessed said it's dangerous how obsessed I am and everything lols so I didn't bring up anything. I think her maintenance is about 2100 according to our scales. The slim shakes are 150cal x 2 and a Sandwich and a Coffee and some apple cake (who knows what that is) who knows whats in the sandwich but we cant nitpick she would be under 2100 cals that's I am sure of which is good! I also didn't start off like a superstar used IF so I could keep my unhealthy diet and eventually changed my food 3-4 months in when I could no longer lose weight on junk food so any positive change is a good one, the veggies and chicken we'll get to later a deficit is rare.


Thing is she often 'Forgets' her food intake sometimes lol....

What did you have down the street?
A coffee
Have anything else with it?
Oh yeah I had a pie and a slice of mud cake

:| I see

(Writing it down on some paper would solve this but already tried she wont do it, god four days in sick of being the Policeman too)
Writing it down would force her to confront her delusions, snack here, write that off, that chocolate no it didn't happen, much easier to just swear at other people then admit I snuck a chocolate)

These 300-700cal forgetful events can be a reason of why the weight loss doesn't come she often has to be prompted. I've flat out seen her eat stuff on the couch and then swear and get angry she hasn't either. I'll probably wander by later tonight and drop the old how much have you eaten tonight. She wants to do it...but basically with no effort. No exercising today maybe a 5-10 slow walk around the supermarket if that counters + some housework (least it moves the blood)

She could be getting better or use to it though perhaps the first step is the hardest she hasn't been complaining all day, or talking about junk food or day, or weighing herself all day maybe she is adapting to life with a little deficit. She's been as good with her diet

[ChrisVigor]

How do you get them to jump on?

All my family is overweight by at least 30 kilos or 66 pounds. I have lost about 35 kilos maybe 70+ pounds. I have been trying to get my parents and sister to try and change there mindset, if I can do it they can do it.

I just get shut down constantly. OP feels like they are going to miss out, and especially worries for parents who are almost 60 and at least 66 pounds overweight. Dad been on blood pressure medicine for almost 20 years...he started in he's 40s.

I bring it up almost every day and I get shutdown constantly basically told to 'stop preaching' I think my family would be happier if they also lost weight but I cant get to stop saying 'I cant' I even fear I am doing more damage by bringing it up as it's almost getting to the stage where they eat junk food to spite me. But how do I teach an old dog new trick? Parents especially just will not embrace anything new (not even the Internet) and continue to do mind warping stuff like toast and pasta right before bed.

I come out when they are eating junk and try to say but over calories, but if you just go to bed you wont be hungry but you wont burn this off etc etc and. Even when I watch over them like hawks and complain about their trips to McDonalds or whatever I just get pretty much ignored, worried about parents being so overweight in 60s..Life is taking off and they cant reduce their weight a little they'll miss lots of good stuff and many years.

Has anyone on the got there parents to embrace lifestyle change with them?

I am not asking the world. The demands I made on my Dad was

-Stop buying Potato cakes on the train ride home (he sits on a train then the couch these go straight to the waist)
-Treadmill 10 minutes a day and build it up
-And on a day off make weight loss the focus.


Dad has been on the treadmill twice in 6 months and as far as I CAN tell ignores my food advice? Have you got your parents involved, what other tactics can I try?

Doctor told dad to lose weight
Dad went to new doctor,

Mum tells me to stop preaching, Sister swears at me. They basically just don't want to hear it especially from me as soon as I open my mouth BAM greeted with excuses and go away. I might not be the right person to get them on there journey but who is?

They have to make that commitment on their own. It's great you're looking after them and want them healthy but if the decision doesn't come from within, it won't happen. Trust me, had my ex, my mother, my grandmother all hassle me at one point to lose weight. Went to the gym once or twice but I didn't commit. Now I myself is ready.

[ChrisVigor]

How do you get them to jump on?

All my family is overweight by at least 30 kilos or 66 pounds. I have lost about 35 kilos maybe 70+ pounds. I have been trying to get my parents and sister to try and change there mindset, if I can do it they can do it.

I just get shut down constantly. OP feels like they are going to miss out, and especially worries for parents who are almost 60 and at least 66 pounds overweight. Dad been on blood pressure medicine for almost 20 years...he started in he's 40s.

