This isnt for me. My awesome father apparently has high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He doesnt have a doctor but found all this out by luck one day after making a trip to the clinic to get his "gout" checked out!

He isnt overweight, used to smoke- recently quit, hes a mechanic- so not very active, he used to eat about twice a day, and would snack sometimes on chips etc.. I dont know exactly what he used to eat but I know that it was not as healthy as I am eating, but I also know it wasnt completely terrible either.

Because I have turned my diet and lifestyle around these past 6 months, I know the importance of a healthy diet and when I heard the news I immediately shared my knowledge with him and gave him guidelines to follow because I worry too much and care about his health..as far as I knew before- he was pretty healthy! I guess I was wrong. This is what happens when you reach your 50's I guess!

I know a certain amount about food but I am no expert! I had to remind myself just now that he isn't on a 26 point per day diet because he doesnt need to lose weight..but the guidelines that I gave him when you compare it to weight watchers is basically about 27 points a day. He should be at 35 (29+6). I got this number by adding the amount required for his age, height gender to the 6 point maintenance phase. Again this is just going by weight watchers and not a caloric intake diet.

He is eating lots of veggies, 2 servings of fruit, handful of nuts, salmon, his lean proteins, and a good amount of fibre a day. Basically just trying to be on a healthier diet specific to his conditions. No take out, trans fats, reduced sugar and carb intake etc...

My problem is..I cant seem to think of something to fill in those extra 8 points that he hypothetically needs to be "healthy" .. I know that what he is eating is healthy and a big improvement, but technically he needs to be eating more correct?

I cant think of any foods that wont raise his grams of sugar, or carbohydrates during the day..because when it comes down to it there are sugar and carbs in almost everything!


If anyone can give me some input, even though this isnt related to weight watchers directly, that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!!

Actually I must have a mental illness to go through all of this research, time and effort. Im his daughter not his mother! Disregard this!

Not a mental illness...he is your dad it makes sense you want to do your part to encourage him to be healthy.

I found this on the Mayo Clinic website...
Here's a look at what you might eat during a typical day on a gout diet:

Breakfast

Whole-grain, unsweetened cereal with skim or low-fat milk, topped with fresh fruit
Whole-wheat toast with trans-free margarine
100 percent fruit juice
Coffee
Lunch

Lean meat, poultry or fish (2 to 3 ounces) sandwich on whole-wheat bread, with lettuce, tomato and low-fat spread
Carrot and celery sticks, side salad or vegetable soup
Fresh fruit, such as apple, orange or pear
Skim or low-fat milk
Dinner

Baked or roasted chicken (2 to 3 ounces)
Steamed vegetables
Baked potato with low-fat sour cream
Green salad with tomatoes and low-fat dressing
Fresh fruit, such as berries or melon
Nonalcoholic beverage, such as water or tea

Sounds to me like you're a very loving daughter -- and your father is lucky. The first thing is that he's obviously willing to make some changes as he's demonstrated with his diet so far! That's very positive. I guess the question I have is why are you doing this as opposed to his doctor giving him a diet plan or else referring him to a nutritionist for counseling on his eating plan? And all this research may pay off down the road as high blood pressure and high cholesterol in seemingly healthy people are sometimes genetic, and you may have trouble with them as well down the road.

Sorry I can't answer more about what foods to eat as I'm not on Weight Watchers so I'm not familiar with their diet plan any more. But your dad's doctor definitely needs to be supplying some help in the what-to-eat arena.

Hope everything turns out well for him.

Yes I agree. I atleast got him on the right track for now. But I was hearing from another forum that carbs are not our enemy..etc...basically meaning that we can eat carbs and thats not what makes us gain weight! Because I mentioned that I want to restrict his carb intake but they said that it wasnt feasible to do that!!! Confused now lol

What I learned on WW so far (2 months) is that it's not a one-size fits all plan. It wasn't working for me until I made some adjustments (less points, less carbs). But everyone is different, something I know well from my pre-WW loss. It would be great if your dad could see a nutritionist. My husband is diabetic and has lost more weight that I have (men!) by eating healthier with me and has been able to get off some of his medication.