Eating 'stuff'

Food

February 21, 2007

Anonymous The McAlester News-Capital Wed Feb 21, 2007, 11:21 AM CST

I’ve been trying to encourage my father to eat healthier foods.

His idea of a good meal includes anything with gravy or fried foods — you know, anything that’s greasy. I’ve always said if you want to make my father happy, just hand him a cup of grease.

I usually talk to him each evening by phone and, of course, what he’s had to eat during the day is one of the topics.

Me: “So, what did you have for supper?”

Him: “Oh, stuff.”

Me: “What kind of stuff?”

Him: “Well, I fried some potatoes.”

Me: “Is that all you had?”

Him: “No, I had other stuff too.”

Me: (Once again) “What kind of stuff?”

The conversation continues in this vein until he finally tells me what he actually had. One evening, he had a taco left over from lunch, a can of chili and the fried potatoes. Another evening, he was eating canned tamales. I could feel my arteries blocking as we spoke.

He’s also fond of going out to eat, which is okay because there are healthy food choices at most of our restaurants. Well, I can find healthy food choices.

One of his favorite restaurant meals is chicken-fried steak with gravy, mashed potatoes and bread. Once again, I feel my arteries starting to clog.

I’ve tried telling him, “Daddy, those are not good food choices. You shouldn’t eat so much fried stuff with batter on it.”

I’ve cooked for him, thinking maybe he’ll get the idea about what’s healthy and what isn’t by example. Didn’t work.

I found a copy of the new food pyramid and took it to him to show him what good food choices are and how much of each kind of food group you need on a daily basis. I don’t even know if he looked at it.

I tried explaining to him about having a “rainbow” on your plate. You know — foods of different colors like green beans, red meat and something white like potatoes for one meal. Not sure that worked either.

I’ve even taken him frozen dinners — the kind that are “healthy choices,” if you know what I mean. He liked them and I encouraged him to look in the frozen foods aisle at grocery stores. I don’t know if he’s actually bought any, though.

I keep talking to him, hoping it will do some good. He just looks at me and says, “I’m still eating the way I always have.”

Well, yes he is. He still eats all the stuff he used to eat. It’s just he’s not getting the healthy meals that my mother cooked every day in addition to the “stuff.” I pointed this out to him. He just looked confused.

He is trying, however. I’ve gotten him used to buying canned vegetables. He calls me when he gets home from the store and tells me what he bought. I encourage this. I also encourage him to open the can and heat the veggies and eat them. “Buying them is a start,” I tell him. “But you’ve got to eat them too.”

About a week ago, I was beginning to feel I was banging my head against a brick wall. What I was saying didn’t seem to be doing any good. I had just about decided to keep quiet and let him eat whatever he wanted. After all, he keeps telling me he’s very active and he just burns up what he eats. I roll my eyes and don’t even try to explain about good fats and bad fats.

And then, he tells me he had gone out to eat with a friend at a local steakhouse. I immediately thought, “Oh, chicken-fried steak.” Was I wrong. He said he got a chopped steak. “I could have gravy on it or onions and peppers,” he tells me and then adds proudly, “I had onions and peppers.”

I was almost overwhelmed. I think my mouth dropped open.

Now all I have to do is convince him a healthy breakfast does not consist of sausage, biscuits, gravy and eggs. I think I’ve got my work cut out for me.

Contact Teresa Atkerson at family@mcalesternews.com.

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