I now have lost enough weight to have people start to notice and make comments. The problem is when people ask I hate telling them that i've lost all the weight on a low carb diet. It seems the mere mention makes people suddenly become doctors in their own minds. Every person in world suddenly is a nutritionist telling me how much damamge i clearly am doing to my body. However, if you can look at me and see a difference, how can you argue that my diet doesn't work?

Maybe try telling them you are "cutting back" instead of telling them the details of being on a low carb diet. Or become as educated as you can and try to explain to people the benefits of LC? That never works for me so I just tell people I am "cutting back"

Congrats on all the lost weight!! Youll be to your goal in no time!

I won't even use the term "low carb" unless I'm confident that whoever I'm talking to has half a clue. I usually just describe it as "no sugar, tons of vegetables, plain meats, all of it mostly home cooked, not processed."

I always say "I gave up junk food" that way they make their own assuptions as to what junk food is.

Good suggestions so far. Truth is, nobody really wants to hear about your diet, no matter what it is. Makes 'em feel guilty. Come here and talk to us! We LOVE success stories!

Enjoy the compliments.

Never worked for me, either, though I spent the first two years trying (slow learner). I do variations on what the previous posters have said: I've stopped eating junk food, I don't do sugar anymore, am avoiding transfats, am focussing on natural foods and staying away from highly-processed ones. Depends on the audience.

Don't worry - after a while, when people see your continued success, they'll start keeping their opinions to themselves.

the one thing i have find from talking to alot of people is their lack of understanding of what a low carb diet it, it's not just a DIET, it's a way of life... I lost 100pds the first time I was on atkins in 6 months and i decided i wanted to reward myself on my daughters b-day with some cake.. that was all she wrote.. i gained it all back+ I spent the last several yrs trying the low fat aproach and the portion control when it finally dawned on me the thing I had the most success with was the thing i should be doing.. hope my rambling helps in some way.

the first time i lowcarbed, i got lucky because there were 3 of us in the office who were all trying to lose weight... 2 of us were on atkins, the other guy was doing nutrasystem (or something similar). everyone knew what we were doing, everyone commented on how great the lowcarbers looked and how the nutrasystem-er looked tired, pale, and worn out. i couldn't have asked for a better set of conditions.

this time, my coworkers haven't commented at all, when i told my fiance about it the first time, he just shrugged and said "ok... if you know it works, that's fine with me." anyone else who asks, i just tell them i'm "being good about what i eat", and i try very hard not to mention lowcarbing at all unless they specifically ask about it.

if people start giving you a hard time or giving you all the standard cliches, you can just shrug and say "well it's been working for me." if they persist, change the subject. it's your body, not theirs.

i am not ashamed ever to say i do atkins. the only problem is i have trouble sticking. when i do lose i am lucky buc all i get is compliments!!!

I actually had one woman tell me "I could never eat all this food" when I showed her my plan. I mean really, did she think she was fooling anyone when she was carrying around 200 lbs. Folks just don't understand that they have been duped by the government and the media when it comes to lc. But now even the government is basing their food pyramid on the glycemic index. It's about time. Although I don't see the media jumping on the band wagon and refuting the stories they wrote about how bad lc is for you. Ya can't win sometimes.

there ya go!!!!!

I catch so much grief at work for the way I eat (I'm required to eat lunch and dinner with the boys I work with and I 'could' get free meals there). So an obese coworker tells me, "You eat like a little birdy..." (which I don't )..."That's not good". As if somehow his choice of food and the current path of his health is better than mine (and I like the guy and I'm not going to insult him but it's somewhat obvious that I am choosing a healthier life-style). And the boys are sooo interested in why I eat what I do. The times that I don't tell them to 'worry about themselves', I tell them that I need to modify my diet in order to stabilize my blood sugar unless they would prefer me to be even grouchier than I currently am .

LOL...good one JJJ.

Thanks for all the support and suggestions. It helps to know others have gone through the same thing.

When I speak with people I don't know well and am not sure how they will react, all I say is that "I eat healthy and exercise".. and that's the truth, I do eat healthy and I do exercise.. So there..


Some people are so indoctrinated with the "low fat" High Carb diet that is it like a religious to them and no evidence in the world will change their minds.. Even if I say that I lost over 120lbs over 5 years, and my blood pressure, sugar levels, and cholesterol levels are all lower and perfect, they will still say: "but what about the long term effects"

There is no use.. just tell them what they want to hear, and let them die fat and stupid..LOL

I remember when I first started getting asked 'what I was doing', at first I was like '....nothing', then I got so excited I wanted to shout "LOW CARB" from the roof tops, only to hear people predict my horrible fate!
I changed that all now. I watch what I eat, and I have elminated sugar and processed flour from my diet.
The next step for me was a jealously thing. One lady tried desperately to humiliate me by constantly mocking my food choices, shouting down the hall that I was "on a diet", and she made an a$$ of herself.
At first I was really affected by this... but kept coming on here for support and eventually she came to terms with the changes.
This is the place for support, out there is the place to be vauge unless you think the person might be receptive and benefit from your knowlege... then I take the risk and share.