Hey, my parents are both over 50 and active (light weights/bike/walk) and both are struggling (well in my opinion) with their diets. Both watch what they eat but don’t think about carbs or protein just calories and fats, so basically the consume carbs all day (awesome).
So I decided as a Christmas present I would figure out a simple meal plan for them to go by to get them started, but i’m stuck with a good protein ratio (protein vs lean body weight) for them to take. I mean they’re somewhat active so maybe .7g per pound? Idk if age effects the amount they should be taking in…
And the fact that they’re trying to lose weight is something different since I always look at ratios for maintaining muscle for younger girls/guys. Does anyone know a good ratio (or I guess ratios since it’ll probably differ from male to female)?
You’re writing your parents a meal plan as a Christmas present? WTF? You want to wait a month before helping your parents with their nutrition and then at the same time try to pass it off as a present?
Fair enough. I won’t bust your balls further. I remember what it is like to be a poor-ass college student. If anything, I commend you for helping your parents with this. With that said, trying to alter your parents nutrition can be a a tricky proposition. Especially for a couple of 50 year olds that have been eating primarily poorly their whole life. I would start with a gram per pound of “lean bodyweight” to start. For example, if your Dad is 200 lbs, but is roughly 20% bodyfat, start him around 160 grams of protein.
For my parents, I’ve gradually tried to make improvements in their diets. If I were to “shock” them with baked turkey and steamed asparagus every meal, they would laugh at me. So if your Dad likes to eat fried chicken for dinner, recommend grilled with a tasty low-carb BBQ sauce. Hint: this makes a cheap present. Cook them a healthy, tasty meal that they can easily make on their own. Your parents will love it and it’ll likely spark a desire in them to eat better.
Wow, thanks for the meal idea, and they haven’t eaten poorly its just poor decisions on what’s “good” for eating. I guess I’ll use a slow transition, but I figured I would give them a list of foods to mix and match from for meals/snacks to help with that. I’ll try that 1g for a start. Thanks man!
if they like lettuce, introduce spinich. if dad likes peanut butter and jam, try natural peanut butter and frozen berries(defrost them). chocolate protein drinks went great for my mum.
mostly though, get them off cereal/processed crap. High Fructose Corn Syrup is always bad, hydogenated oil is bad, olive oil is good. bread should be 100% whole wheat or whatever is the least processsed
oatmeal is a good snack, eggs are to be highly recommended (i dont believe in the dietary cholesterol being bad for heart health campaign). protein powder is useful and felxible. get em some anaconda (joke)
