A #Heart2Heart with Pop, wishful thinking and lifestyle choices

Hey, I partnered with Life of Dad and Meta Wellness for this promotion. My dad is not a talker. I’m not a talker either but compared to him I’m Leo Getz. It’s an exercise of patience just to get him to tell me anything beyond how the weather is. Mind you, it is not because he’s not of sound mind, he is just not a talker. Our average phone call lasts about 5 minutes. The Heart 2 Heart campaign is all about men having health conversations with their loved ones. Knowing all of this I called my dad to talk about his health.

My health is better than average; thanks to my wife and my father, both of whom  assisted me using opposite methods. My wife is more of the conversationalist, let’s talk-figure out the problem and not repeat it in the future. I love to watch her and my father talk. He squirms like a worm looking for a wet pile of mud to go hide in.

My wife and I determined that my areas of concern were salt and sugar intake. With her assistance the families’ salt consumption is now low salt this, wheat that and fiber as much as we can get it. I’m no nutritionist, but I imagine sugar particles as different colored squares that add up like a Tetris game inside my stomach that make my pants not fit any more.

One option for guys who need to jumpstart their diet to the healthy side are Metamucil and Meta Health Bars. We’ve started adding Metamucil to our water as we work out. One affect that both my wife and I noticed is that drinking Metamucil with water made us less hungry between meals.  That helps me maintain healthy blood sugar levels. †  It’s also tasty and keeps me regular.

Now here’s a little history about my dad.  A. he’s awesome.  However, he can be quite stubborn, not listen to what doctors advise (or even mandate), doesn’t exercise enough and has a questionable diet. In other words, the fact that I had to call him and talk about his health was perfect because it was for work.

His answering machine picked up and I started to leave a message, but he cut in and said hello. I started with the same pleasantries and then told him that I had to ask him some questions our family history of health…..for work.

Silence… that’s nothing new in speaking with my dad, but in this conversation there was no ‘um…’, ‘ah’ or noise coming from the line. He went on to say that there weren’t any hereditary conditions that I needed to be wary of.

I asked him about his health and what concerns he had. This was kind of a loaded question, because, like a good attorney, I already knew the answer. He said that he was weak and his arthritis was painful. “What causes arthritis”, I asked. Dad went on to tell me, in a surly way that it was caused by not being active.

He said that he stopped being active a long time ago and it was that fact that led to his weak back, arthritis and overweight condition.  My wife and I knew this fact, but it was good to hear him acknowledge it also. I remember that he stopped exercising when I was around 12 years old. I would ride my bike to the tennis courts, watch him play or get my racket out if there was an opening.

“How much longer is this conversation going to last”, he questioned about 3 minutes into the call.

Did you see this video between Michael Strahan and his father Gene? Their conversation is genuine and it brought up real moments between them. It is as simple as a conversation.

It doesn’t have to be with your dad. You can have it with your son, neighbor, friend or any guy that you care about. For stories about how other men brought up the subject you can just search for #Heart2Heart, you’ll get some conversation tips to get the (sometimes non-talking) bandwagon going. If you’re ready to make changes to your diet, snack a bit less, feel fuller between meals and save money, then dig into these coupons.

My #Heart2heart conversation with my dad lasted just under 4 minutes. While it was  shorter than our regular phone calls I hope that it had an impact on him. I doubt that his exercise will every happen, but at least I reminded him about the importance of a healthy diet. His grandkids would love to see Pop more often and I know that he wants to be stronger, but he’s also a creature of habit.  With luck and some lifestyle changes we’ll hopefully discover that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

 

†Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 7 grams of soluble fiber per day from psyllium husk, as in Metamucil and Meta Health Bars, may reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol. One adult serving of Metamucil Powder has 2.4 grams of this soluble fiber. One Meta Health Bar and one serving of Metamucil Fiber capsules have at least 1.8 grams of this soluble fiber.