Dealing with discouraging comments
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TKRV
Posts: 165 Member
I just joined and, in a group of similar people, was wondering if any of you shared an issue of mine and how you dealt with it.
Having just joined this group, it is safe to assume I am skinny but not yet fit. I don't eat as healthy as I should and don't work out at all (but I am hoping tonight is the night where that will all change). Throughout my college years, I would talk about eating healthy or going to the gym only to have friends tell me I was crazy. You're skinny, so you don't need to go to the gym. Eat cake instead. You have a high metabolism; enjoy it and eat all this junk food.
Have any of you faced people who don't think exercise or healthy eating is important just because you happen to be small? How do you overcome these comments and motivate yourself you stay active and eat well?
Having just joined this group, it is safe to assume I am skinny but not yet fit. I don't eat as healthy as I should and don't work out at all (but I am hoping tonight is the night where that will all change). Throughout my college years, I would talk about eating healthy or going to the gym only to have friends tell me I was crazy. You're skinny, so you don't need to go to the gym. Eat cake instead. You have a high metabolism; enjoy it and eat all this junk food.
Have any of you faced people who don't think exercise or healthy eating is important just because you happen to be small? How do you overcome these comments and motivate yourself you stay active and eat well?
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All the time! I get it from friends and from family. When we just moved in, I baked some peanut butter cookies for the neighbors, and we sat on their balcony chatting. My neighbor tried to convince me to have more of them but when I said I'd rather not, she said "just don't tell me you're watching your weight, that's ridiculous!"
The same thing goes for my grandma, she was so disheartened when I said I didn't really want a birthday cake, for example. She doesn't get why I wouldn't eat fatty foods she cooks or bakes.
Anyway - I know how I feel about my own body and why it is important to ME - and I'm sure it's true for you as well. So that's all you should be concerned with, and not with the opinions of some other strangers!0 -
Totally! Especially at work, there are always cakes and biscuits and everyone always gives them me because "i don't need to diet or exercise". For a while i believed them and thought yeah why not and i ended up a stone heavier than my ideal! To them i am still slim and don't need to diet but to me i am untoned and squishy - yuk! But now im doing something about it and no cake or doughnut is gonna stop me!0
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Have any of you faced people who don't think exercise or healthy eating is important just because you happen to be small? How do you overcome these comments and motivate yourself you stay active and eat well?
yep! all the time
i just ignore the comments, but to be honest i try not to talk about fitness/healthy eating/weight loss with many 'Real Life' friends as they just dont get it.
thats why i am on here so much. the majority of my friends think i am naturally very slim - i just leave them to think that while i work my *kitten* off!!!!!!0 -
Many people would like to believe that slender people are just that way naturally and don't have to watch what they eat or exercise. It's easier to believe that than to believe that a slender person has that great body BECAUSE of diet and exercise -- if they believe that slender people have to work for it, then that means that they too could have a better body if they made the effort.
What those people think is about them, not you. What you do to take care of your body - THAT is for you.
If your body is beautiful now, it's worth the work to maintain it. If you want the beautiful body you had a few years ago, it's worth the effort to get that body back and then it's worth the work to maintain it!0 -
I haven't always been skinny, but I've lost about 20 pounds on MFP and am at goal weight now. I will continue to use MFP because it is the best way for me to monitor my calorie intake and keeps me honest about my workouts, which I need to do forever. I have people ask me if I'm becoming anorexic because I continue to log in every meal. First off, I don't look anorexic - I'm just thinner. Secondly, I'm eating healthier than ever - just not eating a lot of junk or fast food and stay away from sugar. I extoll the virtures of MFP to my well-meaning, but misguided friends. I think anyone can benefit from it, no matter what size they are.0
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"For a while i believed them and thought yeah why not and i ended up a stone heavier than my ideal!"
That's actually just what happened to me and what has prompted me to get full use of out MFP. I'm talkative by nature and I am hoping, more than anything else, that this will be a place where I can openly talk about my health
katejkelley, I have also faced accusations that I was anorexic or depriving myself of food. I will admit that one summer in college, I was so worried about gaining weight, that I actually ended up under weight... and tired, and cranky, and miserable. I will never do that to myself again. Nonetheless, I have had people plaining tell me "so I heard you're sticking your finger down your throat." Sometimes, I feel that, if I were fat, everyone would be happy. Well, everyone except me.
You guys don't know what a comfort it is to know I'm not alone. I was afraid that maybe I really did have a problem. As long as I eat enough nutritious calories and don't over eat, I should be golden.0 -
Many people would like to believe that slender people are just that way naturally and don't have to watch what they eat or exercise. It's easier to believe that than to believe that a slender person has that great body BECAUSE of diet and exercise -- if they believe that slender people have to work for it, then that means that they too could have a better body if they made the effort.
What those people think is about them, not you. What you do to take care of your body - THAT is for you.
If your body is beautiful now, it's worth the work to maintain it. If you want the beautiful body you had a few years ago, it's worth the effort to get that body back and then it's worth the work to maintain it!
I used to be like this^^ while I wasn't 'fat' on the BMI chart I was heavier than I would have liked to be. It made me feel a lot better deluding myself into thinking that skinny people didn't work for it and that I had 'big bones' and could never be that thin even though deep down I knew I was lying to myself!
I have also been accused of being anorexic by my friends after losing weight even though none of them knew me before I lost weight (I moved country). Sonetimes imakes me feel really badly about myself because I've worked so hard to get where I am and I don't look like I have an ED. I just try to ignore because I know that I'm making healthy choices and putting in the hours of exercise
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I run into this all of the time. It is frustrating why people comment on what I eat at lunch or when we go out. I don't comment on what they consume; I don't really care what is on their plate, why do they care what is on mine? My reply to their comment is usually simply "Yummy". If they ask if I had any of the cookies or cake in the break room, I just say "Delicious", as if I had a piece and they are none the wiser. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better at home. I get grief from my husband as well. The sad part is, I eat more calories than him by eating more frequently with smaller healthy meals than he does with his once a day food eating frenzy. Who is the healthy one here? Blow it off, focus on self. You can't change people, you can only change yourself. Do what makes you feel happy and good about yourself.0
