Okay, it's really not... but apparently that's the opinion of a girlfriend of mine that absolutely HAD to chime in on a pic of my cheesy cauliflower I made last night...

This is a low-fat/no-fat dieter speaking to an Atkins veteran who has lost a lot of weight eating LC... I love how she feels the need to explain the difference between complex and simple carbs to me, like I'm not already educated on the subject...

Her: "Cauliflower is known as a carb. Clean carb but still carb.
They are known as simple carbohydrates. I know you said low carb meal which it is but still carb. Sorry health freak over here. "

Me: "I know. I'm not doing no carb, I'm doing low carb. Cauliflower is about the same carb count as broccoli. I'm a low carb veteran. Lol"

Her: "Yes but love your meals end up being a high fat content with the cheese so really subbing the low carb isn't really doing justification if you aren't eating healthy fats and eating bad ones."

Me: "I'm doing Atkins which actually encourages eating fats."

Her: "Oh okay. Just my input. Sorry."

Me: "More than one way to skin a cat. "

Her: "Indeed. Sorry to bother."

Anyone else get unsolicited advice like the above? It irritates me that some people think there's only ONE way to lose weight and their way is THE way... I concede that bodies are all different and some people may not have as big a success on Atkins as opposed to other methods, but it works for me.

Just had to vent a bit...

If your friend is still on the simple/complex carbohydrate schtick, she's a good ten-fifteen years behind the times even in the low fat world. Everybody knows it's all about the (almost equally faulty) glycemic index, these days.

This is why eating lunch at work is so frustrating for me. Someone always has to walk by and make some comment on what you're eating. I was in a hurry, so I was eating some canned white breast chicken the other day, and someone just had to comment on it. "Don't you want me to bring you something back from Wendy's? If you're trying to eat healthy you should really boil your own chicken." Ugh, stuff like this is why I eat in my car as often as possible.

As far as pushy healthy whole grainers go, she's pretty tame.

Personally, I've never had anyone say something like that to me. But I think you did well in your rebuttals to your girlfriend. Like the ole saying goes, opinions are like a$$holes, everyone has one!

IMHO, you're results will and DO speak for themselves! So keep Fighting the Good Fight!

Onward, ↓ DOWNWARD & MAINTENANCE 4ever!

Jo

Hi! My name is Jo and I’m a recovering morbidly obese carb addict!

You shouldn't have to eat in your car for crying out loud!

Wonder what they would have said if you succumbed to the Wendy's offer?

Stay strong, stay on plan and you'll show 'em all!!!

Onward, ↓ DOWNWARD & MAINTENANCE 4ever!

Jo

Hi! My name is Jo and I’m a recovering morbidly obese carb addict!

Every time I hear comments like this, I am reminded of the co-worker I had a conversation with and it makes me grin. When I started low carb in '09, I had lost 11 pounds my first two weeks. By the end of the third week, I was very noticeably thinner. Co-worker, who had recently been diagnosed with celiac disease, and had also lost a lot of weight starts lecturing me about my weight loss.

"Atkins is so bad for you!"

"Why?"

"You eat so much gross food."

"I am eating the exact same foods you do now."

*looks at me completely confused*

She wasn't getting that me low carbing was EXACTLY what she was doing when she stopped eating grains (she also cut out sugar because she was obese when diagnosed and wanted to lose weight)

People can be so funny sometimes.

My god that's a total facepalm... People choose to lecture on what they are ignorant about.

When I started losing weight one if my colleagues asked what I was doing and I said something similar to Atkins. She then said " ah you'll be thin but die of a heart attack"... Grr

I have become the Cheshire cat..I just smile when people say stuff.. I saw a video by a raw vegan who was teaching the "right answer" to anyone attacking them…and it doesn't matter what you do or eat, someone will call it crazy and dangerous. So he says to just agree with the person" You may have a heart attack! " yes, I might", "You are missing vitamins" . "Well, maybe I am" very passive. Like that, just dont argue. It is verbal Tai Kwan Do..using their negative energy against them, since you aren't fighting back.

Lately I;ve been bitching about my visit with a new Urology NP…I said I was losing weight. she asked what kind- I spoke the truth: on a low cab high fat diet…I made the mistake by saying the word FAT..her eyes started to pop..then she asked about it, and I said "butter"..2nd mistake..I didnt get to say olive oils, avavcado, etc… she gave me a big lecture on 1. cholesterol 2, arteries hardening with fats 3. heart disease, and made me promise to eat more carbs.

So I agreed, and left. Why argue? I now only say LOW CARB, period, even to my dietitian in our group meetings. When the NP said low carb was OK but not fat..what did she expect me to choose from as the 3rd macro selection?

Obviously if carbs are low, protein is low to moderate..then VOILA..fats must be high!

She basically lost my respect as soon as I realized this woman whose job it is to keep people with severe kidney problem alive has not read a book or report on nutrition in a decade..so since 2004 she missed the entire low carb healthy fats research. AND is misinforming her patients. daily. good job.

I've learned to just agree with people too. It shuts them up immediately. A woman ahead of me in the supermarket check-out line looked at the small pack of pork rinds in my basket and said "I didn't think ANYONE ate THOSE anymore!" All snarky and contemptuous. As my way of eating had made me about half her size, I just smiled, looked her in the eye and said calmly "I'm sure you're right". She hesitated for a moment, not sure if I was being snarky now. When she saw I was completely unfazed and the subject was over, for me at least, she picked up her groceries and left. I don't think anybody deserves an explanation about anything I eat, ever.

If I cant be bothered with a lecture/debate, I've started saying I'm on a ketogenic diet. People dont really know what that entails, so not wanting to pry dont ask anymore.

However, if I do want a lecture/debate, I claim Atkins, HIGH FAT LOW CARB, but because I'm thin, there isnt realy anywhere for the "lecturer" to go, other than tell me how fat is bad - but then I just point out I smoke too, so my days are numbered - well, it shuts em up lol

Jo xxx

Wait... they go to Wendy's to buy food someone else made and tell you not to eat food someone else made?!? LOL!

People are crazy.

IMHO if you open the door and start talking about your diet with folks, they seem to feel they've got the right to tell you stuff like that. IMHO never have tell anyone you're on a diet, or what diet it is, unless you can tolerate the backsplash of ridiculous comments.

It's funny. Canned fish is sort of seen as health food--omega 3's and all that. Can a land animal, even if there's no additives, somehow it's junk food.

It seriously got into a conversation about what foods she eats... and I would reply, "Yep, I eat those too..."

It was really sad. lol

HAHA!! Completely agree with this, Jo. It all depends on how ornery I'm feeling that day. :P Socially it's considered "okay" to say ketogenic or even a Paleo lifestyle; even the word "Atkins" has got such an uneducated stigma about it. And every time I read another "breaking edge study" about the real effects of simple carbohydrates and how fat in a diet really isn't as terrible as once believed, I kind of just grin and toss it aside.

You'd think they'd found the holy grail. Little did they know a guy stumbled across this information back in '72. :P