Stop Telling Me What to Eat!

OK, this has been a long time coming. I get it. I talk about health and exercise often to my friends and family, so perhaps I bring a little of this upon myself.
As far as my eating, I do occasionally fall off the wagon, but I always get back on. It's cyclical... kind of like what pro athletes do in the off season. Maybe it's not on purpose, but truthfully it's what happens to me. And truth be told, each time I make a comeback I end up in better shape than I was in previously.

Think about this. If you knew I only ate loads of veggies and protein, you'd say... wow, that's so healthy. If I eat the same thing and say I'm eating low carb... suddenly I'm eating horribly. I don't really understand this way of thinking.
I don't 'tell' people in general that I'm eating low carb. I don't tell them anything.  It's when someone is like, "Hey you want a half a bagel?" or "Why did you take the bread off your burger?" that I finally say something about cutting down on my carbs.

I've been eating a primarily low carb diet for almost 12 years. I have annual checkups and all my blood work comes back excellent. Cholesterol perfect, blood pressure perfect, sugar levels perfect... yada yada yada.
So, why is it if you order a bacon cheeseburger and fries, and I order a bacon cheeseburger with salad and no bun, I'm considered the unhealthy one? Just look at the calories alone. Even if you had salad too, the bread is just wasted calories.

What brought this on? I've been hearing stuff for years, and never got this off my chest. 
Here's what broke my silence -
I have a friend who recently pronounced his disdain for my way of eating (not his first time either – it’s constant). He is a person with a fast metabolism, that can eat whatever he wants and maintain a tall slim stature. Sure he may gain a bit, but no one would notice and he is NEVER at risk of getting fat.
He works out, he eats chocolate and desserts almost every time I hang out with him, but he eats his veggies and fiber before his main meal, so he thinks his way of eating is the right way. So to reiterate, to him I guess eating fried food, pizza, deserts, and veggies is a healthy way of - but get that veggie fix in first. Oh, yeah he'll substitute white rice for brown. Seems like a feeble effort if you ask me. My point - The guy can eat like a garbage truck and you would barely notice it if he stopped working out.
Oh, but he's cut back on alcohol... which he is also constantly preaching to me.

I find myself constantly having to defend myself. Unlike my guitar player 'Alex' who can eat literally anything he wants and stay skinny due to a hyperdrive metabolism, mine's more the speed of a turtle.
I have a slow metabolism (which I take meds for). I've of course mentioned this particular fact to my friend who expressed scornfully his low opinion of my way of eating. I've told him that what works for him doesn't work for me. I've told him (on numerous occasions) I've tried other so called 'healthy' was of eating and they didn't work for me.
I'm disciplined. I’m in the gym 4-6 days a week. I eat fish, meats, cheeses, broccoli, cauliflower, nuts... and more. It's not ideal for all since we're all addicted to carbs, but it works for me. Oh, and still I am fighting the obesity battle. If I changed any one of these things I'd blow up. My metabolism just plain sucks!

This one friend was really the breaking point for me because not only has he been harping on me for years, but so have others that find out I'm 'low carb'. In some cases I actually think there's a bit of jealousy that I have the discipline to stick with this way of eating, and they feel badly when they splurge on carbage. But, on the other hand I also think these people think that what works for them is going to work for everyone. I’m wrong – they’re right.

This mentality is ludicrous. We're all built differently. We all metabolize differently. We all have different areas we need to work on.
Example - This friend has to work twice as hard in the gym to build muscle than I do. Genetics play a huge part in that (See, I can accept genetics as a reason for this, but he can't apparently grasp that concept). I could probably also attribute some of that to his diet, but of course he would deny. I have a definite solution that would help him, but he hasn’t asked my opinion or for advice, so I keep it to myself. (cough… a lot more lean protein…cough)

Look, I wish I could eat like the rest of you. I wish I could eat Pizza every day to eternity. Honestly, I never get sick of pizza ... and ice cream. I do allow myself to indulge at times; Holidays, Birthdays... and sometimes a random cheat day/weekend, but I have to come back to my way of eating or I blow up.

