So, how do you educate people about your WOE?

[cleochatra]

I usually wait until there's an opportunity, either through a compliment or a discussion about weight loss or exercise and then I say I've been following Atkins.

I also usually carry an Atkins book with me to karate and other places where I have time to read.

I know Saturday I got into a bit of a debate with another person who stated that skim milk is best for children. I told her skim milk has little staying power, especially for people with blood sugar issues and that high-fat milk had better satiety and sticking value, dietitically.

I also used my kids as examples-- all have lost a substantial amount of weight and are more fit since we switched to a higher-protein diet coupled with full-fat milk, as opposed to skim or a lower-fat.

She was smug about it, but hey-- why allow myths to perpetuate, especially when they don't apply to all people?

[sallyseachange]

Hmmmm.... I suppose, by example really. Only way to go here in Italy. Nobody's interested in low carb in the slightest... With all the pasta, pizza, pane etc... they naturally gravitate towards low fat diets. Low carb is not pushed at all over here. I mean...can't have Buitoni and Barilla going out of business now, can we???!!

Did have some success with my vegetable lady in the islands, though! She wrote the whole translated Atkins diet down on a brown paper veg bag, while letting all her customers wait for their daily fruit and veg! Lol. She was delighted. The customers, less so. Was really pleased though, when I went back to the islands a couple of months later, she'd lost six kilos!!

Sal

[imashrinkydink]

This has been such a dilemma for me....I teach 7th-12th grade and I am a Family and Consumer Science teacher i.e. (home ec) anyway I teach Nutrition classes and the kids, girls especially, are always asking me how I lost weight, It's really hard because I feel like such a hypocrite, I have to follow state standards and teach what is required, even though I don't agree with a lot of it. Somedays it's tough .....especially when I have quotes in my nutrition book like this " An abnormal buildup of ketone bodies in the bookstream which is known as ketosis, can be dangerous." among others....it's very frustrating! Anyway when it comes to other people I ,like Cleo , wait until someone brings it up and I carry around several books also and just tell them it worked great for me.

[sallyseachange]

Can imagine that would be very hard indeed Iamashrinkydink.

[pipee_pl]

I think this is a fighting windmills situation. over here low fat is just starting and wouldn't you know it so is the weightwatchers and all the other b.s. I find it very frustrating to watch people give their children chocolate bars and chips as a lunch, along with a frozen pizza. i realize being in Poland is a different situation because none of these consumer goods were available before- but nobody was fat before, either.
My daughter eats a healthy lunch at school, it is provided and it is homecooked, usually a meat, soup, vegetable and a starch- normally potatoes. At home she seems to be very picky with me but i do my best to get fish and veg in to her.
living over here has been beneficial so far because the low fat is only starting- so it is not out of the ordinary to see people eating what i do. i think my mother in law, who luckily for me lives in canada, will have the biggest problem with this. she has been on every diet known to man and she is a laxative abuser- she has many emotional issues that she uses food to comfort with.- i can't help her, i don't want to help her- this may sound selfish but she is the type of person that would argue with the Pope. I am working towards the day where i can show her what i have accomplished and tell her exactly how i did it and hopefully it will shut her up for a minute or two.
and i ultimately think that is how this way of life will be explained- with the results!

[wannabethintoo]

I don't mention it for fear of starting an argument. My personal trainer was giving me such a hard time about it that I now lie and tell him that I'm doing low fat.

[ttdriver]

I never shy away from telling people how LETHAL refined foods are, regardless of what "plan" you follow.

People say to me all the time "I bet you've been thin all your life..." or "You probably don't know what its like to be overweight..." That's my cue and I take it!! At that point, I begin my Atkinsology lesson .. and tell them that I eat better than I ever have, that I have boatloads of energy, that I run 30-35 miles a week, and that I've easily maintained my weight loss for 4 years while enjoying full fat foods that are delicious!

Betty

[k5commando]

I tell them I cut out refined sugar, white flower, junk food, pop, trans fats, etc. and I now eat whole grains and healthy food. Most of them think it's great till I say the "A" word, some just freak out, others listen and learn. I am the proof that it works so how can they speak bad about it? Amazingly I have friends who have been on weight watchers for years and still weigh the same as when they started. Proof is in the sugar free pudding people, can't deny it.

I have had some people say things like "but you can eat anything you want and don't have to worry about being fat" without knowing the old me. I just smile and break out my gym membership photo that was taken the day I started. Their eyes pop out of their heads. Those are the people I guide to the Atkins side of the force.

[Terry]

Originally Posted by imashrinkydink

This has been such a dilemma for me....I teach 7th-12th grade and I am a Family and Consumer Science teacher i.e. (home ec) anyway I teach Nutrition classes and the kids, girls especially, are always asking me how I lost weight, It's really hard because I feel like such a hypocrite, I have to follow state standards and teach what is required, even though I don't agree with a lot of it. Somedays it's tough .....especially when I have quotes in my nutrition book like this " An abnormal buildup of ketone bodies in the bookstream which is known as ketosis, can be dangerous." among others....it's very frustrating! Anyway when it comes to other people I ,like Cleo , wait until someone brings it up and I carry around several books also and just tell them it worked great for me.

By example works for me but I also am in a tough place being a kitchen manager of a local elementary school. We are held to state regulations with certain nutritional requirements. I take my own high fat lunch each day and bypass what my kitchen has to offer. Several staff members are always inquiring about what I eat and have been quite supportive of the program for me.

I am being asked to do presentations in the class rooms now and that really makes me feel like a hypocrite.

[Analog6]

I've lost count of the number of comments along the lines of:

1. How bad it is for you - I counter this one by saying I have lost 21 kgs in 14 weeks and am now working out at the gym 5 days a week instead of stuffing my face on the couch - how can this be bad for me? Shuts 'em RIGHT up!

2. They have heard it killed Dr Atkins though - give them facts not BS

3. It's very high fat - yeah, and so is bread, plus it's got lots of sugar in it. I tell them what I eat and find their idea of high fat is actually high ADDED fat - which our WOE is not.

I just try to be a good example - and everyone I see regulalry tells me how much better and happier I look, so it has to be doing me good. I avoid getting into arguments with rabid proponents of low fat by closing with "Well, it suits me and I can stick to it".

Then I shoot 'em (just joking).