writingwyo's Journal, 07 January 2024

I wonder where you were. Glad you are doing fine. That weight is nothing a good skiing trip will not fix. Sorry about you dad.  

That really isn't bad for holiday weight. I remember years ago, maybe in the 90's reading that the typical holiday weight gain was 7-10 pounds. I think it is lower now because people seem more aware of what they are eating and it is easy to track calories, etc. I remember I would have bowls of red and green jelly beans sitting around the house and a huge bowl of homemade Chex party mix. Never do anything like that now. J am sure you will be fine.. Hope your dad gets healthier. Does he understand what the health issues are and how is weight impacts it? 

Thanks, liv 😊  

Fritzy -- he has several issues he's been told are impacted by his weight. He's done the crash diet and rebound thing most of his life. It's like an addiction with him. I think he doesn't want to hear about it anymore.  

It can be difficult to watch someone with treatable health problems rationalize them and decide to do nothing to save themselves. Empathy. 

Hoping the; issue with your father gets resolved. Stress can be a trigger for eating...Now that you are home maybe you can get back to a normal routine?💜 

Penderg -- he has tried in the past, but goes all or nothing, rather than finding something healthy and sustainable. My brother (oldest of my younger 4 sibs) is now a skinny as a rail vegan who used to weigh more than 400 pounds. He lost nearly all his weight before going vegan and has kept it off for years. He told me he did it by just eating like a normal person. I don't know if my father really grasps how much or how often he eats. We'll still be full from breakfast and he wants to take us out to lunch. 

Diana -- it is indeed good to get back to normal! This morning I restocked the house with produce. I have a tempeh curry planned for dinner. We're both not super hungry today after so much feasting. When I listen to my body, it truly doesn't want to overeat for long 

The harder part is watching the niblets getting set up for the same weight battles. Not because they have bad parents, but because they have normal parents who feed them like everyone else in this dysfunctional food environment we live in. Constant processed snacks -- my sister offers them all the time, not waiting for the kids to ask. A steady stream of mac and cheese and equally nutritionally suspect dinners. The sad thing to me is that this isn't aberrant -- it's how everyone thinks you're SUPPOSED to feed kids these days. When the kids turned up their noses at dinner, the SIL pulled out a box of sugary cereal because she didn't want her boys to go hungry. Everyone's so all-fired terrified their kids will go hungry for 5 minutes. Of course they're going to turn down dinner if they know they'll get a bowl of pure sugar out of the deal. If I turned down dinner and was hungry later, my parents would have said tough luck, you might rethink your decision next time  

Yes, I'm ranting, and I don't have kids. But I want to beg parents not to keep a never ending supply of treats in the house "for the kids" and to quit assuming they're incapable of eating the same food as adults. The processed sugary, salty crap is no better for them than it is for us. Two of the 4 are under 10 and overweight already. When 2 out of 3 Americans are overweight or obese, you might want to rethink eating like the average American 🤔 

I'm in my early 70s and too fluffy. Actually older people have a better survival rate if they are a little fluffy. At the high end of the overweight range. The seniors with the greatest mortality are the skinny ones. Once you are over 80 a BMI a little over 30, which is obese, is okay.  

That's actually a myth, Morticia. Mind you, I don't think you need to be whippet thin for good health, but when they've adjusted for confounding factors, the "obesity paradox" disappears. And that said, he is well above a BMI of 30. Our best guess is at least 350 pounds. He has a bad knee and diabetes, both of which have improved in the past when he's lost some weight. In addition he has breathing trouble due to issues with his diaphragm that are exacerbated by having so much fat pushing on that area 

I didn’t get a chance to weigh in while glamping with the family. I am hoping I did well. Feel the pain of these latest results and start moving forward again. 

Daddy Manatee, TBH I was relieved it wasn't worse 😂