Yes, that's the other argument I get... once you go off low carb you blow up. Yes, that's true, I do. But before I did low carb and tried to eat what others consider 'healthy' I also blew up. Eating low carb I dropped 65 lbs. I was extremely heavy... I was fat. This friend made horrible comments when I was fat some 12 years ago. I dropped 65lbs within a year. I made my goal weight. I have stayed within 10-15 pounds of that goal weight since (most of the time at or near goal). That 15 pounds is when I fall off for a month or two each year. Then, I tighten the reigns and get my shit together. Instead of a nice comment all I hear is unsolicited negative feedback about my diet. STFU already!

I have a family member who also gave me a lot of flak about my way of eating. Then he tried it. Of course, like anything else you have to follow a set of rules. He decided his way of going low carb was to buy a box of low carb chocolate bars to fight the cravings.  This isn't a bad idea really. I mean, you want something sweet, but don't want the carbs. These bars are filled with mallitol, also known as 'sugar alcohols' in place of real sugar. Sugar alcohols are sugars that end in a "ol", like malitol and sorbitol and have a negligible effect on blood sugar.  Your body can't digest them, so they usually end up in the intestines are digested by the microbes living there.   Well, that process causes an incredible amount of gas and if you eat too much, explosive diarrhea. That's why they put a caution on the label of those bars. Well, he didn't heed the warning and ended up with gastrointestinal distress to the highest degree. I felt bad for his wife and kids from the detailed story he told me. Cramping, bloating, exploding - repeat.

He went on to tell me this low carb diet is crap (literally for him it was). I of course told him he brought it upon himself. Whatever... He then said this way of eating isn't sustainable because he has kids. I don't buy that argument. You make a sandwich for the kids with turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato.. you have the same thing rolled in turkey over salad without the bread. How difficult is that?  He’s still extremely overweight.
I didn't push it any further.

Matter of fact I don't push my way of eating on anyone at all. If people ask me I'll give them advice, but otherwise I don't say anything to anyone. So why do people feel like it’s OK to push their diet advice on me?
At the end of the day, this is what works for me. Please stop telling me how to eat. When I want your advice I'll ask for it.  Unsolicited criticism even from friends with good intentions isn't nice. I know you care about me, but c'mon... who asked you? I have enough self-image issues without you harping on me.
Friends are supposed to build you up, not tear you down. It's not like I'm huge or anything. It's not like I look like I'm unhealthy. So cut it out!

I was going to stop there, but hey... it's my rant so I can keep going right?

The other criticism from this friend - You can't drink at all.
Yes, I should probably cut back on alcohol at times, but none at all says the friend who still drinks when it's convenient to him.
So I told him... you know, I've made sacrifices. I cut out foods I wish I could eat. All my favorite things. I exercise a LOT. I take the time to ensure I'm doing all the right things. I swim, run, weights, treadmill, cross train. I've made more sacrifices in that regard than most people have to in order to stay fit. With my routine most people would be in ridiculously good shape with 6 pack abs and chiseled everything else.  So, yes... I allow myself to drink sometimes. Back off already!

I get the concept of calories in - calories out. A low calorie diet basically sells itself fairly easily. You have less calories to burn therefore you burn fat. This is short sited. In the long term your body starts to think it's starving and begins to store your calories. Also, this would depend on what type of calories you're consuming. Carb calories or protein calories. I won't bore you with more on this topic. Just know I've tried it.

Hey, think about this… bread and pasta don’t exist naturally in this world. It’s man made. Early man ate meat, veggies, nuts and fruit. Bar the fruit (I have some berries), I’m just taking it back to the basics. The things that man was made to eat and digest. Corn chips no matter how ‘all natural’ the bag says they are is just not natural.

That's all for now. I'm happy to reply to any comments to this.

Rix

Still reading? Really? I didn’t already bore you enough with my verbal diarrhea? Actually, now I’ve used the word diarrhea 3 times in this blog. I had to look up the spelling though. I just never get that one right. I think diarrhea (that makes 4) should be spelled the way it sounds – diarea (does that count a 5?). Like bologna should be baloney.

Later!