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.

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?

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