Hey Guys - Help me help my brother!

[Yasmine]

Okay Guys,

He is 28 and has high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He is taking medication to control the high blood pressure and will probably start taking medication to bring his cholesterol down.

His diet SUCKS and he doesn't exercise at all. Considering all of this though, he is not terribly overweight and he has a lot of muscle - just can't see them under the layer of fat.

He needs a good balanced diet and a simple exercise plan. I have no idea what a MAN should or shouldn't eat to lose weight and to improve his health.

Yaz

 

[gymrat]

Well i think that if he's being monitored by a doctor, he should be following his advice.

There are many great diets out there. Use the search engine.

 

[Yasmine]

Should I just search the word "diet"?

 

[gymtime]

First of all, does he want to diet? Is he motivated to get healthy?

 

[Strider]

Start with this one

http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=56966

and build on it.

The key to a good diet is the correct amount of caloiries, the right balance of C/P/F, eating clean good food, and breaking it down into small 6-8 meals a day.

It takes some experimenting, but also it is critical to keep a log of what is eaten and the contect of it.

 

[beastboy]

First of all, does he want to diet? Is he motivated to get healthy?

This is definately the most important thing......

 

[110%]

yeah you can get great results with the diet specified in the above link, though if he doesnt wanna try that b/c it is really hard with no carbs he can try one of the more commonly diet used such as a 50/30/20 or 40/40/20 pro/carb/fat diet with 15 X bw-500 for total cals each day. though since he has high blood pressure make sure that he does NOT take any thermogenics.

 

[chillin408]

20 bucks says the doctor or dietician will reccommend a high carb/low fat diet. Thats my moms doctor did.

 

[Dryloch]

Pills that lower cholesterol are a bad idea. They are a false sense of security because they often lower the GOOD HDL cholesterol as much or more then the bad. Plus they have bad side effects. I cannot give you the exact details since I loaned my healthy living bible to my mother.

If he will read it get him Protein Power Lifeplan by Drs Michael and Mary Eades . If he follows the plan in there I can almost guarantee he will lower his blood pressure and his good cholesterol will go up. Just realize that if his good cholesterol goes up 20 and his bad only goes down ten he is in MUCH better shape. His blood pressure will probably drop fast when he starts eating right so he needs to make sure it does not go TOO low while he is still on his medication.

He will read in this book for instance that bad cholesterol is mainly produced by your own body. It can be produced in two main configurations. Densely packed like a BB or "fluffy" like a snowflake. Dense BB cholesterol is the kind that clogs your arteries and gives you problems. Fluffy cholesterol on the other hand will NEVER give you a problem even if it is slightly high. People who eat lots of pizza and white bread and other garbage make BB cholesterol. People who eat lots of healthy vegetables like salads and healthy meat like grilled chicken etc produce the fluffy kind. Cutting the cholesterol in his diet will not do much if he keeps eating like he has been.

Another for instance of something in the book is the part about eggs. The main way that eggs end up having a negative effect on your cholesterol is when you scramble them. Scrambling eggs oxidizes the cholesterol in the yokes and make them bad for you. If he eats poached or fried eggs every day his cholesterol will not be a problem ( Unless he eats bread and home fries with them!)

When I first read this book it was like a revelation to me. It is that good. I have gone from 245 to under 205 with tons of energy by following this program. It is more then just a diet it is a roadmap to total health. That is why I refer to it as a bible of sorts. Being on medicines for the rest of his life would be a terrible thing especially when eating right is not all that hard once you get over the initial few weeks. Good luck and I am pulling for your dad to have the strength to change.

PS A High Carb Low fat diet will be much harder to follow and I bet it either helps him minimally or makes him worse and then the doctor will tell him to take MORE medication.