So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

[cleochatra]

I usually wait until there's an opportunity, either through a compliment or a discussion about weight loss or exercise and then I say I've been following Atkins.

I also usually carry an Atkins book with me to karate and other places where I have time to read.

I know Saturday I got into a bit of a debate with another person who stated that skim milk is best for children. I told her skim milk has little staying power, especially for people with blood sugar issues and that high-fat milk had better satiety and sticking value, dietitically.

I also used my kids as examples-- all have lost a substantial amount of weight and are more fit since we switched to a higher-protein diet coupled with full-fat milk, as opposed to skim or a lower-fat.

She was smug about it, but hey-- why allow myths to perpetuate, especially when they don't apply to all people?

[sallyseachange]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

Hmmmm.... I suppose, by example really. Only way to go here in Italy. Nobody's interested in low carb in the slightest... With all the pasta, pizza, pane etc... they naturally gravitate towards low fat diets. Low carb is not pushed at all over here. I mean...can't have Buitoni and Barilla going out of business now, can we???!!

Did have some success with my vegetable lady in the islands, though! She wrote the whole translated Atkins diet down on a brown paper veg bag, while letting all her customers wait for their daily fruit and veg! Lol. She was delighted. The customers, less so. Was really pleased though, when I went back to the islands a couple of months later, she'd lost six kilos!!

Sal

[imashrinkydink]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

This has been such a dilemma for me....I teach 7th-12th grade and I am a Family and Consumer Science teacher i.e. (home ec) anyway I teach Nutrition classes and the kids, girls especially, are always asking me how I lost weight, It's really hard because I feel like such a hypocrite, I have to follow state standards and teach what is required, even though I don't agree with a lot of it. Somedays it's tough .....especially when I have quotes in my nutrition book like this " An abnormal buildup of ketone bodies in the bookstream which is known as ketosis, can be dangerous." among others....it's very frustrating! Anyway when it comes to other people I ,like Cleo , wait until someone brings it up and I carry around several books also and just tell them it worked great for me.

[sallyseachange]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

Can imagine that would be very hard indeed Iamashrinkydink.

[pipee_pl]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

I think this is a fighting windmills situation. over here low fat is just starting and wouldn't you know it so is the weightwatchers and all the other b.s. I find it very frustrating to watch people give their children chocolate bars and chips as a lunch, along with a frozen pizza. i realize being in Poland is a different situation because none of these consumer goods were available before- but nobody was fat before, either.
My daughter eats a healthy lunch at school, it is provided and it is homecooked, usually a meat, soup, vegetable and a starch- normally potatoes. At home she seems to be very picky with me but i do my best to get fish and veg in to her.
living over here has been beneficial so far because the low fat is only starting- so it is not out of the ordinary to see people eating what i do. i think my mother in law, who luckily for me lives in canada, will have the biggest problem with this. she has been on every diet known to man and she is a laxative abuser- she has many emotional issues that she uses food to comfort with.- i can't help her, i don't want to help her- this may sound selfish but she is the type of person that would argue with the Pope. I am working towards the day where i can show her what i have accomplished and tell her exactly how i did it and hopefully it will shut her up for a minute or two.
and i ultimately think that is how this way of life will be explained- with the results!

[wannabethintoo]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

I don't mention it for fear of starting an argument. My personal trainer was giving me such a hard time about it that I now lie and tell him that I'm doing low fat.

[ttdriver]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

I never shy away from telling people how LETHAL refined foods are, regardless of what "plan" you follow.

People say to me all the time "I bet you've been thin all your life..." or "You probably don't know what its like to be overweight..." That's my cue and I take it!! At that point, I begin my Atkinsology lesson .. and tell them that I eat better than I ever have, that I have boatloads of energy, that I run 30-35 miles a week, and that I've easily maintained my weight loss for 4 years while enjoying full fat foods that are delicious!

Betty

[k5commando]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

I tell them I cut out refined sugar, white flower, junk food, pop, trans fats, etc. and I now eat whole grains and healthy food. Most of them think it's great till I say the "A" word, some just freak out, others listen and learn. I am the proof that it works so how can they speak bad about it? Amazingly I have friends who have been on weight watchers for years and still weigh the same as when they started. Proof is in the sugar free pudding people, can't deny it.

I have had some people say things like "but you can eat anything you want and don't have to worry about being fat" without knowing the old me. I just smile and break out my gym membership photo that was taken the day I started. Their eyes pop out of their heads. Those are the people I guide to the Atkins side of the force.

[Terry]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

This has been such a dilemma for me....I teach 7th-12th grade and I am a Family and Consumer Science teacher i.e. (home ec) anyway I teach Nutrition classes and the kids, girls especially, are always asking me how I lost weight, It's really hard because I feel like such a hypocrite, I have to follow state standards and teach what is required, even though I don't agree with a lot of it. Somedays it's tough .....especially when I have quotes in my nutrition book like this " An abnormal buildup of ketone bodies in the bookstream which is known as ketosis, can be dangerous." among others....it's very frustrating! Anyway when it comes to other people I ,like Cleo , wait until someone brings it up and I carry around several books also and just tell them it worked great for me.

