Little bit of a rant.
I am usually one for lurking, and reading other people\s inspirational posts but something happened yesterday that made my fingers itch to vent at people who would fully understand where I was coming from.
A bit of background:
I started LCing Nov 2002 and went from 180lbs to 168lbs in about 2 months. Moving from London to Lagos, Nigeria in January proved a bit difficult in terms of staying on LC and I decided to try ‘watching what I ate’ plus vigorous exercise. Fast forward to Aug 2003 and I’m stuck at 163lbs gaining and losing the same 5lbs and going to the gym four times a week (I’m 5ft 4’ btw)
Realising that I had better get back to what works and makes me feel great, I resume LC on August 19th 2003, I have since come down to 143lbs and I’m on the home stretch to reaching 130lbs.
Now to what got me so mad yesterday; I saw two ladies, A and B after the evening tae-bo session. I have been on a ‘hello’ basis with them since I joined the gym in March 2003. Lady A says to me ‘ please, please please tell me what you have been doing, you’re looking so good, your butt is so small… etc’. I then start telling her about LC and how I’ve given up refined carbs and have made protein the basis of my meal. And she wails ‘but that would mean I have to give up fried plantain!’ Now, the irony of that is that fried plantain is MY favourite food on earth (or should I say WAS); if I can give up plantain, anyone can!! Lady B goes, ‘but that’s the diet that gives you kidney problems’. At this point, I’m thinking ‘you asked, I’m standing here, missing the opening credits of CSI Miami because you asked me!!’
Lady C, who I don’t know chimes in at this point, ‘That diet is really hard to keep up and can affect your health’. Now this lady is bigger that I have ever been and is certainly about twice my size as we are all standing there speaking. Lady A and B tell me that she has lost loads of weight. She recommends ‘peppery fish or meat broth and apples and drinking lots of water to stave off hunger’. I’m still trying to answer the question put to me at this point so I say quietly ‘the best bit of this diet is that you aren’t hungry’. But I’m drowned out by Lady C talking all over me and pontificating on her regimen, Lady A and B prefer to listen to her diet ‘advice’ which bears an uncanny resemblance to the usual, ‘stop eating’ that most overweight people are given which we all knows is so unhelpful! As I leave the changing room sadly, I hear her telling them that saddlebags are caused by riding the stationary bicycle so they should avoid doing that!!
I was so saddened for reasons that I am still finding it difficult to articulate; I felt so impotent and frustrated. I would never ram unsolicited advice down any one’s throat but I have been seeing these ladies in the gym for 7 months now and neither have made significant progress so I was all too pleased to give them a hand, I’m now upset because it just makes so much sense to me and it’s like seeing people fumbling in the dark...


On lighter note, I love these boards and all the friendly people on them LCE has been such a big help in keeping me on the (reasonably) straight and narrow. I lurk everyday!!


tolstar
You're not fat, just beefy

Welcome Tolstar

"Iwas so saddened for reasons that I am still finding it difficult to articulate; I felt so impotent and frustrated." The reason you felt like is because you want to help people and share what has worked for you. We are such great people , we want the whole world to share in our success. This just is not going to happen . People want to hear what they want to hear . These ladies want a "miracle" to happen to them. They do not want to change their way of eating. It is truly sad that they were interested enough in how you were losing to ask you to share and then not listen. The bright spot is that now they have asked they may eventually listen to your advise. I would wait for them to ask me though.

Congratulations on your weight loss and exercise program, and stay off of those stationary bikes I hear they can cause you to develop saddlebags .

Susan ( AKA Northwest)
207/173.5/160/
size 16/12/8
LC since 4/03

"stationary bikes can cause saddlebags??? Oh my gosh, I must have beewn riding them wrong all these years, I couldn't grow a saddlebag if I tried, (a gut now is another story). LOL People only listen to what they want to hear.

Jackie

Oh, yes and I found that the 750 calories I burnt in 40mins doing Spinning gave me just MASSIVE saddlebags:-o !! NOT!!!!!

yea right, my husband told me that i've gotten bigger since i've been riding the exercise bike. gotta watch out for those saddlebags that grow from too much excerise! what a wacko!

your story just shows that people hear what they want to hear. shame on them for not wanting to listen to you.

christine

166/147/120
L/C 8/04/03

people just gravitate towards what is comfortable. And the same old advice, is what is comfortable to them. However, if they would stop to think about how UNCOMFORTABLE that same old way makes them they might actually try something new that really works. I know a lady who has done really well on LC...and every week when she posted her weight loss she would get all this positive feed back from other posters. So then one day an anti LC conversation got going on the board. They were saying all sorts of negative things about LCE and how bad it was for you. And my poor friend felt so attacked. I chimed in reminding all these ladies, that they were the ones asking my friend HOW she would constantly loose so much weight, telling her she looked fantastic in all her pictures, and to keep up the wonderful work.....and NOW they were bashing her very way of life. I reminded everyone she was the most successful "looser" on that board.
That quieted the conversation.

Just keep doing what you are doing, and maybe someday they will open their ears to your knowledge. After all, low carb certainly doesn't mean NO CARB.

Can't wait till my butt is little again too!!



Nat
Dreams are wishes your heart makes when your fast alseep....

Tolstar,

You get to have the last laugh on this. Once they see your results vs. the results of "C", you can believe they'll ask you again. Sometimes you have to sacrifice something to get something 1000x better. I've eaten a million baked potatoes and they never made me feel as good as I do today....

Sus
450ish/394/200 5'8"
Feelin' fine since 8/10/03

Sounds like all three ladies are still seeking the silver bullet, the magic pill, the super "diet" that let you eat as much as you want, when you want, of all the stuff that tastes great but has no (or limited) nutritional value. And no exercise. In other words, the easy way out.

Jen
175/130/120

Being fit, strong, and good lookin' is the best revenge



BC
172/108/108
Zone since 4/98

I HATE missing CSI! My condolences! Sorry you got shouted down at the gym, too. Maybe Ladies A and B will get back to you.

But I agree with Jen--they were probably looking for something magical, not a sensible WOE that takes time and effort.

May your "fit, strong, good lookin" revenge be sweet!

Barb L.
Started Atkins January 2003
162/135/140

I'm sorry this happened to you. It it was me I'd probably be a little more brutal.

My experience has been when someone asks me how I lost, sometimes they say, "Oh I could NEVER live without bread! *whine*" To which I answer, "The way I look at it I probably have another 50 years left, what's one year of no bread out of my life?" Sometimes the point come across, most of the time they keep munching on the rice and working their tails off in the gym. Oh well.

About Lady C, she probably wants to look like a veteran in the diet wars and therefore the authority, but the authority she is is of self abuse. Sounds like she ought to pick up an anatomy text book while she's at it.

Chrissy
311/233/130
5'9"
Since January 29th

I agree.. it is very frustrating! I have got to the point that I don't like answering that question and try to avoid it at all costs only because the agrivation of an argument with ppl is just NOT worth it. But.. if cornered I tell them I eat LC. If they come up with hear say... then I bring up medical evidence and studies that have been done and are being done.

But if I were in your situation.. I would flaunt that "little butt" of yours in front of them every chance I get! LOL

Tanya


Member since Jan 2002
re-started on 1-3-03
272/194/185<--(next goal)