anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

[keriann_forgoodthistime]

seriously - anyone else find it reallly hard not to sit there and tell others why they shouldn't be eating this or that and instead should be eating the way you do?...

my husband, for example - eats the way I do - when I make dinner but he still likes his potatoes and rare occasional diet pop and when we go out he has his bread and at night he eats his junk chocolate (cookies or little debbies), etc...

I know that I can only do for myself and try NOT to constantly be on him (it'd piss him off if I did...) so i really try not to, but it's SO hard to sit by and watch him eat junk.

same with my parents - who ARE diabetic!!!! I'm CONSTANTLY telling my mom about "cool" new things or recipes I've found (in hopes she'll try them and stop eating the other foods - for example almond flour pancakes instead of wheat flour)...

I don't know. Believe me - I KNOW that I can't change anyone but me. BELIEVE ME, I KNOW that...but it's just frustrating to feel like I finally found the "secret" to weight happiness that I want to share it with everyone but they don't wanna listen.

So I just sit back and do what I can for myself and hope that something rubs off...

Anyways, any one else???

[SkinnyGirlInTransit]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

It is hard. It's like you have a wonderful secret that you can share with everyone! Unfortunately, not everyone shares the same enthusiasm. I usually keep my mouth shut and let people come to me. Since they see a smaller me, they've been asking how I've done it - then I get to preach, LOL.

[pagliaccia]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

Yeah, I agree with SkinnyGirl. But OHMYGOD yes, it's difficult to restrain myself from friends and family on yo-yo diets left and right. They inevitably ask, and then I launch into this lecture complete with PowerPoint slides and handouts, and I support them completely if they try Atkins. The reason I never preach to someone out of the blue is because I remember how obnoxious it was when people tried to convince me to try whatever diet they were on. I had to want to change for MYSELF to start doing Atkins properly, otherwise my heart wouldn't have been in it.

[jeff3298]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

I agree,it is hard. I have been on several other brand name diets and when people ask me what I am on, they rip it appart and thier diet is the only diet that I should be on. Now, I just tell them the good doctor has me on a special program, hard from them to rip it apart when I say that.
In time let them see your results, if they ask educate them. Otherwise we are being a nag.

Hang i there, bit e the lower lip and eat your veggies!
Jeff

[MrsChesterDogg]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

When I still worked at the local tax department it was very hard for me to keep my mouth shut! Those people were constantly bringing in doughnuts, cake, chocolate milk and that type of stuff. When we had to work on Saturday, OMG! The supervisor brought in breakfast. Juice, milk, doughnuts, danishes, bagels, cream cheese, jam. I wanted to stand up and say, "Hello! Can you not see that this is the reason you walk around in a daze all the time?" But, I didn't I kept my mouth shut and ate my lunch of salad and protein and watched them all eat their junk.

[chinadoll]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

It can be hard but then I think about how annoying it is when my Weight Watchers friends go on about what I should eat and I realize that unless the listener is as enthused as you are it will probably come across the wrong way. With DH I have found that leading by example works better then nagging. I don't say anything now but when I start losing he usually decides to follow suit, albeit in his own way and not on Atkins. Thats OK with me.

[keriann_forgoodthistime]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

When I still worked at the local tax department it was very hard for me to keep my mouth shut! Those people were constantly bringing in doughnuts, cake, chocolate milk and that type of stuff. When we had to work on Saturday, OMG! The supervisor brought in breakfast. Juice, milk, doughnuts, danishes, bagels, cream cheese, jam. I wanted to stand up and say, "Hello! Can you not see that this is the reason you walk around in a daze all the time?" But, I didn't I kept my mouth shut and ate my lunch of salad and protein and watched them all eat their junk.

exactly!!!! and - what sucks is always being that one person who doesn't partake in everyone else's food gorging - so you look like the anti-social one.

and to bring in something to share that's not "normal" - everyone looks at it like you're "weird"...how can you not like SUGAR?...

[imagood1]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

I'm the only one in my family following Atkins. At first there was a lot of "talk" about what I was eating and how I should just have smaller portions of what they were eating....yea, like that would help me.....