By example works for me but I also am in a tough place being a kitchen manager of a local elementary school. We are held to state regulations with certain nutritional requirements. I take my own high fat lunch each day and bypass what my kitchen has to offer. Several staff members are always inquiring about what I eat and have been quite supportive of the program for me.

I am being asked to do presentations in the class rooms now and that really makes me feel like a hypocrite.

[Analog6]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

I've lost count of the number of comments along the lines of:

1. How bad it is for you - I counter this one by saying I have lost 21 kgs in 14 weeks and am now working out at the gym 5 days a week instead of stuffing my face on the couch - how can this be bad for me? Shuts 'em RIGHT up!

2. They have heard it killed Dr Atkins though - give them facts not BS

3. It's very high fat - yeah, and so is bread, plus it's got lots of sugar in it. I tell them what I eat and find their idea of high fat is actually high ADDED fat - which our WOE is not.

I just try to be a good example - and everyone I see regulalry tells me how much better and happier I look, so it has to be doing me good. I avoid getting into arguments with rabid proponents of low fat by closing with "Well, it suits me and I can stick to it".

Then I shoot 'em (just joking).

[Chris]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

I'm afraid I'm getting the reputation of being a bit of an evangelist with my friends and relatives. Except in my version of salvation, the road to HayYull (that's how we say it in the South -- "HayYull") is paved with sugar, refined flour, rice, potatoes, and trans fats. Some sinners do argue with me about how bad all the fat is, but the majority just listen and nod politely (as they probably do with most proselytizing!)

I'm afraid that my church doesn't have many converts, yet, however. In the past, I thought I had managed to save a few souls, but I think most all of them have fallen back into their old deadly sinful ways. The older of my two sisters is an interesting case. She found the way to glory before I did (in fact, at that time, being the miserable sinner that I was, I actually warned her about how dangerous her high fat intake was! ) She lost a great deal of weight, was doing wonderfully, and then, for some reason I don't understand, succumbed to the sugar devil's temptation and fell from grace . At 5'1" tall, she now weighs a bit over 200 pounds. She's still actually a true believer, but, for now, at least, just won't live by what we're taught in "the good book."

I haven't given up, though.

My sister-in-law, Nancy, is my next target while I'm down in NC visiting my folks. She and my brother won't be arriving until the 23rd, so I've only got a few days to work on her. She's not terribly overweight, but could probably stand to lose 25 to maybe even 35 pounds -- but, she's type II diabetic, and is already suffering from some of the problems that brings. The first thing I'm going to ask her to do is read the thread "It's the carbs that are killing us" in the Most Memorable Posts forum. (By the way, if there are any of you who haven't read it, you must do so -- it's a real eye opener!) I love Nancy, dearly -- she's one of the sweetest ladies in the world, and I'm so in hopes that I can guide her to the light before it's too late! If so, you'll hear my "Hallelujah" for miles around.

Do I hear an "AMEN, brother," out there?

[ttdriver]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

AMEN, CHRIS!

Betty

[Alienore]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

I just make it plain that Atkins is what works for me and that I can recommend it as a way of life. People comment on what I eat and I smile sweetly and ask what's so unhealthy about a salad for lunch?

'It's so expensive with all that meat' they say. Depends on what you buy is my answer - normally I buy in bulk or grab the offcuts when they're put in the reduced section of the grocery store. That way I get a lot of meat without paying full price for it. I think it's crazy that meat is as expensive as it is while confectionery, cakes etc are low in price. So many families on low incomes buy all the rubbish because it'll fill the children up - okay, yes, it does that but it also gets them addicted to sugar in all its evil. Nary a piece of fruit or veg will they buy but they grab bulk packets of sugary-laden starch...

I'm not the best in the world about sticking to my Atkins but I do know that it works for me. This is NOT a quick-fix 'diet'. This is for life.


Deborah

[SugarFreeSheila]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

I am the proof that it works so how can they speak bad about it?

Precisely.

As far as anyone claiming we eat "all that meat" on Atkins, it is important to remind this misinformed individual that Atkins is not a high-protein diet, but a low-carbohydrate way of eating. Those who eat excessive amounts of meat/protein do so entirely of their own accord. I also always point out that vegetables are the mainstay of the program, and that I eat no more meat now than I did prior to Atkins: just once a day.

At this point, the person begins rethinking the Atkins lifestyle ... It is 10-15 seconds that will always be worth my time, as I thought the very same way in the '90's!

[Moochiecat]

Re: So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

I don't usually volunteer I'm on Atkins unless somebody directly asks...which of course they usually do. If they start giving me their opinion (generally it's an uneducated opinion) I will pretty much stop them short and tell them that a lot of people aren't quite clear on what Atkins is all about and suggest they read the book if they want the whole story.

I'll give them the Cliff's Notes by saying I've cut out the whites (sugar, flour, pasta), drink more water than I used to and since I was always a fan of vegetables, I'm happy as a clam. I think it's important to make the point that Atkins includes the veggies! I'll also talk about how Atkins strives to keep a persons blood sugar levels on an even keel by the choice of foods we eat, and eating smaller meals through the day.

Again, if people decide to get belligerent on it, I'll say that until they read the book there's no way we can really have any sort of real conversation.
Generally though, people are so amazed by my progress I don't get much of that.