I have been at my parents' house since Saturday afternoon and it has been an uphill battle. I came with the impression that I was coming to help my mother do something she already wanted to do but couldn't because of her limitations, but she is fighting me at every turn. My dad shows interest but not enough to comply. His medication list keeps growing, his bloodwork doesn't change, and neither will he. He is six years younger than his father was when he passed away 31 years ago. My mom keeps complaining that her stomach hurts, but that could be the wine and chocolate I can't get her to let go of and the aspirin she takes four times away. I am only here for a week to play personal chef so she can try out the new diet and see how she feels, but if she keeps eating the same things she won't even know. Like I said, I didn't think I was trying to make her do anything she didn't want to do. Sometimes it feels like deep down she has really just given up. Not that it isn't understandable. Her situation is miserable. But I am trying to make it easier on her and her resistance is making it impossible. I don't want to give up, but there have been many tears shed this week and I expect many more to come. If they were older, I might have an easier time just saying, "Well, they're old. I guess they've earned the right to do what they want." But 63 is way too young to give up on life.
As for myself, I am loving getting the use of their nice kitchen. My own is rather pathetic - virtually no counter space, no dishwasher, crummy apartment refrigerator, tiny two-sided sink with no water pressure. It makes everything a little easier to have a better kitchen to work in, and cooking for them (despite their complaints) has been really fun. Because they are so picky AND require a lot of variety I have had to get very creative.
As for my weight, it is hard to say exactly because their scale is calibrated differently than my own, but my base weight when I got here (weighed Sunday morning) was 216.6, and this morning was 214.0. My mom's base weight, also on Sunday, was 215.6, and she was also 214.0 today. I am really hoping that the weight loss will help give her hope. She recently started thyroid meds and has been stuck at the same weight for months despite her best efforts (she had gone gluten-free ish but using all of the high-carb gluten free products and followed some other more conventional wisdom about fat and calories, so WE know she was really unwittingly sabotaging herself). So the plateau breakthrough could be just what the doctor (or the daughter) ordered.
Do your parents own a PC, do they use it, get on the web and actually do any research?
ReplyDeleteIf they were to simply read the LONG list of positive changes that have come about for people following the WB WOE, would that help?
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/
I certainly admire your tenacity in trying to help them, but I wonder, once you leave, do they simply go right back to the same old, same old?