After 5 months we occasionally have that discussion but for the most part we eat the same meat (only mine is NEVER floured) and while they have potatoes, rice or other starches I eat cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, etc.

I've gotten to the point where I don't care if others think I'm weird or odd....this is my way of life - when they decide to get smart I'll be here to help them get started - until then I keep my mouth shut -- I don't want to hear what they have to say and they don't want to hear what I have to say -- it's just easier this way.

[thefemalegreenday]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

I know that feeling.. I don't mind with anyone but my Dad.. He needs to lose weight and he keeps saying 'ill give it a go' to make my mum happy but on the same day he'll stuff his face with junk, its just so fustrating, like he doesn't even want it.

[ziggy]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

this has to be one of the most hardest things in life for me

i go to the gym almost everyday and i see fat people and i want to tell them how to fix there problem

i also see a few anorexic people as well and they look more unhealthy than the fat people

i have talked to a few people about the diet though and i met a really good freind cause of it but have not had that luck with anyone els


also one time someone said something like wow how'd you lose 100 pounds? i said the atkins diet and he said something along the lines of oh better not drink to much bacon greece

i guess when people hear the word atkins diet they think oh the unhealthy bacon greece diet

[neutronnorman]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

I drop hints, but people think I'm wrecking my health on this diet. My dad passed away 7 months ago unexpectedly, so I've moved in with my mom and she sees what I eat. I was born in NYC but I am from a Hispanic background. As you can imagine, the AD is the antithesis of a typical Spanish diet. I get preached at constantly. Well, I'm told that my triglycerides and cholesterol will be sky high and my blood's viscosity should resemble Mobile 1 by now. Of course, the majority of my family are taking statins, Warfarin and hypertensive medications. Before I started the AD I was on 4 hypertension meds. I have cut them down two 1.5 (I monitor it myself with a sphygo mamometer) total medications and my BP hover at about 117 / 72. I will taper off one this week. My stress is way, way down, and my sense of well being has skyrocketed. I know, I know, I should see a doctor before discontinuing my BP meds but fortunatley, my fiance is a doctor, albeit she works in pediatrics and I'm almost also a doctor ( I'm defending my disertation August).

I've yanked out a few journals and have read about low carb diets. The research done on restricted CHO diets has been, at the very least, very incouraging.


Of I go to do Cardio.

[Its just me]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

My mom is the hardest to get on the program with me. She will cook greens and then put sugar in them. When I go to eat I taste the sugar and stop and then she gets offended about it. She says" I cooked greens like you said you could have" and I reply but I can't have the sugar. She will buy sugar free deserts after I tell her I can't have the carbs. She doesn't like the low carb life and before sabotaged me trememdously.
No one in my family supports me but my hubby then sometimes he forgets. But he is getting better. They hear the word Atkins and then start to proceed to tell me how bad of a diet it is. How greasy it is. I eat baked chicken and baked fish. I don't use fat at all so how is it greasy. I know it doesnt matter how the things are cooked. Like eggs can be fried in grease or bacon grease but I dont want all that grease so I bake or use a spray to coat my pan.

Mom is mom and I can't change her but I have learned to take food I can eat so that away I am ok. It works out better and I have brought food.

It is frustrating though.

[pinkfusion]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

VERY hard not to say something! My sister is very overweight and almost all I see her eat is carbs. She stocks my dad up with the food that he "asks for" and it is almost all carbs. You know, the ones that masquerade as healthy (whole wheat, organic, etc) but they are just making HIM more overweight.

It actually makes me angry because she is so insistent and controlling over it and shes pretty much killing herself and doing my dad in with this junk thats how strongly I feel about it.

[liv]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

Well that is tough pink. Maybe you can be a role model and as you become thin your sister may change her mind.

I have become a bit of a food ****. I am not proud of this. The other day I was in a charity run and they served food after which included a granola bar. The ladies beside me were talking about how good and healthy this bar was with oats and fibre and stuff. I could not help blurting out but sugar is the first item on the list of ingredients.

[pinkfusion]

Re: anyone else find it hard NOT to preach to their family/friends?

I hope so liv. I know she notices the difference at this point, so I'm hoping once I lose even more she will ask more specifically what I am doing. She knows I'm dieting low carb but doesnt know its atkins.