Haha NON-LC people, we are such an elite group Hehe.
I have never forced my WOL on anybody, or even brought the subject up myself. If someone asks I will gladly share my experience. My friends and some of the family (theyre kids so who can blame them?) will turn their noses up at the things I eat without even trying them. The weirder things I mean..tofu mac & cheese for example...I tricked my younger siblings into having some and they LIKED it. Had they known what it was they wouldnt have tried. Of course theyre kids so I guess thats normal. My friends knew right away and wouldnt touch it. My older extended family who is over here quite a bit for meals will actually RUIN my meal by talking about it as we all eat. *You mean you can have bacon and pork rinds but you cant have potatoes?* Yes actually!! And it tastes good! And Ive lost weight! So shut your hole!! My immediate family doesnt say much, Ive even got my mom trying things. Of course nobody in my family is overweight at all, and neither are my friends, but trying a new food isnt gonna kill ya! Before I started this WOL I would have NEVER eaten cauliflower, or blueberries, or turned ricotta cheese into a dessert. I love the things I eat so get off my back! Thank you soo much for letting me vent

You're welcome! And may I say that I agree? I find that most people that run down low carbing are going with something they've "heard" instead of facts.

Vent on!! Great vent, actually. I know what you mean. When someone gives me a comment like the bacon vs. potato one, I am ready to explain the science of why bacon is better than potatoes. Their eyes glaze over, but I don't get any more comments!! LOL

I hear you!

When we had our first restaurant experience after starting LC my husband ordered his meal (no potato and extra vegetables) and then said, "We're on the Atkins' diet."

This prompted our server to say, "Oh ... um ... you really should reconsider that. I've heard it's bad for you. I don't know why, but let me go ask one of the guys who discussed it with me."

He returned a bit later to announce that it's dangerous to have no white sugar intake! It was a slow night in the restaurant, so he listened while I explained why that was a fallacy. It took me about 2 minutes, and he was convinced because he had no idea that vegetables and fruits had carbohydrates in them.

My parents and siblings think we must be torturing ourselves, mainly because everyone uses the word "diet". They're suprised to discover we're eating deviled eggs, ribs, cole slaw, homemade Chinese food, tuna salad, cream in our coffee ...

Hang in there. Your own experience is what's important. I like to tell people that the "carb-loading" way of eating that most folks have adopted was something heretofore reserved for ATHLETES immediately before a race/match/game. They ate simple carbs that they would use as immediate fuel, but didn't eat that way on a normal diet.

Today, everyone is carb-loading and doing nothing physical to burn those carbs. Hence, fat!

Glad to know Im not the only one getting a lil fed up with it all! And then my grandma (I love her I really do) goes, you know not eating carbs is bad for you. I eat carbs!! Just not the bad ones!! Ah! The million questions and then they dont listen to your answer!

I think the one thing that annoys me the most about non-LC people is when they tell me:

"Oh, just have a little...it won't make a difference"

But au contrare...it can...knock me out of ketosis, start cravings, etc... They just don't get it.

What a GREAT thread! I've been thru all of the above too-it is especially annoying when people--even my own family--simply refuse to understand that fruits and veggies do indeed have carbs in them. They flat out don't comprehend this!!!

And as for "just have a little"--WELL, my DH tried that one, and I very politely asked him if he likes how I look now. He said yes... I said "so, let me decide what and how much to eat!" End of that one!

In restaurants, my DH used to explain, when I asked for extra vegs, hold the rice or whatever "she's on one of those WEIRD diets!" Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer, and explained the whole program to him - again - in excruciating detail. No more trouble from him, anyway...

I'm 52 with 3 grown daughters, and they are another story. The oldest, who is living with us temporarily, thinks it's a bit un=natural and that i won't stay on it. The middle one, who lives in a nearby town with hubby and kids, thinks it's fine, and tries to accommodate me in any way she can. The youngest just figures it's my business, anyway, and compliments me on my new look!

I find that wait staff in restaurants have heard it all before, and mostly do not care. They just want to get the order correct and collect their tip! I am ever hopeful that, as more & more people go on Atkins, and more low-carb foods are introduced, that people in general WILL get the idea!!!

