I find most people are not very confrontational when I tell them I don’t eat sugar or starch. It doesn’t dawn on most of them that that consists of about 75% of everything they eat.
We live in an era of nutritional ignorance. Our doctors spend less than 2 days learning about nutrition in med school and half of it is wrong. If everyone is the health expert they pretend to be, then two thirds of us would not be diseased and fat. The word on the street is obviously wrong.
Yeah, and if they want a magic pill so bad, they should at least check out the keto documentary by the same name, sheesh! 
I would just tell them:
“…if your already fat, all that sugar (junk food) your eating is just going to turn into more fat and you will still die of a heart attack because your liver is going to turn it into fat and cholesterol anyway so why not eat fat and burn your own body fat at the same time instead of storing it around your belly? …”
That, sir, is inspired. I will remember it, for the next time someone quotes a high carb low fat diet at me.
Awesome comeback, I have to remember this 
make them think a little 
I proudly say I’m on keto and I’m always amazed by how much “broken telephone” game we are all playing with people’s info on keto-you quickly realize they actually have no idea what keto is i explain our version and then: if someone starts with “how can you not eat bread,” I say “the only thing it gave me was a fat ass” and “when I ate chips and junk, no one blinked an eye, but now you’re wondering if i’m ok?” (there’s me 15kg later maintaining, eating like a beast and feeling better than I have in years).
Unfortunately, my FiL let is slip that he has “just a little sugar” and I can’t get to him. 
My sister weighs over 200. She has neuropathy in her legs she just had her gallbladder removed. She’s on a CPAP. And when I talk to her about keto she just says Um hmmm, um hmmm, um hmmm. I love my sister
I second what @JohnH said. I just tell people I eat whole unprocessed foods. They can assume whatever they want from that statement.
My mother has type 2 diabetes, neuropathy, brain fog, slurred speech. She can barely walk anymore. Her doctor has told her to eat low carb but she refuses. I spent the night at her house a couple of weeks ago and in the morning I had to smack the Frosted Flakes out of her hands and cook her a real breakfast. I’ve talked to her about low carb and keto but she can’t imagine life without potatoes. ARRGGHHH.
It’s so hard to watch loved ones suffer when you know they could feel better.
What about proposing she do LCHF, but not keto, and include some potatoes. Maybe not as good, but surely better! And that way she also knows you are listening to her.
Keto should still help, though. And warn her that she might have to reduce the dosages of her meds. She should consult with her psychiatrist or psychopharmacologist.
Just tell them: “You can’t handle the truth!”
Or even better, sell all grains and sodas with points toward a cemetary plot.
Or as Dr. Fung puts it in a recent lecture: “We burn what we eat, so if we eat sugar, we’ll burn sugar. If we want to burn fat, we have to eat fat.”
I agree with this. I say I focus on whole foods and some will say, oh you are on that raw diet? And I say no, I just try and focus on whole foods and no junk. It doesn’t usually get to the level of what is avoided (i.e. most fruits, root vegetables) in casual conversations, but this does come up with people I am closer to. I have had vegan friends tell me I’m probably doing a lot of damage to my liver.
But I am okay with all of it. Everyone is on their own journey. I live by example and feel no need to “convert” anyone, nor do I feel any need to make others feel bad for their choices. Change comes when people are ready for it in their own lives. I know that has been true for me.
We all want to save the people we love and care about. It’s like watching an alcoholic, a drug addict or a chain smoker coughing their heart out. We can only educate and then hope they make the changes.
My family watched me make some bad health choices in the past. In terms of diet the hardest part is the misinformation ingrained in our society!
I guess I got too old for the gym. I had the same feelings about the noise and social scene. I would rather get out and trail run in solitude with no ear buds.
A coworker saw me putting heavy cream in my coffee and snacking on a boiled egg and bacon. he asked if my wife knew I was cheating on my diet.
I start with, “I went on Keto and got off all insulin and blood pressure meds in the first month, and I can eat all the bacon I want. What’s not to like?”
All I’ve gotten is encouragement. No converts, but people see that it is working for me, and that’s something.
I’ve just been letting the results speak for themselves. When asked, usually at work, what magical mojo I’ve adopted, I say Keto. Healthy fats, some protein, almost no carbs; IF, EF and feel great. I have only one co-worker who has listed every excuse in the book not to go on it. Last week, she bought diet pills, though. Right along with her twizzlers and candy bars. =(
It really is hard to get to some people - if they aren’t ready to hear us, they won’t listen
My friend’s dad also has T2D, he’s 65, a traditional Istrian man - we tried to tell him that he shouldn’t eat pasta and potato gnocchi…you all can imagine how that went.
I actually find it the opposite. People want to know my “secret” since I have lost so much weight.
Ha ha, my eyes lit up when I read about your keto Ethiopian friend, thinking Aha! maybe there’s a keto friendly recipe for injera! Could you kindly point me in the direction of her blog? I realise that my injera scarfing days are behind me but I’d be interested in reading her blog and picking up some tips on Ethiopian cookin, especially if already keto-ised!