Why is it that when we try to eat healthy, everyone around us starts to come out of the woodwork as experts? I have had personal experience with this in the past as Im sure most people have. You start to change the way you eat and instantly its almost like the people around you become offended that you would even try. They start to list every time that they have failed in the past as though if they couldnt do it, you shouldnt try. It never fails. Show up to a family gathering and pull out your Tupperware with pre portioned chicken, brown rice and broccoli and people look at you like you have lost your mind. Then the questions start, questions like; Why are you eating that? or whats wrong with what we are eating? or how long do you have to stick to that? or you are still doing that diet, youre not done yet?. You will get the same effect at work. The sad part is that eventually it can wear you down. You will start to listen to people who have no idea about the internal struggle you go through day in and day out when it comes to food. They have no clue about your struggle yet they have no problem telling you stuff like; come on, its Christmas! You can treat yourself. or Its only one bite, it wont hold you back or you cant deprive yourself forever. The fact is that these people arent experts. Most of the time they arent even in shape. Even if they are in shape, you should question their motive because they still have no clue about your personal conflicts so their advice is invalid. What most people fail to realize is that people who have been overweight have a hard time only having one bite. Thats how we get overweight. In my experience, overweight people are either all in with healthy living or they are all out, and that one bite or special occasion is the difference between success and failure. So how do we avoid the constant borage of negative comments, suggestions and questions? I do it by educating the people around me. I find that this approach is the best way to offset the negativity. The ones around you may actually care about you and have good intentions. They may be unknowingly projecting their own worry and self doubt onto you. So when someone asks, how long do you plan on sticking to that?, you can answer, as long as I want to be healthy. When someone says, but its your birthday (or whatever random event), its ok to have a piece. You can you can reply, if I were to let loose on every birthday, holiday, anniversary, work party, weekend or vacation, I would hardly ever eat healthy. There is something like that going on all the time. When someone asks if you are on a diet you can simply inform them that you dont diet, you just eat according to your health goals. Learning how to reply to people can drastically alter the way people communicate with you about your lifestyle choices. Another thing is, you cant expect those around you to agree with what you are doing if you make it seem un appealing. If you are constantly complaining about having to eat the same foods or whining about being restricted to certain foods than of course people will respond negatively because thats how you make it appear. If you decide to eat the same five foods at the same time of the day than thats your decision. The fact remains that eating healthy involves a huge variety of foods with unlimited ways of preparation and combination. If you decide to box yourself in to a select variety with a select way of preparation than you are willingly setting yourself up for failure. Eating healthy is not easy but it can be made easier if you change your approach and response when inquired about your new healthy lifestyle. If this article was informative, please like and share :)
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 22:06:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015