My mother, 82, lives with my husband and me. She has mild dementia. I make a balanced dinner for the three of us every night (protein, vegetables, potatoes or rice) and I make her lunch on most days. Each day or over night she regularly eats up to a 1/2 gallon of ice cream in one sitting or 12 or more cookies at a time. I have tried hiding treats from her (so there some left for us) or I go through periods where I stop bringing sweets in the house. When she can't find sweets she asks me nonstop to go to the store. She will then eat other things to excess--crackers, raisins, yogurt, whatever she can find. She doesn't remember overeating and isn't gaining weight. She also gets angry when I suggest she put the ice cream or whatever away and got very mad when I mentioned it to her doctor. Question: If she's generally healthy (her cholesterol and weight are within normal ranges) does it matter if she eats that much?
maybe give her some peanuts in the shell to keep her hands busy and swap out the ice cream for frozen yogurt
I feel badly when my mom eats too much carbs and sugars. I'm no saint, but she is overweight with RA and sugar causes inflammation, etc. Sugar is very addictive, unfortunately.
Is there a trigger to this snacking? Is it dessert after dinner? Maybe there's a way to change the evening routine to break the cycle? Or maybe if you provide her a reasonable amount of dessert before she can grab the whole container of ice cream and dig in? Would she be willing to overeat on something healthier? Would she accept a smaller dessert and a small cup of herbal tea to keep her busy and fill her up?
Can you leave out something reasonably healthy for her to binge on? Yogurt is a lot healthier than icecream in excess, and perhaps you can think of other things. Good luck!
I guess weight loss is a mandatory reporting event