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**RachelnLa** · November 17, 2006, 08:07 AM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

Wow! That's great! I stopped offering up any information until they ask. I found many want to argue what they believe to be the way atkins is (ya know, all that fat and eggs and bacon and all the meat you want!) instead of learning from someone actually doing it. I figure curiosity will win them over and then they'll see I'm still alive and hapy and healthy and atkins surely must be better than they thought LOL

**ValidRouge** · November 17, 2006, 09:02 AM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

Yeah, I'm evangelistic too. I need to put a sock in it sometimes LOL

**boonie stomper** · November 17, 2006, 09:30 AM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

I've ended up saying something about the diet before someone's meal which they'd planned for the party I was with, only to see them go out of their way to add something to the meal at the last minute just for me... which kind of leaves me with a guilt trip, as I feel I've imposed on them or put them in an awkward situation, or hurt their feelings by subliminally not showing appreciation for the meal they were about to serve.

Now I keep my mout shut at least until during the meal, and make sure I appreciate what they serve in some way beforehand. (I also make sure I've got other foods in me or on standby)

**Outback Jess** · November 17, 2006, 09:36 AM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

I keep my head down and my mouth shut...One word of atkins brings out another side to many, which is so surprising...You want to know who is evangelical, fanatical???
The Low-Fat people...They control the world, that and their little green color and they have so constructed the dogma that low carb benefits and facts can STILL easily be soooo dismissed....
Our world? This is our world???

**RachelnLa** · November 17, 2006, 09:45 AM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

Funny you should mention low fat. I have a good friend whose cholesterol was rising. She wanted to diet and exercise to avoid medications. She lost 15 pounds (she is now 105!) and exercises 5 x a week. Her cholesterol is now in the mid range. She doesnt' count calories, but eats really healthy and always has. She's still worried about her cholesterol so I looked up some stuff on the internet for her. She is to have no more than 200 mg of cholesterol a day and it lists how much should come from each type of foods like FitDay does. It also states that a low-fat, low-calorie diet is NOT the way to go. See, you NEED fats. But you need good fats. Olive oil, real butter, heavy cream.. ZERO cholesterol! She has practically cut out fats and cannot understand why her cholesterol will not get lower. I have tried and tried to stress the good fats, but it goes over her head. I need to sit down and look at how much cholesterol we get doing atkins... I'm wondering if that is why people who do atkins see such good lab numbers

**higgies** · November 17, 2006, 09:46 AM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

I'm always in the exact same situation. It starts with the lunch or somethign where I'm eating healthy and they wonder what I'm doing (sad) and I have to start explaining. I usually get a few people to convert or at least get interested.

**julirama723** · November 17, 2006, 11:17 AM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

I guess I'm a rare breed...I keep my head down. I simplify my answers because I DON'T want to get into a big debate of lowfat vs. lowcarb...if someone comments about a meal, or when I refuse candies, I simply say, "I'm eating healthier," or "I gave up sugar." Both of which are true, yet still lend an air of mystery.

I just don't want to be preached at by nay-sayers...and I'm kind of strange, but I HATE it when people copy me. I kind of feel like this is my thing, and I like the fact that I can do it in the midst of all these carboholics I work with and live with.

I was really pi$$ed off a few years ago, when I had been doing atkins for almost a year, and then BAM! all of the sudden it's this popular "diet craze," and my roommate decided if I could do it (because apparently in her mind I had no work ethic or I was a blob?? She really thought she was better than us all) SHE could do it too--but she didn't do atkins. She did a meat/egg fast for a few weeks, lost some weight, then went on a cruise around Christmastime and came back fatter than before...which made me laugh because she was saying things like, oh you know how it goes, everybody gains weight at the holidays...and I said, oh no, I don't know, I've lost 6 more lb. since you've been gone.

Grr. So long story short, I have a few close people who know I'm back on the Atkins wagon, but everyone else gets the cryptic answers.

**imgonnagethin** · November 18, 2006, 12:41 AM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

I guess I'm really lucky, in this part of the world (Middle East) I find most people are more intrigued than anything else - very very rarely I get someone who believes that Atkins is unhealthy - most of the time it's brand new information to them (which only makes me think - hey if i'm educating them, all the better!)

Kay

**theredhead** · November 18, 2006, 12:25 PM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

I could've written your post myself! I try so hard not to get into discussions about it because all of my extended family has heard it all before. I KNOW it annoys them when the subject keeps coming up and I try SO HARD to bite my tongue. Thanksgiving at my brother's will be a real challenge.

**Waterbabe_Helena** · November 19, 2006, 12:55 PM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

To reply to the original question, I think it's inevitable. It's so amazing that you can eat luxurious, tasty foods and still lose weight. Of course you want to tell the world! Of course you want to tell those struggling with hunger on low-fat diets! It's kindness to want to tell people how they can at long last get control of their overeating, their sugar-dependency etc.

On the other hand, I too do not want to have to get into a huge argument every time I sit down to eat with others.

Being a reactive hypoglycaemic, it is relatively easy for me to refuse bread, potatoes pasta, rice, fruit, juices, sugar, when in company because I tell people that these items will make me ill. No-one wants me to be ill, of course!

If I manage to lose so much weight that people actually notice and ask me how I did it, I guarantee and promise to everyone on ADBB that I will be telling everyone who asks that I did it "on Atkins" and I will also tell them about my great cholesterol and triglycerides and BP as well!

In fact, if I manage to lose 100 pounds I am going to write a book about my personal journey. It helps that I happen to own a publishing company: at least I am certain it will be published!

**cleochatra** · November 19, 2006, 02:50 PM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

I used to be an outward proselytizer of all things Atkins. That just led to arguments or me having to defend this woe. Now, instead, I walk the walk. My losses show my success. When people ask me what I'm doing, the gates are then open to give information.

Truth doesn't have to yell or lecture or be proclaimed. It tends to whisper.

**Chasin2Kids** · November 19, 2006, 02:57 PM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

Very insightful, Cleochatra!

**Curveegrrl** · November 19, 2006, 03:49 PM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

I sometimes get a little nervous when I see people talking about "converting" people to Atkins. I can remember a few times in my life, some over enthusiastic, well meaning individual has gone off at me about how wonderful this or that diet was and how much they've loss. I'm always very happy for them, and tell them so. But there was always a pause at the end of their story. They say, "Yes, it's great...YOU should try it!" And I want to push them down some steps! Get away from me with ye unsolicited advice!

Yes, I started doing Atkins because a friend of mine was on it. But she never actually suggested that I try it too. However, when I saw how fabulous she looked (she'd lost about 70lbs since I'd last seen her) there was nothing I could do but want to try.

So I just do the program. I eat my fats and veggies. I exercise. I shrink. If people ask me about it, I tell them. How much detail I go into depends on who's asking. If it's someone from home, I explain that I've cut out refined carbs, or that I'm doing Atkins. If it's one of my Japanese collegues, I'll say "Tansui kabutsu...DAME!!!" (Carbohydrate...NO!!) and make a big X with my arms. (Of course, at that point they'll smile and nod, and offer me a bowl of rice...but it is getting easier.)

I want to be an example! And a good one, to boot!

**imgonnagethin** · November 20, 2006, 01:29 AM

Re: The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

I know what you mean curveegirl, I always hated people who try to push their beliefs down my throat - it was one of the reasons I was very resistant to ANY diet for so long.

With me it's more of a WOW this makes so much sense I have to share t with the world - but I never, ever try to convince someone to do it - I know from my own experience that these are decisions we can only make for ourselves.

Kay

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The "Evangelical" side of Atkins!

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