Frustrating conversations with coworkers page

[merryish]

I work in a company and atmosphere where you can go a month or more without really seeing some of your coworkers. There are over 400 of us working on two different floors plus branches in a couple of different cities. And I switched departments about five months ago, about the same time I committed to living primal. I've lost a lot of weight since then, and people are really starting to notice. Which is awesome, don't get me wrong! I love it. And I especially love when people ask me, "So what are you doing?" because it gives me a rational reason to wax poetic about this lifestyle, which I love and which has done wonders for my health.

But I'm getting, so, SO tired of the conversation that inevitably follows.

"So what are you doing?"

"Well, I cut out all grains and all added sugar. I don't drink sodas, regular or diet. I make sure I get a lot of healthy fats in my diet so I don't get hungry between meals, and right now I'm keeping my carbohydrate intake pretty low. I don’t eat a lot of fruit, but I do eat a lot of vegetables. Oh, and I don’t eat between meals."

Response #1: "Grain, grain, what is grain?!"
It always floors me how many people don't know what grains are. I'm not talking about quinoa, amaranth, even such wildly esoteric things as barley! I'm talking about lacking the basic bread=grain connection. And these aren't stupid people. They're just heinously, heinously under-informed about their food. (Okay, granted, I'm actually kind of... chronically over-informed about my food. But still!)

Response #2: "Oh, I could never do that!"
This makes me a little crazed because -- Well, actually, you can. You just don't want to. Which is fine, I respect other people's choices! But it irritates me when people say they can't. I came to primal drinking corn syrup sodas and with a 90% McDonalds and Doritos diet. I was a baker. I thought spaghetti was a food group, and Starbucks the conveyer of all god's blessings to the chosen. Ben & Jerry probably listed me as a major investor on their annual reports. I was a wreck, and I’m coming back from it, and I’m nothing really special in the willpower department. It just burns me when people say “I can’t” when what they really mean is “I won’t.” I didn’t lose almost 80 lbs eating low carb-style-primal because I have some kind of special super power. I lost it because I was desperate enough to do something hard to get something good in return. (Note: I know this isn’t entirely rational, because most people are sadly uninformed about how nutrition affects health. When people say this to me, I usually just smile and nod and change the subject. But I can’t deny I walk away a little pissed off.)

Response #3: "You don’t eat grains? Honey, you shouldn’t starve yourself to lose weight…"
I know that’s well-intentioned, but since I usually run into them at the coffee kiosk next to my desk or in the cafeteria, it means I’ve usually just had breakfast or lunch. Imagine me hearing that when I’m stuffed to the gills with eggs, berries, salmon, avocado and onion. Or pork roast leftovers slow-cooked in coconut milk and two avocados. I admit it, when I hear that, I just laugh. I do get hungry sometimes, but I have to go a long way past a regular mealtime to get there. Starving is what they’re doing, with their Lean Cuisine lunches and skim milk and slimcados. I’m eating just fine.

Sorry for the self-righteous rant, I just needed to get that out!

[June68]

I disagree on the second one. Most people are weak. They like being sick. They like complaining about it (and one-upping each other on who feels worse). They like to sit passively by while they "contract" type 2 diabetes. They don't like anything to be difficult or contrary to the herd. It's crazy, but I've found it to be true. It takes a strong individual to admit they've been wrong AND correct it, too. Consider yourself one of the strong.

[Nigel]

I just needed to get that out!

And you've come to the right place. My wife believes that I am killing myself using butter when I could use margarine, when I eat the fat on meat instead of cutting it off, when I have spinach or mushrooms in a TWO EGG omelette virtually every morning, when I go to the garage for five minutes and do my HIT rowing in three 20 second bursts (she goes for an hour fitness class), when I go to the gym and do an HIT strength training session for ten minutes once a week.

Even though I've gone from 240lbs to 208lbs, reduced my resting heart rate from 60 to 50 and come off one of my blood pressure medications since March, she still KNOWS that I am doing everything wrong.

[JackieKessler]

Merryish, Mark recently did a post about how to answer people when they get into why what you're doing is clearly wrong, and never mind your phenomenal success with it. I'd link, but I'm feeling lazy at the moment.

[patski]

One of the most frustrating experiences I had recently at work was listening in on a food-based conversation between two co-workers: one is very overweight, the other is thin.

"Oh, I don't eat blah blah blah because it's so high in fat" says the obese one.

Skinny one: "You know korean pork belly? OMG IT'S SO GOOD but I don't eat it because it's so fatty"

Obese one: But it's so good!

In my head: IF YOU DON'T EAT FAT THEN WHY ARE YOU?!?!! ARRGGHHHHH #@&^#%@@#(&*@ *BRAIN EXPLODES*

It's gotten to the point where I can't eat lunch with my coworkers in the lunch room. The conversations are RIDICULOUS.

[ATTAACK]

And you've come to the right place. My wife believes that I am killing myself using butter when I could use margarine, when I eat the fat on meat instead of cutting it off, when I have spinach or mushrooms in a TWO EGG omelette virtually every morning, when I go to the garage for five minutes and do my HIT rowing in three 20 second bursts (she goes for an hour fitness class), when I go to the gym and do an HIT strength training session for ten minutes once a week.

Even though I've gone from 240lbs to 208lbs, reduced my resting heart rate from 60 to 50 and come off one of my blood pressure medications since March, she still KNOWS that I am doing everything wrong.

Have your wife read Gary Taubes's book "Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It" and she will understand. Science can be pretty convincing.

[JudyCr]

Good rant. And congrats for sticking with what you know is best.

[AMonkey]

Next time just tell your co-workers you're on a Reiki diet where you only eat animals and food that have positive life force balance like pork and brocolli, but not beef or potatos. The positive life force removes fattening toxins from the body.

[Forgotmylastusername]

When people say "I could never do that" it either means they're just being polite or they're really not interested.
I give the same response when someone asks me if I'm interested in a vegan, macrobiotic, halleluiah, weight watchers or juice fast diet. Sure, i could, I'm just really not interested.

[Sceptic]

And you've come to the right place. My wife believes that I am killing myself using butter when I could use margarine, [...]

Point her at this: Margarine additive linked with Alzheimer’s disease