How do you compare to your friends and family?

Need2Exerc1se

LadyTalulah wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

do not become a ski-bore!

When people go skiing for the first time - they come back all enthused and tell everybody all about it as often as possible

do not do the same with your 'healthy choices' - they are yours and yours alone and no other bugger is interested in the slightest

it is basically none of your business

I get what you're saying, but there is a difference between constantly nagging someone to change their whole lifestyle and encouraging loved ones to get healthier. For exemple, my boyfriend is constantly complaining about how tired and run down he is. I know a big part of it is due to the fact his diet is terrible. I'm not going to sit back and say "it's none of my business" when I think I can help him feel better. Basically I tell him that he needs to eat better if he wants to feel better (and he agrees). I don't let him complain about his health if he's not going to do anything to fix it. That's like a smoker complaining about his cough. Stop whining and do something to make it better!!

Yeah, I agree with this. Although, when it comes to family that I love, it doesn't even matter if they are complaining. If I find 3 cartons of ice cream in my diabetic mother's freezer, I say something. In fact, I check her freezer every time I'm there.

MarziPanda95

Pretty much none of my friends or family are health conscious, at least not the close ones, other than one. One of my best friends is losing weight with MFP, too, and we go swimming together and will run together once it's warmer. In comparison, my other friends are almost all overweight and doing nothing about it. My dad occasionally goes cycling but he's pretty overweight and doesn't understand that he can't out cycle his bad diet. My 82-year-old grandad does aquafit, though!
My sister is also not healthy, but in the opposite way. She's underweight and aiming to get more underweight, which can be just as unhealthy as being overweight.

AllOutof_Bubblegum

I'm the most health-conscious of my family. My sister makes a big show of being into health foods and green smoothies and thinks sugar is the devil, and goes on these "sugar cleanses" for 10 days or so, then snaps and eats entire pints of Talenti in one sitting. I've tried to show her how moderation makes life so much easier, but she's either totally incapable of moderating her sweets intake,, or else refuses to listen to her little sister's advice.

Annanna91

Whilst I know that my family will always be there for me, I often feel like an outcast for the healthy lifestyle which I lead. All I get is moaned at for "working out too much" and "not eating enough." But I seriously workout because I love doing so and I eat for my bodies needs and normally consume around 2000calories a day before exercise.

Non-health conscious people never understand this lifestyle choice.

PammieSuzyQ

LadyTalulah wrote: »

PammieSuzyQ wrote: »

do you know what's worse? watching those alcoholic, pizza cramming, cigarette smoking, drug abusing, carboholics living *kitten* forever in their hugely grotesque obese bodies, going to the hospitals for strokes, diverticulitis, spinal stenosis, heart events, stent placements and seemingly living forever. die damn you die! you don't deserve to abuse a body that once backpacked for god's sake, and get to live!!!!

oops! did i say that out loud?

I was had a heroin addict (don't ask) comment on how bad my smoking was for my health. I had to laugh, ironic much? I have quit since then. I bet he hasn't...

I quit meth over 22.75 years ago. I quit smoking all the time, for months at a time, up to four or five months. I was a non smoker when he met me, I even managed to stay that way living with him for 11 years. Now I'm struggling again.

Fortunately we don't live together, it just galls me to see him living on and on and whining about how lousy he feels when he refuses to change one damn thing. It's my healthcare that takes care of him. If he didn't need healthcare so badly, I could divorce him.

callsitlikeiseeit

i have a cousin who is really kind of crazy (in so many more ways than one) and if iactualy saw her practicing what she PREACHES.... I wouldn't give it a second thought, but if you say you're a strict vegan and then chow down on pork ribs in the next breath like you haven't eaten in weeks, well..... LOL Ironically, shes the thinnest in the family. go figure that one out she also tends to take Dr Oz as the gospel so, theres that.

So if we take HER out of the equation, I would say I am probably the one who is most likely to look at (and take into consideration) food labels and nutrition facts.

Francl27

My parents were never really health conscious. I grew up eating what I wanted when I wanted, and it shows... My mother is diabetic now though so she watches what she eats, and she doesn't eat much, but she's still overweight. My brother has always been able to eat pretty much what he likes all day without gaining weight... My twin sister is overweight now, says she doesn't eat much, but her choice of food is pretty bad, and she drinks a lot of calories. I'm the only one who exercises, as far as I know, although my sister does flyball with her dog on the week end.

On my husband's side, it's all over the place, some are pretty health conscious and just don't seem to eat much, others just eat out all the time and are obese. As far as I know none of them exercises though.

