My mother is great person and has struggled with her weight all her life. After having my brother about 18 years ago, she never really lost the weight. She's about 5ft 2in and somewhere around 170-200 pounds and is 49 years old. She has always been self conscience and a little depressed about it and i'm sure dad pointing out her fatness doesn't help. Even her brother and her dad say stuff when she's around. Of course, her brother is over weight too. My family is just so respectful i tell ya. Anyway, i'm not overweight but i have been trying to eat better and and shape up (which is a miracle in itself). I honestly can't say what motivated me unless it was just getting on this website and reading what others have to say. My mom isn't exactly computer literate and uses my brother as an excuse for not learning it (he's on it all the time. . . i'd make him get off some since SHE is the mother, but that's another story).
Anyway, right now she's been working 12 hours most every day so i know she has a good excuse now, but it hasn't always been so and i doubt it will continue to be this way. So how do i motivate her to exercise and eat right? She says she eat veggies and very little junk food but thinks eating at night hurts. Which it probably does depending on what it is that she's eating. She's been on MANY diets. . .mostly soup and salad diets and once she'd lose 20 pounds she'd stop losing, get frustrated and quit. I tried to tell her that she didn't need to do the yo-yo diets because eventually she'll get tired of it ane binge. I try to tell her she just needs to eat better and exercise. . .as a lifestyle change. I even casually mentioned that i have lost 12 pounds just from eating a little better and exercising. . . not dieting. I still eat junk food on occassion (which is the difference. . . "occassion" not often). I don't really agree in the "no starch or no meat" or whatever diets that are out there. . . not that they don't work, but i believe that moderation is the key to most everything. So i tried to make it look easy (which i know it's not. . and the hardest part is getting up and doing the exercise. . . it was for me and i know it is for her). I even gave her my WATP 1 & 2 mile DVD and told her how much i liked it, etc. And I told her she could have my stretchie once she started but she hasn't even watched it to see what it's about or anything. I try not to push since she is working a lot but once she stops working so much, what can i do?? I've never been overweight so i don't really "understand" or know how she feels. I don't want to hurt her feelings and sometimes i think she just don't care anymore. . .but her health can't be good. I mean, she says that her blood pressure, cholesterol, etc are fine but. . . . Not sure what else to do to motivate her.
Amy