Why do I even bother? page 5

[Mr. Koozie]

It could just be Denver, but I've had the exact opposite experience out here. We have a couple paleo food trucks that do good business, and most folks I've talked to are very receptive to the idea. I find myself warning people about the dangers of the Cordain/Crossfit brand of paleo than anything else.

Where I live poor health is kind of celebrated. And being healthy is frowned upon. BTW I visited your neck of the woods a couple of years ago and loved it! That was the first time I ever saw people wearing VFF's.

[Iron Fireling]

I don't tell anyone that I'm "primal" or "paleo", mostly because the majority of people wouldn't know what the heck it was . If I tell people I don't eat grains or sugars (which is pretty much how I sum it up) I do sometimes get the "but grains are healthy!" response.

My friend acted as if my new way of eating was a personal affront to her... cause, you know, she can't feed me crap anymore now. She also tells me that I'll look "skinny and ugly" when I get to my goal weight (which is a BMI of 20 so hardly skinny and scrawny...). When I tell her I used to be that weight and I wasn't skinny, she says "yes, but you're OLDER now" as if that has somehow magically changed my physiology so that what looked fine and not at all skinny when I was 20 will suddenly make me look gaunt now. (It kinda pisses me off... I try not to bring it up with her, but she made some stupid bet with me that I couldn't lose the weight, and stupidly enough I took her up on it because nothing pisses me off more than telling me I can't do something!!).

So yeah, most people wouldn't have a clue what I do nor not as far as eating goes, and I'm happy enough to keep it that way. When I have lost all the excess weight, if people ask what I did, I'll tell them... They'll either be receptive to it or not! (Most likely I'll get comments about being "too skinny" or something ridiculous which is what happened last time I lost weight... and no I wasn't skinny at all, I still had rolls of fat... it's just weight loss around these parts seems threatening to people in some way. It's okay to be naturally thin, but god help you if you've actually gone from overweight to slim!!).

[Timthetaco]

Drumroll, from the million and a half threads of yours I've read about what the paleo diet does to your social life, I'm inclined to believe your family and friends suck. Get new ones, both.

[Drumroll]

Drumroll, from the million and a half threads of yours I've read about what the paleo diet does to your social life, I'm inclined to believe your family and friends suck. Get new ones, both.

Hah, that would be nice... I've never actually met someone who was a "practicing" paleo and/or primal eater to begin with.

[Knifegill]

Answers vary by audience. Last time an obese nurse gawked at me for eating nothing but ham at the free food event, I said, "This is how I LOST 50 pounds.". Last time I turned down some free candy, I just said it gives me huge boils and that's no fun, and that led to how bread makes my joints hurt. People honor decisions geared toward avoiding pain or ugliness, but not in pursuit of optimizing health. It's VERY weird.

[PrimalMama]

almost anyone will agree with you that a sweet potato is healthier than bread.

Oh, if people were only this smart...

I'm not sure if people think of the super-sugary sweet potato casseroles, or what, but I've actually had people tell me sweet potatoes are processed and loaded with sugar.

I've had people argue with me that beans have more protein than salmon and more fiber than veggies.

I have a raw vegan* friend who posts things about figs, spinach, romaine and kale being high protein foods. Sure, those are all pretty good foods, but high protein? no...

Knifegill said it well earlier this year:
They ask, I tell them, and they're sure it would never work for them. It doesn't seem to ultimately matter how the information is presented. Next time I think it'll go like this:
Well, I went to mount Olympus and duct taped two unicorns together to double their magic, and rode their magic bodies for forty days and forty nights. When I got off, I looked like this. It's great!


*I actually have very little issue with RAW vegan - no soy, no wheat, only soaked legumes - I can eat almost all the stuff at their house guilt free, I just need to supplement protein (and sometimes add a few spoonfuls of the coconut oil they keep in the kitchen!). I essentially eat like a raw vegan PLUS well-sourced meat, fish, eggs, and occasional dairy (and I don't do the long-process substitute foods like cashew cheese, etc)

[statikcat]

I typically just say I am a natural, unprocessed eater and leave it at that. Most people don't really realize what that entails but if bread or something comes up and I decline and they wonder why .. I just say it falls into the unnatural category and go from there based on their interest. I also often use the phrase "nutrient dense" eater which naturally excludes processed foods entirely. I refrain from saying paleo as labeling something makes it sound lame.. but if they ask I say it could fall in that ballpark and acknowledge it.

[valmason01]

Maybe we should all move to the same place. Take over an area, preferably one near the ocean. The Keys perhaps?

Hah, that would be nice... I've never actually met someone who was a "practicing" paleo and/or primal eater to begin with.

[Owly]

Oh, if people were only this smart...

I'm not sure if people think of the super-sugary sweet potato casseroles, or what, but I've actually had people tell me sweet potatoes are processed and loaded with sugar.

I've had people argue with me that beans have more protein than salmon and more fiber than veggies.

I have a raw vegan* friend who posts things about figs, spinach, romaine and kale being high protein foods. Sure, those are all pretty good foods, but high protein? no...

Maybe it's because sweet potato casserole is not very common where I live--most people I know eat them baked or mashed, or they have them as fries (so usually they see the fried part as the bad bit, not the potato itself) or in sweet potato pie (again, they see the pie as the problem, much like pumpkin). If you eat baked sweet potatoes and buy them at your grocery store, it's pretty easy to realize that they're not a processed food. Sweet potato casserole is more of an American thing. It's hard to even find canned sweet potato here. I know of just one brand, and it's only carried at the organic grocery store.

Calorie for calorie, some veggies are technically high protein foods. The problem is that nobody is going to be able to eat enough broccoli or spinach to meet their protein needs, and there are issues with amino acid profiles and bio-availability of plant proteins. So it's a bit misleading for someone to claim they're high protein since you're not going to get the same thing out of them as you will a steak or even from quinoa.

[JoPaleo]

Answers vary by audience. Last time an obese nurse gawked at me for eating nothing but ham at the free food event, I said, "This is how I LOST 50 pounds.". Last time I turned down some free candy, I just said it gives me huge boils and that's no fun, and that led to how bread makes my joints hurt. People honor decisions geared toward avoiding pain or ugliness, but not in pursuit of optimizing health. It's VERY weird.

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you're allergic to particular foods or particular foods make you feel gross, people will go out of their way to help you avoid them, well, MOST people. But once you mention optimizing health or, worse, weight loss, then you've threatened them somehow and they feel the need to pressure you to eat crap. It's just the way most humans are I guess. Ah well...