PammieSuzyQ

ahoy_m8 wrote: »

PammieSuzyQ wrote: »

do you know what's worse? watching those alcoholic, pizza cramming, cigarette smoking, drug abusing, carboholics living *kitten* forever in their hugely grotesque obese bodies, going to the hospitals for strokes, diverticulitis, spinal stenosis, heart events, stent placements and seemingly living forever. die damn you die! you don't deserve to abuse a body that once backpacked for god's sake, and get to live!!!!

oops! did i say that out loud?

^^this made me laugh. Thanks for that.

OP it's an interesting question. My friends and family are really diverse, upon reflection. My brother is an incredibly athletic outdoorsman year round, especially for a guy who has a real job, and my mother is morbidly obese and has been immobile flat on her back since her hip replacement in September. Not her first joint surgery, either. She always nags my daughter and me to be less active so we don't end up like her. For real. It's not the extra 150 pounds she put on, nooooo....., it's that she was "too active" in her youth. Riiiiight.

Your question made me realize, though, that my friends are big drinkers. That is one thing I have had to moderate with age to maintain my weight. I thought about putting that in the confessions thread.... that it was weight maintenance that caused me to moderate my drinking vs. some other more noble reason.

I'm glad that I made somebody laugh! It was also a great vent, LOL! Also meant to be an eye opener on the fact that we cannot make ANYONE change.

Despite our love for them, and even if they really love us in return. Change comes from within the depths of our soul, it is a strong desire, nay, a NEED. Until someone reaches that point, all the soft gentle murmerings, the sweetest kindest language, the more urgent naggings, and finally the strenuous rantings will not move anyone.

I stayed with my husband for 28 years before I left. The man is still self destructing. I will give him credit for quitting meth a whole 15 months after I did. I think when I screamed at him after he urged me to use some while I was pregnant, it finally hit him what he was doing to me and to our family. But he used sudafed tablets until he stroked out ten years later, and now he drinks whenever he can scrape up enough money. We all cut him off of alcohol. His heart is still weakening from the smoking and alcohol, but none of us can stop or change him.

So anyone thinking they can change anyone else. Please go and bang your head against a brick wall and tell me how long before you knock it down.

Adc7225

I have a good friend that I can best describe as one who watches and buys-into infomercials, Dr. Oz, etc.! We went grocery shopping one day and I was honestly trying to hide my cart and hurry up and check out so she couldn't see what I had. Normally people in the store will comment on my cart with saying "you cook" there are usually all raw ingredients, very few if every cans or boxes. My friend eats all the 'buzzword' foods of the moment, because they help your health so much and guess in between her chiropractor, acupuncturist and Andrew Lessman regimen she is a picture of health. I don't judge her eating and prefer that the subject of food never come up. Funny because one of the things that we enjoy doing together is wine tasting and dining out.

One day she called me a clean eater and I nearly chewed her head off. I really try hard not to discuss food with people when it comes to healthy ideas. Now we can talk all day about where to get the best pizza, ice cream, doughnuts, etc. - like to said I don't judge!

cheshirecatastrophe

Family - my parents are my inspiration. They both deal with significant health problems and yet manage to wring every last ounce of athletic ability and participation out of life. My dad! my dad has an average of one doctor visit per week, yet he and I are long-distance bike buddies. We have roughly equivalent routes on Strava and compete weekly in the summer. He usually wins.

Friends/colleagues - Among other things, I am in grad school. There is about a 50/50 split between people who eat their stress and people who marathon their stress.

I don't talk about food and dieting in meatspace as a matter of policy.

seltzermint555

I feel like I've always been a healthy person in a lot of ways even when I was morbidly obese, and I actually think it's unfortunate that so much of the time we define "health" as what a person eats (or doesn't eat) and how much they exercise. To me some of the MAJOR important factors in health are stress management, adequate rest & quality sleep, being proactive when health problems arise, taking illness seriously, following medical advice & common sense, caring for your skin, teeth, eyes, feet, mind, etc...and avoiding drugs/smoking and/or using alcohol with serious moderation.

For me all that's really changed in losing 140 lb is portion control. I was healthy, now I suppose I'm healthier...and at risk for fewer obesity related health problems.

I just hate this idea that "healthy people eat clean and work out" - there's so much more to it than that, in fact even my little list above just scratched the surface of what encompasses HEALTH.

tomatoey

Everyone I know who's over ~32 is paying attention to their health