Top 10 annoying non-LC quotes, in no particular order:

1. "You'll just gain it all right back, you know."
2. "But you need carbohydrates!"
3. "Oh, I was on that diet, but it didn't work."
4. "I heard it's bad for you."
5. "I heard it gives you bad breath."
6. "Where do you get your fiber?"
7. "A little won't hurt."
8. "You can't have wine, that's not low carb!"
9. "But don't you feel deprived?"

and finally, the prize winner....

10. "Y'know, if everyone went on that diet, it would exhaust the world food supply." (Yes, I actually heard this from someone in Baltimore once.)

Emily

I try not to explain why I sub stuff in restaurants, too many opinions can definitely ruin my meal... However, people that I'm dining with like to make little comments explaining *things* and it often gets annoying...

Generally, I just don't like explaining my reasons for my WOE and try to avoid it as much as possible... Quite a few people have told me how *bad* it is for me, so why is my doc recommending it???

I think this WOE is so easy to do, dine out or eating at home. Most people don't pay much attention to how I order my food or if I toss the buns, don't eat the breads, etc.

My mom was the only one who noticed, as she had ordered a fresh pie and offered me some. She noticed I kept saying NO and told me how good that I was. My feelings are, If we have finally found something that works for us, why go backwards? My cousin's bf cheats on the weekends on a regular basis. She asked me why I didn't go off the plan in order to eat this heavenly dessert. She said in Atkins book it says you can go off the diet for one day. I just laughed and said, that I liked looking slimmer better than eating the dessert! LOL

I've been lucky with my family. They know I'm so anal that I'd have researched the bejeesus out of it before trying it. All of them have given me encouragement and accommodation.

What annoys me to no end is in restaurants. Quite a few people must be low carbing, because when I request substitutions in restaurants, I've had waitresses/waiters make some disparaging comment. I don't even mention a *word* about low carbing. I've had people in the next *table* tell me it's bad after hearing our waitress say something about it.

/start rant

Why the heck do they care? Grrrrr. I'm not imposing the WOL on anyone, I'm doing it for myself. I don't say, "that potato will kill you! Stop eating it!" I'm paying them to get my food, not to make comments on how bad it is, or how weird. Double grrrr. I used to try to explain in the beginning, but you know what, I'm done defending my choices.

Just tell me whether I can get my substitutions or not!

/stop rant

I get tired of the stares or *looks* I get - especially from my old Weight Watcher's buddies. They see me suceeding
I mentioned to one gal the other day that they are now recommending lower carbs for overweight teens - she said "oh yea, I guess you would know about that" - very snotty. Huh? Then, she went on a rant about the new WW points system (how they are basically allowing a 'cheat' day)??? I should join again, yada yada...Blah! I just laugh (yea - I know I'm mean) as I eat my steak and full fat yummy blue cheese dressing and they eat salads the size of my fist w/ no-fat Italian (yuk!)

BeeDott, have you ever thought about complaining to the manager? They would probably like to know that their wait staff are driving away customers by disparaging personal habits that are none of their business.

I must be lucky because the people in the restaurants I go to have all been really accomodating about my substitution requests. In places where they know me, they often ask me for weight loss advice. I think I've even talked the owner of one place into adding a low carb entree! But if I were in a restaurant and the waitress were truly rude about my order, I'd complain.

I used to have people at work make comments about what i ate or how atkins wasn't good for you. Now if anyone gives me greif i tell them i've lost 98 pounds and they shut up pretty quick. Or they say 'you will gain it all back', and i tell them it's been 3 yrs now and i haven't gained it back yet. that one works really well too.


Jon

You know, what I've found is that if someone gives me grief about not wanting bread, rice, etc, I just tell them I have a food allergy (generally a wheat allergy or rice allergy). It is amazing how they will shut up if they think you are allergic to the food rather than simply choosing not to eat it and they will suddenly be very accomadating. This is particularly so if it is someone working in a resturaunt.

And hey, it isn't that much of a lie. Those heavy carb substances are at least as detrimental to my system as a food allergy!