I bring it up almost every day and I get shutdown constantly basically told to 'stop preaching' I think my family would be happier if they also lost weight but I cant get to stop saying 'I cant' I even fear I am doing more damage by bringing it up as it's almost getting to the stage where they eat junk food to spite me. But how do I teach an old dog new trick? Parents especially just will not embrace anything new (not even the Internet) and continue to do mind warping stuff like toast and pasta right before bed.

I come out when they are eating junk and try to say but over calories, but if you just go to bed you wont be hungry but you wont burn this off etc etc and. Even when I watch over them like hawks and complain about their trips to McDonalds or whatever I just get pretty much ignored, worried about parents being so overweight in 60s..Life is taking off and they cant reduce their weight a little they'll miss lots of good stuff and many years.

Has anyone on the got there parents to embrace lifestyle change with them?

I am not asking the world. The demands I made on my Dad was

-Stop buying Potato cakes on the train ride home (he sits on a train then the couch these go straight to the waist)
-Treadmill 10 minutes a day and build it up
-And on a day off make weight loss the focus.


Dad has been on the treadmill twice in 6 months and as far as I CAN tell ignores my food advice? Have you got your parents involved, what other tactics can I try?

Doctor told dad to lose weight
Dad went to new doctor,

Mum tells me to stop preaching, Sister swears at me. They basically just don't want to hear it especially from me as soon as I open my mouth BAM greeted with excuses and go away. I might not be the right person to get them on there journey but who is?

Or you can try hypnotizing them.

[StillFat53]

Mother yelled at me, called me 'obsessed' and I woke up in the morning and my diet pills where in the bin. Yet she still keeps trying to ask about advice or food. I brush it off now.

I've been completely alone in this journey I haven't had a support network or anyone holding my hand quite the opposite I've had a discouragement squad in my corner laughing at my every fail so I might still remain like 'them'

I am done helping mum at least will never do it her psycho ego and delusion is so grandiose and out of touch with reality that her opinion, someone who is 50% bodyfat is right and my opinion someone who's lost 35 kilos, her doctors opinion, the dieticians opinion we are all wrong and she is the only one that is right basically. 'You've got to eat' and 'You'll faint are her two favrite phrases to justify her indulgence'

Also I have wasted well I feel like that 26 years of my life being overweight. How did I get overweight? It started when I was 10 and my mother let me buy food from the bakery everyday, then it was the tuck shop

She will never get over her own ego, she knows more than all doctors, all bodybuilders and basically everyone and foul mouth tirades and abuse to anyone who point out she's an obvious doesn't it's no point even rebutting with facts and examples as she will then simply denigrate things into a personal abuse match.

Juice has sugar it's not as good for you as they say
What happen to your last gf

She constantly CONSTANTLY moves blames on to other people.



My parents should of put me on a diet somewhere between the ages of 9-18. I should not of been eating cakes and sausage rolls at 9. My life could of been much happier and healthier and I could of avoided sometimes what I feel like has been addiction to harmful foods and at bare minimum an acquired taste. I was only put on a diet at convenience when others decided they wanted to diet. It was easier to send me off with tuck shop money than bother making a lunchbox, admittedly there was nowhere near the food awareness we have now about good and bad foods back in the 90s health wasn't quite as common knowledge or mainstream but I still feel miffed about it at this stage. Sure after 18 it's all me but I learnt it somewhere. I should never of been guzzling coke and eating at the bakery everyday at 9 or 10, and this became normality which made it hard to see the light later. My weight has definitely contributed to alot negative experiences in my life!

So now I have FINALLY after years about 25 seen the light and am managing to free myself of food issues and become active everyday I dont think I owe my parents help. They didn't help me when I was younger, and I am ridiculed when I have a cheat meal for going off the rails despite not one of them EVER being actually on the rails. If my 'Mum' knows everything sure there is nothing I can do but then she asks for help right, and abuse me and disregards when I give it to her literally.

(Then again food seems such a petty thing to be made about considered my upbringing, proper education, stable housing, love, clothes, always had enough etc, it seems ungrateful to bitch about food no one gets it 100% right)

'Are these healthy?
'Not really'
'You eat chicken for breakfast LOL how could you know anything'

I am a lightening rod for some criticism as it's easier to blame me than admit own shortcomings. I think I am done helping, I haven't got any results in 6 months and everything I said is disregarded also my personality has changed a bit as well I am tired of being the soft touch. I had no help doing this I am 25 and keen to leave my own life not be abused to telling someone apple juice with a high amount of sugar isn't that healthy. I am over this. Mother has been talking about losing weight for almost all my natural lifetime. At least 20 years It's probably on the balance of probabilities not to likely. She was told to drop 10-15 kilos before an operation by the surgeon she lost about 1 or 2 I think in 6 months. If a medical surgeon cannot get through how would I? I feel like I am abandoning someone to fat induced disease but I cant get through and the negativity and the blaming all the time is mucking with my own headspace.

