I was taking my morning stroll when I happened upon two neighbors (frenemies). Both are overweight, and one has T2D. From the non-T2D: “Ooooooo, Regina, you’re so skinny, have you been walking a lot?” (I am not skinny, my belly jiggles as I walk.) Cool, someone noticed. But I didn’t want to prolong the conversation, so just said: “Yeah, that’s right, walking a lot.” So stupid of me, I could at least have given her a thrill and said I was on a high fat diet…Did the lady with T2 every shoot me a dirty look. That is because, for my five miles a day, she does ten, which is great, but she is not willing to change her diet. Next time, I promise, I will be more forthcoming…;.
Sorry, not a ketovangelist just yet
EyesWideOpen
(Jeanne Wagner)
#3
I now vascillate between proselytizing and holding my tongue. I watch body language and expressions very closely. Sometimes I love to tell them I cut carbs and eat plenty of good fats and watch either their eyes go wide, or their face close off. But yeah, sometimes I just don’t want to sit/stand there listening abou how many carbs they don’t eat. One lady told me she never eats carbs (lie: I’ve seen her eat bread and pasta), and that she tried low carb before and it “absolutely made me sick” - as in she always felt nauseated. Pssst, you didn’t do it right, then. Now she is pre-diabetic, says she’s ‘stable’ at 6.1 A1C. I begged her to do whatever she needed to do to cut her carbs down very low. I promised her low carb could help her. Just falls on blind eyes. She is addicted like so many of us used to be. 
Clcrisler
(Casey Crisler)
#4
I tell everyone who mentions my weight loss about keto. I don’t care if they don’t want to hear it. I’m like an ex-smoker, I will shout it from the mountaintop. I used to be like that about Apple products too. Once I’m a fan of something, look out.
fetching
(Lane)
#5
I don’t think it’s addiction. People are genuinely confused about what to eat. There are so many differing views. Also, people don’t want to do the work. They want instant gratification. I remember last year when I gave up refined sugar, and I only lost a few pounds and then plateaued. Like, I had anticipated that the weight loss would be substantial and when it wasn’t I was kinda of like, what’s the point giving up all this delicious stuff for 8 lbs?
Regina
(Empress of the Unexpected)
#6
@fetching I can’t speak for others but for me it definitely was an addiction. I could eat a huge bag of potato chips and still feel hungry. I thought “When is this going to end - I’ve been eating all day and it’s not taking!”
EyesWideOpen
(Jeanne Wagner)
#7
Well since it was most definitely addiction for me - oh no I could never consider even one meal without a carb of some kind, plus a sweet dessert - and everyone around me says the same thing, all those people I talk to… that’s addiction. You can add that they don’t know what to eat to that, but I wholeheartedly believe that if they can’t even think they can get through a day without carbs (cravings) that’s addiction thoughts and behaviors. But extremely few people are brought up in the world without bread and pasta at the very least, in their lives. And maybe you are surrounded by people who don’t display those thoughts and actions. Maybe for them, it simply is ignorance. I have indeed met people who claim they don’t have a sweet tooth. Extremely few though.
fetching
(Lane)
#8
Oh I’m not saying that food isn’t addictive, I was a sugar monster too and found that really hard to give up the first few times. I’m just saying that many people know better and will not even try to make changes. I mean, it took me something like five sugar purges over the last decade to see how addictive it was and finally figure out how to deal with it. The last two sugar purges I did were very successful because I got to the other side of the cravings and realized that they don’t take long to go away if you can stick with it. Most people won’t even try.
When I was diagnosed with fatty liver and NASH recently, I talked about it on Facebook and how I was going to change my diet, and how I was pissed that none of my doctors in the past decade had ever had a serious conversation with me about my weight and the long term health risks because of it. One of my friends chimed in about how she needs to lose ten lbs because she has very high blood pressure and how she totally agrees that we need doctors to have those real, tough love talks with us about what we’re eating, and had even asked her doctor why he doesn’t tell his patients to change their diet and lose weight. He told her “people won’t listen, it’s a waste of my time.” So I asked her if she wanted to try Keto, and she said no, she couldn’t do low carb. I asked why, she said she was Filipino and rice was a staple in her diet and she would not be able to live without it. Then she complained about how nothing she had tried helped her get the weight off and stay off. She just couldn’t seem to connect the dots in her head about how on one hand she wants tough love, but when offered solutions she says she can’t do it. I guess she just doesn’t want it bad enough. I love all sorts of foods I have chosen to no longer eat because I don’t want to be sick and die early. It’s always a choice.
EyesWideOpen
(Jeanne Wagner)
#11
And she proved why the doctor has given up. People give me those types of responses all the time too. They eat tons of carbs, but won’t ever give them up. SO because they won’t give them up it can’t possibly be the problem. There must be a better way than to give up all their beloved carbs. I have a friend at work who’s been low carb for many years but never says anything. She just eats her specific food and moves on. But when she heard me talking about having given up grains/gluten after having read Wheat Belly, she then piped up about keto to me. That’s how I got wind of it. Who knows how much longer it would have taken me to find my way here if she had not said something? I had definitely hit my rock bottom and was clawing my way out. Now we chat about it every now and then out in the open. Yes, it’s always a choice. We really willfully ignore things though. I had to be hit over the head (figuratively speaking) before I caught on. Ignorance + addictions are a deadly combination.
AndySat
#12
Sounds like a 70’s child. Such a misled generation and complete stuck in their thinking due to misleading medical advice. I feel sorry for them.