How to deal with unsupportive friends/family

Do what you feel is important for you, and what makes you happy. That's all that matters.

I've lost a few friends along my journey. Not everyone will understand your ambition. And that's okay. It's your life, not theirs.

You owe yourself at least that.

I would ignore them for now. I know you've heard the story about the boy who cries wolf, this is a pretty similar situation. The best thing you can do is show them that you're taking this seriously. To do that, stick with it for a longer period of time than you usually would. Once they see that you're sticking to it, they'll start supporting you.

As for immediate support, talk to the person you're closest to. For me, that's my mother. She supports me 100%, even if I fail. Don't worry about the other people (especially the colleagues) and don't let them discourage you. There's a whole psychological thing that happens when people see someone trying to lose weight. If they're overweight themselves, they'll project their own frustration onto you. That's why it's so important to get unconditional support from one person, but be sure to show them that you're making progress!

Prove them wrong.

Prove them wrong. Stick with it this time, look and feel awesome, end of story.

Beat me to it!! Hah.

Tell them you aren't dieting, but making a lifestyle change. Besides, you didn't "quit" your diet. You just paused it, so you are now restarting. Everyone expects a dieter to fail; when you are changing your lifestyle simply to eat healthier, it's a lot harder to mock. I think that because the word 'diet' has such a negative connotation to it, it's easy for others (especially loved ones) to poke fun. I always got asked, "What's different this time?" and finally the nonchalant answer of, "Me." was enough to get others to back off. Just remember that you are doing it for yourself, not for them.

Ok, so I have come to see that there seem to be several different types of people in this world but when it comes to diet/exercise/health changes most of us fall into the categories of

A) SUPER social with it, telling everyone your goals and plans, updating them on progress, needing their support to make it work.

very PRIVATE about it, almost covert in doing it secretly and sometimes even denying it when asked.

I have always been more B than A. And I can see benefits both ways - in fact I have come to appreciate the A manner of doing things.

But maybe you should try going about it kind of the B way this time...not saying the A approach is bad because it's not, and has worked great for a lot of people. But it has the disadvantage of letting other people control how you feel and discourage you even if they might not have cruel intentions.

I don't want this to sound mean or anything but I know a woman who has always been very much "A" in this regard and while I don't wish her ill, I have noticed that she usually goes all crazy gung-ho getting a personal trainer, buying pants 10 sizes smaller as inspiration, posting daily updates on social media...and then disappears forever. She's never lost much weight.

If it's absolutely necessary to stay really social with your efforts, then take this opportunity to prove 'em all wrong...show them THIS is the time you're going to make some very real progress. Go for it, either way you choose to go!!

I know it is hard not to have the full support of family and friends, but if you know that you are ready this time and you are serious about succeeding, then you don't need anybody to do it. Do it for yourself.
It also took me a long time to get serious about this. I would tell my boyfreind all the time that I was going to do it, and then I would quit a week later. This time when I stuck with it and I started loosing weight, he actually admited that he thought I was just going to quit again. He was very surprised that I actually did it.
I know its hard when people dont believe you, and that is why this community is for All us here are on the same boat and we are all here to support each other.
You can do it!!!!!

The only support you need is the support of yourself. You are the one that is going to make the changes, you are the one that will cause yourself to fail if you give up.

Just ignore them and do what you need to do.

If you need support for everything that you do in your life you're never ever going to succeed.

Nobody is obligated to change their eating habits just because you are trying to change yours.

Just remember, that no ones belief or lack there of can change your actions. If your friends doubt does it change whether or not you go back for that second helping of something that puts you over your calorie goals? Or whether or not you kill it at that workout?

Would it be nice if my husband and family ate the way I did? Maybe, accept that my husband struggles to keep weight on and my daughter is a growing girl who can't sit still for more than about 30 seconds.

Neither one has made choice after choice after choice to eat to much and move too little that packed on the pounds.

I did.

And only I can fix it.

Use their doubt as extra fuel to your fire! When you feel like giving up remember how many people who you have to prove wrong Get friends on MFP who can give you support and encouragement you need.

How do I deal with unsupportive friends/family? ..... I ignore them. If they're not going to support me, I'm not going to waste my time thinking about it. I spend my time proving them wrong!

It's not easy, because family and friends should be supportive, but they have reasons why they won't support me and I don't care enough to ask what those reasons may be.

I have learned to not talk about my goals with any friends or family other than my husband, and close friends who are working towards the same goal (which none currently are lol). About a year ago, a lady that I worked with at the time was talking about her werightloss goal which was very similar to mine. I mentioned that I was looking to lose about the same as her, she snottily replied, "I'll believe it when I see it". I use that for workout fuel to this day! Whenever I feel like I'm about to give up, I replay that conversation in my head and then I think, "Oh yeah b**ch?!? you'll see!"

I wouldn't even tell the people you work with. They'll see it. They were the first to compliment my loss.

I agree with those saying that the only one you need support from is yourself.. Before you take that as someone being harsh, let me explain.

I've been in your shoes - was obese for several years (almost 20) and made several attempts along the way to lose weight. Some were even semi-successful but obviously didn't last very long. So when I announced to my brother that I was going to join Weight Watchers (WW) in January 2010, he just rolled his eyes and said "here we go again". It was like a slap in the face and I was pretty peeved for a while. But I thought about it and realized that he was right. I'd made that announcement plenty of times before and never followed through so his reaction, while not exactly tactful, wasn't that far off base.

What he didn't know, and what I ended up proving with time, was that I really WAS determined and committed to losing weight this time. My approach was completely different, my mindset was/is completely different, etc. To be honest, I actually used his disbelieve as motivation from time to time. Like I might be tempted to indulge or skip a workout but would think of him and say "nope, gotta stick to my plan and prove that jerk wrong!"

So as some other suggested, maybe just keep it to yourself for a while, or just tell 1 or 2 people who you know will give you more positive feedback. And eventually, as you are successful, you will show the others that you really meant it.

You got this! Good luck!

ETA: just wanted to say one more thing about support/non-support. I also used to think the same as you OP.
One of my best friends was just starting out with her fitness career and offered to help me and in return use me as an example of her training abilities. I was all in for that! But my expectations were skewed - I thought she was going to be checking up on me a lot of telling me what to do all the time. Anyone who has a trainer knows that's not exactly how it works but it was a convenient excuse to blame her for me slacking because she wasn't following up on me enough. Also I had several gym buddies in the past who were bigger slackers than me and I'd use their lack of motivation as my excuse. If they skipped the gym/workouts, so did I.

All of that was no one's fault but my own. Once the responsibility is fully on your shoulders, if you're really that determined, you'll find a way to make it work.