I need to help my dad out

[AndriodLee]

He is 55

240lbs
5' 8
Possibly 30% body fat... Maybe even higher

He hasn't work out in 20 years, and he recently we to see the doctor about his snoring.

The doctor told him that he needs to lose 40lbs or he might possibly have a stroke or even die in his sleep.

He's stubborn as hell, and won't listen to anything I tell him about diet and exercise. What sort of eating plan would help him lose that much weight?

[Damienm05]

Baby steps. He's not a bodybuilder, so any of the diets we follow are gonna be way too hardcore for him to start with. The following tips will lose him a lot of weight quickly with minimal effort.

- Most Americans eat white bread/pasta/rice - switching to wheat is a massive help.
- cut out as much sugar as possible. non-diet soda, sugar added jam/jelly, juice, sweet alcoholic drinks, have him use splenda to sweeten tea, coffee, other food/drinks that ppl frequently add sugar too.
- Most have a starch/protein/veg with dinner. Simply have a protein/veg - skip the carbs at dinner time
- While sodium doesn't make you fat, he'll certainly be better off cutting out as much as possible. Almost every high-sodium food has a low-sodium/low-fat variety - even bacon and sausage. All deli meats.
- Keep fat consumption to poly/monounsaturated types. Eat nuts and avocados instead of cheese. Use extra virgin olive oil to cook, etc.
- Cardio sucks. Some people just can't do it when way-overweight, it's too discouraging. If you can get him to do cardio, that'll help a ton! However, lifting weights, even just couple times per week will really speed up weight loss and most men find it enjoyable if they can get in a good routine.
- no need for him to go hungry - at 35% body fat, he's definitely a snacker. Potato chips are empty calories, so are most common snacks. Raw veggies with a little dip, baked sweet potato chips, baked whole grain tortilla chips w/ salsa are all really tasty snacks that are an exponential improvement.

I could go on forever, but those are the most basic and easiest to implement tips. If your dad can follow these for a few weeks and realizes how great feeling/looking better can be - then we can talk a "perfect" diet.

[AndriodLee]

I really appreciate that. Anyone else info would be great as well.

[mg1228]

damien hit it on the head----u try to structure a diet for him and he will b done with it in 2 weeks

go to his house and empty it of all foods he has there--after u do that take him to the grocery store and buy foods like damien mentioned---pay for it if u have to

do a search on low gi carbs---buy those

buy lean proteins---chicken, lean cuts of steak(sirloin, london broil), fish, etc

buy good fats---walnuts,almonds,olive oil,natural peanut butter,fish oil,etc

[stokedv]

damien hit it on the head----u try to structure a diet for him and he will b done with it in 2 weeks

go to his house and empty it of all foods he has there--after u do that take him to the grocery store and buy foods like damien mentioned---pay for it if u have to

do a search on low gi carbs---buy those

buy lean proteins---chicken, lean cuts of steak(sirloin, london broil), fish, etc

buy good fats---walnuts,almonds,olive oil,natural peanut butter,fish oil,etc

X 3 million times Damien hit the spot baby steps bro.. start by the beginning.. I would even say spend some time with your dad and COOK to show him how easy and rewarding it is.. make tuna patties, lean beef stuffed bellpeppers, grill a whole box of chicken breasts for the week.. he will be able to open the fridge and have ready food all in tupperware ready to go to the microwave... DONT MICROWAVE TUPPERWARE!!!

[AndriodLee]

He's having a hard time switching over to brown rice right now. He says it's too dry. I have a feeling he's not going to like a lot of the healthier food choices because he's so used to eating what ever he wants.

[SlimJoe]

damien well said i agree

[AndriodLee]

Thank you guys I have copied and pasted your suggestions, and sent them to his email address. I hope that more of you guys can add on to this, because I am really trying to show him that I am concerned.

[SlimJoe]

its good to be concerned hopefully he will see you are worrying and try to sort thing but the guys on here no what there talking about hope ya can resolve things joe.