How can I help my parents?

[pokerking]

For reference: I am 14 y/o girl, parents are 45, dad is probably around 230 lbs if I were to guess, not sure if that’s helpful. I love my dad. My whole family does, always. But he’s always been overweight, and that’s been very difficult for him to struggle with. My mom and dad always say that they’ll be “going on a diet” and we just joined the gym near us. I try and help when I can, encouraging them to go to the gym and eat healthier foods or eat less. I’m not sure what I can do to help them, if anything. If people who were previously overweight and have since lost the weight could comment what helped them, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading. Apologies for the chunk of text, I’m on mobile.
Edit: Woah! Thanks so much everyone for the tips, good wishes, and concerns. This is so wonderful. I’ll be posting updates if/when I can. Thank you so much.

 

[jcbmvkrs]

@pokerking I think this article and accompanying program represents a good place to start for individuals looking to meet the World Health Organization guidelines for health outcomes.

https://www.barbellmedicine.com/the-beginner-prescription/

 

[mkd455]

@pokerking My parents took walks together to their favourite coffee shop. They would walk all the way there, have a cup of coffee and then walk the long way home. It was exercise plus 2 hours away from us kids. They sometimes let us come along and I love going on walks because of them.

 

[venegos]

@pokerking Lead by example. If you are going for a walk or to the gym, invite them. If you are making a healthy dinner, make it for them as well.

 

[airvian]

@pokerking As a nutritionist, I help people start introducing healthier habits each day. The more unhealthy a diet is, the bigger the response to small changes. I.e. If all you start out with is removing pop, they will begin to feel better....slowly, with time and encouragement, as they begin to see the improvement, they might be inspired to introduce more changes to improve their health.

They probably slowly became they way they are now, it will take time to help them return to a healthier state. Remember, nagging backfires. Also, most people don't realise how bad they feel until they start to feel better.

Finally, the majority of people accept how they are as part of aging, they don't realise that nature did not design us to be overweight, sore etc. It is our lifestyle that created this and it can improve with lifestyle changes also. This is a real hard concept for many.

 

[korg]

@pokerking As a daughter it could help to guilt him a little. "Dad you know how much I love you. I know you won't be around forever but I'm worried about your health. I want you to be healthy and live long enough to see me graduate college/ get married/ have my own children. Do you want to take a walk with me every day so we can spend time together and get some light exercise too?"