OMG. Have to rant.

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cHaRlIe0411
cHaRlIe0411 Posts: 137 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So, I was talking to my mom while making a recipe involving cocoa powder. She started telling me in a joking matter that I should think of buying artificial cocoa powder because I was using so much of it and it can be expensive. I replied that I was trying to cut out processed and 'fake' foods, so I would never buy 'fake' cocoa powder.

And you know what she said?

She said that she thought it was a BAD idea to stop eating processed foods with chemicals in them. She really thinks that eating less processed foods with all that junk in it is bad! To justify what she was saying, she told me that if I'd cut out processed foods, then I would go eat in a restaurant one day and be sick because my body isn't used to eating chemicals. Apparently she knew people who reacted that way.

Um..... Okay. It's not NORMAL for your body to eat something and get sick because of how much bad stuff there is in it. Logically, you shouldn't be eating it. I replied that I'd rather live a healthier, longer life with good food than to keep eating processed garbage and risk being sick once in a while if I DO eat junk. I told her how many people die per year just because they don't eat properly.

And she said.... that she knew more people who had died from eating clean foods and getting sick than people dying from eating junk. Excuse me? How many people die of strokes and heart diseases every year because of all the bad fats, sugars, and sodium found in processed foods? A ****load, that's how many. But she just made the face that she makes that means she doesn't care what I have to say and she doesn't believe all this health stuff.

It's hard to be surrounded with people like that when I try to be healthy. There's also my dad who eats french fries with every meal and my sisters who eat 3 cups of pasta and hot dog weiners almost every day. Lucky for me, I have a very supportive boyfriend who supports my new food choices and doesn't endlessly repeat that I'm "not eating enough steak".

Sorry, mom, but last time I checked you weren't a nutritionist. Neither am I, but at least I took classes in nutrition and take time to make my research...

Sorry guys, I just had to rant. Sometimes enough is enough.

Replies

  • cbevan1229
    cbevan1229 Posts: 326 Member
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    Good rant. I'd give it an 8 - I think you could have gone bigger.

    I know lots of people who will say this kind of off-the-cuff nonsense too. Some people will feel threatened when you begin making healthy changes for yourself. Maybe with your mom she takes it personally - feels like you are rebelling against the way she raised you. Or maybe she just doesn't like looking at her own eating habits and realizing they could use some tweaking. Rationalization can be a powerful defense mechanism. When you have this kind of conversation, just say, "ok Mom, thanks for the advice" and ignore it once you get off of the phone.

    And keep ranting here, because you need a place to let your frustration out.
  • chimpy_chimp
    chimpy_chimp Posts: 106 Member
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    Some people will feel threatened when you begin making healthy changes for yourself. Maybe with your mom she takes it personally - feels like you are rebelling against the way she raised you. Or maybe she just doesn't like looking at her own eating habits and realizing they could use some tweaking. Rationalization can be a powerful defense mechanism. When you have this kind of conversation, just say, "ok Mom, thanks for the advice" and ignore it once you get off of the phone.

    ^^^THIS...I have heard similar arguments from people who are afraid to eat clean or who do not know how.
  • mehaffeymk
    mehaffeymk Posts: 154 Member
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    haha, i love the backwards logic of your mom! it makes me lol.
  • Katahna
    Katahna Posts: 326 Member
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    lol, some people really do have the world all sorted out in their own minds don't they =P
  • julieh1973
    julieh1973 Posts: 128 Member
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    "Diet Sabotagers". They are every where and I never understand their logic.
  • cHaRlIe0411
    cHaRlIe0411 Posts: 137 Member
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    Yeah, it's probably the fact that she is trying to lose weight, but she is losing very slowly because she refuses to change her diet.
  • anabell31
    anabell31 Posts: 268
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    This reminds me of what I heard in the grocery store today. An older man was talking to his wife when I walked by and I heard him say "But I love hydrogenated oil..." Made me giggle
  • HorseWithNoName27
    HorseWithNoName27 Posts: 188 Member
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    Understandable rant is understandable. If my mother acted like that I would be similarly in shock. Then again, she is in denial about her own weight issues and drinks the diet sodas by the gallon...I just recently ditched the stuff but every time I go to my parent's, it's offered to me. No thanks, I'll have a glass of chemical dihydrogen oxide (H2O) instead...:laugh:

    A lot of people feel threatened or attacked by others' dietary beliefs or practices. It's almost like discussing religion in a lot of circles. Sad, really...
  • gaylynn35
    gaylynn35 Posts: 854 Member
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    :huh: I think your mom maybe feels jealous of what you have accomplished. Keep up the good work!!!
  • ElBo58
    ElBo58 Posts: 44
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    Lol. Your body needs preservatives...how do you think people live so long???
    i'm obviously kidding. But there does seem to be a generation of people who believe modern chemicals are great, so MORE modern chemicals are MORE great. My in laws feel that way.
  • floersh21
    floersh21 Posts: 44
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    I agree with @cbevan. I got a lot of "you're gonna get too skinny!" when I first started this process, and it was ALWAYS from people who were insecure with their weight themselves. You mother is clearly being irrational, but it probably IS because she feels threatened and doesn't want to believe that she might need to reconsider what she herself is putting in her body. It's so frustrating to see loved ones continue with the bad habits that we've dropped, but it's like the archbishop said...you must first change yourself if you expect to change the world.
  • RealMattHopkins
    RealMattHopkins Posts: 75 Member
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    It's hard when people seemingly want you to fail. Just remember, it's not about you: it's about THEM.
  • Redtango76
    Redtango76 Posts: 144
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    I agree ! Great Rant ! Mom probably is afraid you will try to change her too so she is trying to sabbatoge your success . This is a common thing when someone tries to make positive changes in their lifestyle . Friends and family start to squirm! Keep it up ! Your making great choices !
  • Eve23
    Eve23 Posts: 2,352 Member
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    OMG< I have never heard of such a backwards argument. You should be quite proud of yourself actually. Because even if your family doesn't understand right now, you are taking control over your bodies fuel. A car does better with clean, high octane fuel and our bodies are the same. The better we treat them the better we are.

    :drinker:
  • Superbritt2drescu
    Superbritt2drescu Posts: 273 Member
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    I would've started laughing at her. I would hope to get sick from eating junk. That would remind me that I don't need that. Food is nourishment in my world. My family has been getting on my sis saying she don't eat enough. Sh eat 6/8 times a day. She says she eats so much it feels like she could explode each day. But you have to fuel your body the more you push it. :) You do what you gotta do.
  • postrockandcats
    postrockandcats Posts: 1,145 Member
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    HAHA! Mom sounds like she's threatened by your changes and is trying to defend herself. Keep eating clean!

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