My dad to my wife - "Why are you taking nutrition advice from him?"

I posted this on another forum a few months back, thought I'd share it here...

This isn't exactly a rant, as I know what I look like versus my dad, but thought it was humorous enough to share with others.

So I've been teaching my wife about eating healthy. Not trying to be arrogant, but she's not blind, she can see that I'm thin, trim, and athletic, which is very rare for a 29 year old American male. My dad says he doesn't want to take nutrition advice from me because I don't eat vegetables. The truth is, I don't like the taste/texture so I just don't eat them, but that doesn't mean I know nothing about nutrition, I advocate to my wife the importance of eating complex fibrous carbs at every meal.

My wife was peeling the skin from the fried chicken the other night and dad was complaining to her that I know nothing about nutrition and she shouldn't take advice from me. Yet, my dad was eating the whole fried chicken and of course, he's overweight, lol. I told my wife to reply next time to dad, "The skin of the chicken is the most unhealthy part of the chicken. It contains large amounts of saturated fat and especially because it's fried, contains large amounts of trans fats. These fats are the main cause of excessive LDL cholesterol levels and causes heart disease, which is the #1 killer of men in America. It's also the main cause of obesity, and therefore, shouldn't ever be consumed."

My wife thought that was funny, so she's memorizing it for the next time.

Anybody else? I'm sure everybody here has something similar to share.

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Permalink Reply by Ms.Elena Fit on November 4, 2009 at 10:09pm

I taught my friend how to shop for groceries- go to the outer aisles- that's where you get the best- produce, milk, eggs, grains, nothing in boxes, nothing frozen. Clean eating! And I was there in her kitchen when I helped her to unpack the groceries that we bought, when her step son (14-15 y.o) came in. He looked in the fridge, then in the pantry and asked- I thought you went shopping- why didn't you buy any food?! ;o)
I was perplexed for a second, and then she explained that he doesn't eat anything cooked, only "food in boxes, and he doesn't know how the tomato tastes"!

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Permalink Reply by Brett on November 4, 2009 at 10:27pm

Eating from a box or eating fast food, it's the American way. Truly sad as this trend will continue :(

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Permalink Reply by Ms.Elena Fit on November 4, 2009 at 10:55pm

I came from Europe- and that situation was totally shocking for me! I'm serious!

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Permalink Reply by Brett on November 4, 2009 at 11:01pm

Oh I'm sure. I know just hearing interviews from people who live in Europe about food and diet - they're just sickened/shocked by the way Americans eat.

Have you seen the documentary, "SuperSize Me"? This healthy American male lives on a 30-day, McDonald's diet and also does a lot of other research into public school lunches, corporate advertising, etc. It's very profound the things he discovers. I get really mad every time I watch it, but it's a good reminder of how things are here and what I'm going to teach my children (when I have them that is, haha!) about living a healthy lifestyle.

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Permalink Reply by Amy on February 26, 2010 at 3:38pm

Thanks for posting this. I have something similar at home. My goal is to compete in figure this year, and my Dad is telling me that I am taking things too far to where I am not "healthy". He of course is over weight, and thinks that when I am 120, at 20% body fat, that I am "too skinny"! I am just amazed. And the closer that I get to my goal of competing, he is deciding to have more lectures with me on how I need to eat more. I eat a minimum of 6 times a day, but he of course just sees that I am not eating the bad food at family functions. I live in New Mexico, which is turning into a bunch of muffin tops every where you look. They seem to be happy over weight, and want you to be "happy" with them. So, I have decided to keep with what I am doing, and just wear baggy sweaters around my Dad, so that he doesn't see my progress, and I don't have to hear the embarassing lectures on diet from someone who eats out of a box!

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Permalink Reply by Melanie Matheny on March 5, 2010 at 6:56am

I'm with ya Amy. I grew up listening to my dad say he doesn't like skinny women. I've been hearing the same lectures lately and he even seemed angry the other day when he was discussing it to my mom. "Have you notice your daughter lately? She has lost way too much, she's down right skinny!"
I took a magazine down there the other night to show him that I'm no where near the goal I'm shooting for yet, and he better get prepared for the end result.
Keep up the good work anyway. Healthy feels so much better.