"Karen Sexton" > wrote in message
...
>
> My mom is 76, and even though she has no diabetes, I am concerned- she
> is terribly overweight and eats so much sugar and starch. She knows
> what she's doing is bad, but doesn't have the willpower to stop (she's
> very depressed and eats "comfort foods". We both have physicals
> regularly, but if a person doesn't have the willpower, what can you
> do? I've tried to get her to go to weight-watchers, to no avail.


Take baby steps, start with a high protein breakfast. When carbohydrates
are a problem, morning can be the worst time to eat them, if you have any
foods containing carbs at breakfast make them lower carb ones, like peppers,
onion, mushroom, etc in an omelet or berries in plain yogurt, etc.
Adequate protein in the morning can help reduce carb cravings for the rest
of the day, whereas I found that eating oatmeal first thing in the morning
can actually triple my appetite for the rest of the day.

Also, add more non starchy veggies throughout the day for lunch, dinner, and
snacks. They have lots of water and fiber in them besides the vitamins and
things so they help fill you up. You can prepare ahead of time, carrot,
celery, or other raw veggie sticks/chunks for dipping, a sour cream, plain
yogurt, or cheese based dip, salad greens torn and mixed in a ziploc bag or
large plastic container and have other things ready like radish or cucumber
slices, small tomatoes, cheese cubes, boiled eggs, grilled chicken, whatever
sounds good to be eaten with the salad greens with some type of oily
dressing which helps your body metabolize the nutrients in the veggies.
Fill yourself up with good things and drink plenty of water to keep things
moving and you will almost automatically develop the willpower to reduce the
amount of bad things because it probably isn't willpower that's the problem
in the first place. Just make sure it's as easy to reach for the good
stuff as the bad stuff and eat often enough that you never get to the point
of being ravenous.

Many older women do not get adequate protein, especially when they are
filling up on comfort foods. Getting your mother to promise to add some
things to her diet may be much, much easier than getting her to promise to
reduce her comfort foods. Eating carby comfort foods raise serotonin levels
in the brain temporarily, then they crash again making you want more, I
think the effect is worse in the carbohydrate intolerant than in normals and
can be a factor in depression. Getting more exercise can help with that,
also, maybe you can get your mother to take walks with you, or if mobility
is a problem there are exercise videos available for special needs, the PBS
series Sit and be Fit is one resource. Make sure to consult with her
doctor about any health problems, for example, kidney disease may require
her to keep protein fairly low and go with mostly vegetable sources of it,
heart disease may affect what kind of exercise she can do.

--
No Husband Has Ever Been Shot While Doing The Dishes