Gift advice please :)

Zozo

Cathlete
I'm looking to buy my Dad a 'diet' book for his birthay. He's 57 years old.. and he is trying desperately to lose weight. He travels a lot, so it's very difficult sometimes for him to keep up with his workouts, although he's trying his hardest to follow the diet when he's away. As far as exercise is concerned, he is very reluctant to do strength training, no matter what I say to him. He goes all out with the cardio though... although it's probably not enough, at least he's exercising. On an average week, he'll manage about four to five hour and a half sessions at the gym.

Does anybody have a suggestion for a diet (one with a book I could buy him) that he could follow? Currently I'm trying to get him to simply eat clean: he's gone from two huge meals a day, to about five small ones. He eats protein at every meal, is eating relatively low fat , but still getting healthy fats from nuts and yoghurt and some good oils. I have ensured he only eats wholegrains. I am also making him eat a load of vegetables. However, I think he needs something more official, to keep him motivated. PLEASE PLEASE could you give me some suggestions?
I've heard that Burn the fat feed the muscle is good, but I'm not sure, given his stubborn-ness over his exercise, that it'd work for him.

I'd appreciate any advice I can get :)
 
Hi ZoZo,

I don't know of any books that give specific meal plans, however, Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman has good nutritional information. It has a bit of a meal plan, but nothing too detailed.

I am currently reading Younger Next Year, by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge. This book might inspire your Dad to be more active. I am really enjoying the book - it is funny and informative at the same time.

I know how hard it is to watch a parent make poor lifestyle choices. I have been trying to get my Mom to be more active and eat healthier for years. I was getting pretty frustrated until I realized that I had given her all the information I could - she had to make the choice. If she really wants to improve her health, she knows where to go for help.

Happy birthday to your Dad!
Corri
 
I have two suggestions. One is Body for Life - I actually got my Dad to buy that and he totally got into it after reading it, doing the workouts and everything and it has some dietary advice in it as well. He lost about 50 pounds. The other is Eating Well for Optimum Health by Dr. Andrew Weil. It's less of a meal plan type book and more of a book about healthy eating and why it's important. It does give advice on how to eat healthy, what to avoid, etc. It's a more holistic approach. Good luck!
 
Do you have the funds to buy him a small package of training sessions at his gym to get him started with weights? You said he goes 4-5x/wk for 1.5 hours, that's actually quite a bit of working out, my mother has a good week when she swims a few laps at her community pool!

The diet you have prescribed for him, actually sounds a lot like the WW core plan, I think it's called Simply Filling now. You could give him a 3 month online membership (about $65), as he travels a lot he may not be able/or want to do meetings.
 
My suggestion...

...is to get him one or several of the Men's Health books series "Eat This Not That". You may want him to "eat clean," but he may have other ideas about what would work for him. These books advocate making simple changes that add up to "almost" effort weight loss. I recommend these books to everyone.
 
Thanks everyone. I'm definitely going to check those books out. If I have any questions about them , I'll definitely come back here, if that's okay :) Thankyou x
 
Another suggestion: this book written by firefighters tends to appeal to men and is sound nutritionally: "The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds"

Good luck! Kudos to your dad for all the hard work. :)
 
Has anybody heard anything about the Eat Clean diet for men?
Just wondering if that's more suitable than the ordinary one... I like the Eat clean diet though.. it sounds like how I eat.. and how I am advising him to eat... I like things that make it seem like I'm doing the right thing! :)
 

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top