low carb Ignoramuses
 

OK, that's a mean term to use, but I can't think of any other way to describe these two people I go to school with (I am 24 and in beauty school). Both of these people are on LC diets. One of them hasn't clarified which diet he is on, and the other, a girl, said she is on South Beach. Said she was starting today, and we talked about it, and she said she wasn't sure which carbs were good and which were bad so she just brought cheese for snacks (claims to have read the book). So the girl asks me to go to the grocery store with her for lunch, and when we get there she is asking me what she can eat at the salad bar, so I give her the tour "lettuce, cheese, tomatos, sunflower seeds, tuna or chicken, deviled or boiled eggs, ranch or the bleu cheese dressing, olives.....". She makes a terrific salad, sits down, eats it, enjoys it, then we go back to school, and when I come out of the bathroom she is drinking a regular Coca Cola. !!! The guy, who is just plain silly, will sit and eat sorbee candy in class (how he doesn't spend all day in the bathroom is BEYOND me!), talk about his weight, and about carbs, and then at lunch make a beeline for the pizza place next door and eat pizza. Yesterday he had some tea and proceeded to pour 6 sugar packets in. I would like to help them both, but they are apparently in the same phase I was in when I was half-assing it. Sad.

Moderator note: title changed. -Kristine

And I am not REALLY an a-hole, I just have a low tolerance for people dumber than me.

I have somewhat similar experiences at work with someone who calls herself my "diet buddy". She actually hides what she's eating from me, though, as if I were the carb police! She really does have a warped idea of what low carb is. Fried chicken strips in her salad. Celery with regular peanut butter, etc.

Being I am old enough to be your mother, excuse be for saying...Forget those jerks...you just do what you know is right and let them stuff what ever into their mouths....Don't worry about them...leave it all on their shoulders and you just go on and do your best...You will succeed!

I cant help but find this half way humorus. "Carb police" LOL Ohh that is funny. I totaly understand what you mean. I get that a bit to. I have gone back to my work place (I am a police officer on medical leave) and the crew is like "What are you doing?" I tell them and a few are like Ohh yeah I have been doing that a bit. As they are sitting there with Starbucks mocas and a danish! LOL I just laugh. Yup I see that! Good job there bud! LOL Dont ya just wanna grab the book and tell um to read it and give you a report on each chapter. Hello its not rocket sci! I am glad to have found it, and I think what you are feeling is the need to share such a great gift, and the desire to see others do well. Good for you for having a caring heart.

fantabulous...that is funny. exactly the attitude of these people. i feel like pulling them aside, but i am just going to let them come to me if they ever feel the need, and let them view the results.

Hmmmm definitely politically incorrect. It is mean.
Why worry so much about others? Focus on your own woe and the good you can do for yourself.

Ditto Pam, I just couldn't find the right words to say that...

I think some people think carbs work like calories, where if you cut some of them out overall you'll lose weight. The ol' Big Mac and a Diet Coke syndrome. They don't realize it doesn't work that way with the carbs.

Coke and Pepsi will make a fortune off them with their silly new mid-carb sodas. They won't sell a drop of that stuff to a real low carber!

Try www.dictionary.com, and click "thesaurus". I'm sure you can find a better term there.

As the mother of a disabled child, I get a little tired of seeing the term used as an insult.

It is frustrating to be around people who don't get low carbing, but that makes me doubly glad I'm not responsible for educating them. You have the right idea to let it be and just lead by example.

My turn
 

That reminds me of a girl I work with. She calls herself low carbing but has no idea what to eat. She looks at me and asks what foods she can eat when people bring in food for potluck lunches. We went to Carls's Jr. a while ago. She ordered the low carb burger. When she got her order, she asked. "OK, now where's the bread? :help:

What is most frustrating to me about people who attempt to eat this way and don't actually know how, is that they make the rest of us look bad. Low-carbing wouldn't get such a bad rap if everyone followed to rules. When people not in the know overhear that kind of thing... "Where's the bun?" and "I eat 20 slices of bacon and 10 eggs for breakfast and lose weight!" it overshadows those of us that do it right.

and the "r" word is a definite no-no.

Ok... here's my story. We went up north to our cabin last weekend. My inlaws also live up there. I proceeded to tell my mother inlaw that I was on a low carb diet. She said she was starting it on Monday. I was telling her about a recipe that I love: Lemon Roast Chicken She was looking at a recipe book and said oooooh, this one sounds soooo much better! I asked what the ingredients were - honey, orange juice! I said wait a second, you can't have that if you are going to low carb - she said, I am not going to go that far, I am just going to give up bread, pasta & potatoes...... I give up.

well sad yes, but help one of them out. Let them borrow your book and take it from there. That way they have a chance to understand, you'll feel good you help one of them out (being in the same situation once it looks like) and have someone to swap advice with. If they still are um , less than motivated, you can at least know you tried

Nicely put, potato. People need to think about how much pain that term has caused.

Kay

<shrug> Cutting out the obvious carbs from bread, pasta and potatoes is a step in the right direction, though. I see what you're saying, but every little bit helps, and some plans actually don't require you to cut out orange juice or honey, but to use it sparingly and in combination with other foods.

Relax, girl. If they aren't as committed to the diet as you, it doesn't make them "dumb," just not as into it. Also, remember how torturous cravings were before induction? Until you make that major step to be strictly on a low carb diet it's hard to ignore your cravings. You worry about you, and let them worry about them. If they nag you about what they should do on a low-carb diet, then tell them. If they don't listen, then tell them you don't feel like wasting your breath anymore and let them figure it out on their own.

Just be proud of your progress, and your beautiful bod will set a stunning example of where they can be if they commit themselves like you did.

Ignoramuses would be a good descriptive term, and simply means they are ignorant to lc, not necessarily stupid-and not an offensive word to anyone who understands the word.

I apologize for my unPC-ness. I really do. I am sorry.

I agree though with who said that it makes the true LCers look bad. I just feel like if they understood how and why it works, they would do it correctly and actually lose weight. They don't realize that going to the salad bar and loading the plate with veggies, beans, and sweet dressing isn't low carb. They think all I eat is deviled eggs and celery. I decided today not to waste my breath. I had a deep detailed convo with one of them today and he asked me to write out a meal plan for him, and I agreed to, but then he said he had the Atkins book at home. He also then said that his boyfriend doesn't want him doing Atkins because of "all the cholesterol". I did explain that your body creates its own cholesterol (and in super high amounts) if you don't eat it, and that studies were done many times where the subjects ate only fat and choleserol containing foods, and their levels dropped drastically. I also told him if he had the book, he shuold read it, and that is had meal plans and what to eat in it. I left it at that.

Thank you for changing the title for this thread.

Kay

I shoot my mouth off sometimes. Sorry!

I had a physically/mentally handicapped brother that died at the age of 2. We (my sisters & I) would get our mouths soaped out for using that word.....

Thanks for changing it.

I believe I already apologized twice for this one.

yes, you have, and there's no need to do
it again. We all make mistakes at times.

Take care,

Kay

...and I was only thanking you for making the change and being considerate. No hard feelings.

I didn't make the change, though, who did it?

they say this is too short

Probably one of our wonderful moderators, who keep us from flaming one another!

As someone who has spent most of my life in the field of developmental disabilities, I want to add that you have no idea how likely you are to insult someone with such a term. It's difficult to find a family who does not have any member who would be offended by the term "retard". This tends to go beyond the somewhat laughable and trendy designation of "unpc".

Kay, sister of a very beloved "retard"

Yes. Thank you.