So basically at this point I am concluding my help. She had been trying for years before I came along with no success, her ego wont allow her to 'listen' to anyone this is a personality trait and if you're wondering if this stretches over to other areas of life you bet you but that's another essay.

Let's just say the weight is the only bad decision of my parents I have pushed on to my shoulders against my will. Who hear buys a crap investment property with no deposit when she doesn't have the cash the flow, yeah you guessed it, she does, Who now instead of saving for his own little apartment is getting unofficially lumped with this POS? Yeah you guessed it.

My dads brother had a number of limbs removed due to diabetes and eventually died in he's early 60s, It was horrific and perhaps another 'wake up call' not even that got us eating better so I feel poorly for continuing on my diet and exercise and changing my future while not being able to help my family basically but my help and wake up callls etc etc as you can tell go unnoticed and just create tension and negativity, doctors etc are just moved on if they mention they'll start going to someone else. Also at 25 and finally being free of my own weight burden I want to live my own live without being tied down to other peoples decisions my personality has changed a little as I have lost weight, not for the bad but I am tired of basically living a life in which I am cornered into certain things, picking up the crap from other people's poor decisions or actions.

[fat2fit4real]

You seem really insecure. Worry about yourself, not what other people are or aren't doing for themselves or what they think about you. The world's not out to get you.

Your parents will do whatever they want. If they want to improve their lifestyle they will, if they don't they won't. I would be annoyed if someone was constantly badgering me to make a lifestyle change I wasn't interested in truly committing to too. If I went after friends or family the way you sound like you're going after your parents I would hope that one of them would punch/slap me in the face as a wake-up call that they are the ones that control their lives, not me.

It's also not their fault you got fat, you ate the quantity of food that resulted in obesity.

[StillFat53]

A ministroke and constant viral infections has done nothing. I haven't been mentioning it or doing anything almost completely given up at this point
50 kilos each about 100 pounds it's not walk in a park and at mid 50s I dont think change of lifestyle will be coming hopefully things can defy the odds and they can still live long and enjoyably.

[Megajord]

I always advise people to motivate rather than nag. Try to avoid saying anything negative and really censor yourself from doing so. Only focus on the positive. It's really infectious and you can push people to do things they don't always want to do as it's framed in a lot less intimidating way.

"You need to lose weight" sounds so scary. NEED! It's like there's a timer and if you don't do it now, you're ****ed.

Keep working on yourself and get in great shape and (without bragging) talk about how much happier you feel. How you've been doing all the things you love more. How everybody keeps commenting on how good you look and they'll see the positives rather than the negatives of what you're doing.

You're right in that it can be difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. Weight loss requires a lot of long term effort. If they don't want to do it, they won't.

[Riffo]

They don't want to change, fine, stop wasting your time with that, enjoy whatever time is left. You did what you could, don't fret over it.

[spanzarella]

My mom is similar. She used to say that organic milk tasted worse than regular milk. Any attempt to get her to exercise just makes her more stubborn to not exercise. But I am slowly gaining ground. For awhile she thought I was "obsessed" but after seeing me cure my migraines with supplements, diet and taking care of myself she was willing to try some stuff. I got her on fish oil and than turmeric - the turmeric really helps her with her hips in the morning. Last time she visited I bought her a workout shirt and pants and we did some yoga together.

My brother was recently diagnosed with high cholesterol and low thyroid. My cholesterol is fine while my mom and dad's is high too. I think she is really now beginning to see how diet affects your health. Not that she ate horribly but there is a lot of room for improvement. While low thyroid also runs in my family (though not my dad or mom) I think my brother's is due to his addiction to mountain dew (BVO depletes your iodine).

I think your focus should be on being a good example and promoting health benefits rather than losing weight. Focus on how much better they will feel if they cut down sugar and just walk more. Make some meals that aren't just plain chicken breast and asparagus (cooking light has a lot on their website). Make some recipes that are healthier versions of what they like. Sometimes I do give an occasional guilt trip to my mom to stop smoking "don't you want to be around to see your grandkids graduate?" or something like that - but haven't seen that work yet

[ladimando]

The Best way to affect change in others is to be the change you would like to see.