AboutDaphne E Brown MS CPRP Expertise I will answer questions concerning exercise, nutrition, health and diseases related to obesity or sedentary lifestyle. I can also answer questions about being an aerobics/group exercise leader or questions about getting certified with AFAA.
Experience Receiving my Masters of Science in Clinical Exercise Physiology, I have been Fitness Director on board Royal Caribbean luxury cruise ships, I have given training seminars for aspiring group exercise leaders; I am certified and I work for Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA). I was Senior Exercise Physiologist and lecturer at the Internationally renowned Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa at Turnberry Island Resort in Miami, Florida for almost 10 years and I was also the Fitness Assessment Coordinator at the exclusive Fisher Island Spa Internazionale on exclusive Fisher Island in Miami Beach (famous residents of the island include Oprah Winfrey, Andre Agassi, and Sharon Gless). I've competed in AAU and NAC Aerobics competitions. Currently, I am the Adminstrative Manager for a Municipal Parks and Recreation Department and own a Fitness/Lifestyle planning business. I have been in the Fitness industry for over seventeen years and here on AllExperts since 1999.
Question My mother is 51 years old, is 5'2" and weighs approx. 350 lbs. She has a small pharmacy of pills to take each day and does no more than go to work. She comes home and sits in front of the TV all evening and eats constantly. I've tried encouraging her to exercise even a few minutes a day, but she simply refuses. She believes that the only solution for her is getting surgery. How do I motivate my mom (w/o upsetting her) so that she can increase her lifespan and improve the quality of her life?
Answer ***Suggestions offered here may or may not help you in your situation. Please consult your physician when changing or adding a nutrition/fitness regimen***
Nellie,
Thank you for your question. I am sure that you have heard the saying "if I could bottle and sell self-motivation, I would be a ga-zillionaire." I especially can empathize with you because my own mother has battled with obesity all of her life. I don't know about your mother's pschye, and I am definitely not a psychologist, but my mother's stubborn resistance to my constant urgings for her to live a more healthy lifestyle is a result of her own emotional/mental issues she hasn't fully dealt with. You don't know how hard it has been to be a top expert in the excercise sciences field when my own mother struggles with her weight EVEN AFTER having gone through a bariatric procedure.
It sounds like your mother may need help more than you can give her to get her to live more healthy. Rather than "preaching" to her (which may sound like "blah blah blah" to her by now), praise her when she does demonstrate positive healthy behavior and HOPEFULLY if she chooses to have bariatric surgery (of which I am not a fan of), her physician will have the scruples enough to REQUIRE psychological/mental/emotional guidance/assistance/support before/during/after surgery. The physician should ALSO require behavior modification including regular exercise and adequate/healthy nutrition (you can "cheat"--the staff unwittingly even told my mother how to "cheat"!!!!!!!!!!!)
Good luck and take care of yourself because I understand how difficult it is for you to watch your mother in her current condition. You never know. If she gets the surgery, she may be among the very small percentage of bariatric patients who actually do very well with the surgery and begins to exercise regularly and eat right.
Please feel free to ask other allexperts their opinions about your question. and Please feel free to write me again in the future and let me know how you and your mother are doing. Take care
Sincerely, Daphne
