What's with the diet shaming?

stlbluefansarah
stlbluefansarah Posts: 18 Member
edited November 27 in Food and Nutrition
I recently restarted my quest to lose weight, and after almost 2 months, I am down about 16 pounds. In the past, I've tried traditional diets and less popular diets, and I finally found one that's working for me (i.e. I'm losing weight and pretty easily able to stick to it.) I am proud of myself. Some have commented on my jeans fitting more loosely, and it feels good. With that loss, a few have asked how I'm doing it, so I tell them. Diet and exercise, of course. But then when I tell them the diet, 90% of people tell me I should be doing this, instead of that, and I'm not doing it right, etc., etc.

It feels like if I were to tell 147 people about my diet, I would get 147 different opinions on what I should be doing instead. And each of those 147 people is somehow an all-knowing nutrition expert who knows THE ONLY healthy way to lose weight, be it low-carb, low-cal, IF, vegan, gluten-free, etc.

Why can't people just say, "Keep up the good work!" and keep their opinions to themselves anymore? I'm not looking for an answer to this question. I guess I'm just looking to vent and commiserate with anyone else who is experiencing the same.
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Replies

  • stlbluefansarah
    stlbluefansarah Posts: 18 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Weight loss is one of those subjects, like parenting, where so many people think they're experts even if they've never done it. It can be so frustrating!

    My approach is to just smile, nod, and thank them for their input.

    Congratulations on your weight loss!

    Thank you!!
  • RadishEater
    RadishEater Posts: 470 Member
    stlbluefansarah wrote: »
    .

    Why can't people just say, "Keep up the good work!" and keep their opinions to themselves anymore? I'm not looking for an answer to this question. I guess I'm just looking to vent and commiserate with anyone else who is experiencing the same.

    Because humans love to share opinions, especially if you tell them something they think you are dieing to hear feedback. And then there are the humans who are going to give your their opinion whether you brought up the subject or not.
    If you don't like the person, acerbic sarcasm or staring at the person until they stop talking works usually or just walking away.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    It depends on who asks as the whether I get into the specifics of logging everything. A lot of times I just say "With just about every diet plan some people succeed but more people fail. I used MyFitnessPal to lose the weight and keep it off; you could use that or your favorite diet plan and succeed. It just comes down to whether you are willing to stick to it and you don't cheat." I say it in a kind way so that I am not being mean in pointing out that they need to lose weight and assuming they must be asking me for advice.
  • KristinLeeD
    KristinLeeD Posts: 218 Member
    I feel that way too - and because of that, unless someone asks the specifics of how I have lost weight, I don't tell them.
    In the last 30 years I have followed so many different diets and eating plans - some have been great, some not. Even the great ones that worked for me in my 20s and 30s do NOT work for me now.

    All of our bodies are different from each others' and different from our own at various stages of life. Because of that I often find myself adding the phrase "this is what works for me at this point in my journey" to my input because my own advice may not even work for me in a few years! As someone else said, weight loss and fitness, like parenting, has so many people becoming opinionated 'experts'!
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    edited June 2018
    I think not going into specifics is key. I’m very lucky, because I’m at home every day, and because it’s winter, I hardly see anyone. I’ll probably run into people in spring, which means I can just put my head down and get on with it in the meantime. I don’t mention anything I’m doing with weight loss or fitness on any social media. I only plan to address what I’m doing if asked, and it’s because of the types of opinions op has mentioned.

    When I am asked, I’m just going to say, ‘good old fashioned hard work!’ If pressed further, I will add, ‘exercise and eating well.’
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