What do you do

[ducatigirl]

When friends tell you about some great new "diet" or "cleansing" they're going on. I'm talking about the ones us smart gals know are not only a waste of money, but innefective long-term and hard on your body?
I have so many friends who try this stuff and I have a hard time biting my tongue. I've tried telling some of these friends why it's not a good idea, but they really don't want to hear it.

[lorabeann]

my friends do it too. i just tell them the facts and the evidence supporting my arguement. i offer them alternatives....

if they listen, thats up to them. but at least you tried. sometimes if im just confident enough they start to really think about what they are trying and start to second guess it. just be an example :)

[Boots]

I know the feeling thats like my friend who will go to the gym 2 days week when she does all says she wants to do is abs & some cardio. She doesnt want to get big and thinks I'm on my way to getting big. (whatever as I roll my eyes)

She hardly ever gets to the gym & when she does all she complains about is how fat her stomach is and how big her hips and butt are. I tell what she needs to do all the time she just does not listen and now she wants to take a diet pill.

It drives me insane...
Oh yea and then when she does actually show up when she leaves she has dinner & drinks!

[kingarty]

I know Im not a girl, but Im really in the same boat. I have a friend who is a bit big and he "tires" to lose weight but he goes about it the wrong way and doesn't like hearing hes wrong. He started a "cutting" diet that consists of 3 ON 100% whey shakes a day (hes like 5'10 215 and about 31% bodyfat) And I try to tell him that you should eat HEALTHY, a low calorie doesn't mean a NO calorie. He doesn't like hearing anything that I have to say. When I say that you get nutrients from food he says he will take a multivitamin, when I say you need EFA's he said he will take a fish oil capsule. I don't really try anymore because I know hes not losing anything but what muscle is left and hes only hurting himself.

If the person doesn't want to hear it don't waste your time and theirs. Let them go about it themselves

[TurbulentFluid]

To be honest, nothing anymore....

A load of friends, relatives and people who just knew me by sight came over to ask me how did I lose so much weight, with these broad, hopeful grins. I used to answer this. As I went through cleaning up my diet, giving up all the junk food and all the "bad" food, the grins faded. As I added my weekly exercise routine consisted of cardio (running) and weight lifting, the grins turn to rather sour looks of dissapointment and resentment. Instead of hearing I did it in 3 weeks with a magic pill while watching TV, they hear how I spent 2-2.5 years dieting, lifting, running, and changing my entire life philosophy.

If I try and get into explaining why THEIR methods didn't work, they pericieve me as this health food freak and defend with the words like "I don't wanna get too *involved* in it, you know, just lose a few kilos, not make a lifestyle out of it". Great, except your lousy lifestylse is the reason you're fat, and dieting for a while on some impossible diet, then going back to where you left off with your life is a sure ticket to Yo-Yo land.

So eventually I gave up, and whenever someone asks me "how did you lose so much weight", I shrugg and say "with difficulties," or "got a dog so I move a lot more". I guess people simply have to come to certain conclusions on their own.

[Aurora]

I dont like to hear negativity about my diet, and Im sure they dont about theirs. If they are getting results Im generally quite supportive. I just think its great the effort is being made.

[Boots]

I know Im not a girl, but Im really in the same boat. I have a friend who is a bit big and he "tires" to lose weight but he goes about it the wrong way and doesn't like hearing hes wrong. He started a "cutting" diet that consists of 3 ON 100% whey shakes a day (hes like 5'10 215 and about 31% bodyfat) And I try to tell him that you should eat HEALTHY, a low calorie doesn't mean a NO calorie. He doesn't like hearing anything that I have to say. When I say that you get nutrients from food he says he will take a multivitamin, when I say you need EFA's he said he will take a fish oil capsule. I don't really try anymore because I know hes not losing anything but what muscle is left and hes only hurting himself.

If the person doesn't want to hear it don't waste your time and theirs. Let them go about it themselves


AGREED!

[mommy*2*3]

As far as other diets and cleansings...I'm not the diet expert. I'm not a physician so I don't judge how others eat or whatever. If it works for them and they feel good and are healthy then that's all that matters. My way is probably not the only way. I personally detox (if that's what you mean by "cleanse) every so often for a week. I feel the difference and I feel better. I don't tell others to do it or not to do it...it's a personnal choice.
I stopped making recommendations to people a long time ago. Sometimes they ask "how do you stay so lean" or whatever and I tell them that it's a lot of hard work at the gym and that I watch what I eat. I don't go into the specifics because many of them won't listen to me anyways and they'll do what they want to. I've seen this happen way to many times...I'll make suggestions and someone will stick to it for a day or two.
Getting back to the crazy diet thing...I have to admit that when I was younger and not very educated about nutrition, I have gone on some crazy diets and had very good results. Sometimes I would regain some of the weight back but not always. I remember once...I did a very low protein diet eating nothing but bread and veggies and I lost a ton of weight (I exercised as well) and it worked...of course, I would NEVER do that again knowing what I know today. However, it worked and I felt good.

[# 1 mom]

I have learned to keep my mouth shut, My one friend was asking about doing some crash diet where you don't eat at all UMMM i said that does not sound good i go on to say your body needs food to keep it going, she then said my opinion does not matter to her and i always think i know what i am talking about.....Well then why did you ask me and then wait for me to answer you.....I said to her when you are ready to get for real about weight loss then come and see me and we can talk but until then i will never talk to you and give you advice to have you put me down or blow me off.......and the diet did not work and i am now down almost 40lb HUH maybe i do know what i am talking about after all :) It is all good you just have to laugh about it sometimes ;)

[svelt4]

I dont like to hear negativity about my diet, and Im sure they dont about theirs. If they are getting results Im generally quite supportive. I just think its great the effort is being made.

Bump!!!---You are so right---at least they are trying and if they ask for some tips and advice then I will give it to them.

[kingarty]

If the person really wants help they will ask. If you KNOW they are wrong and you want to help you can try but if they are not open about it it will only cause problems between you and them. The best thing to do is keep to yourself about it and if they want help they will ask..

[TennisChik]

Yep, I never say anything either. Everyone wants a quick fix and if it's not something easy that requires no work or discipline, then they don't want to hear it. They don't want unsolicited advice from me any more than I want it from them. If they ask me what I do, I tell them and 100% of the time I get a negative response. Living a truly fit lifestyle is so foreign to everyone--they just don't get it and they're not going to.

I know one woman who is 42 and a plastic surgery addict. She's already had numerous procedures to every part of her body and her most recent was a total facelift. Anyway, she asked me one day what I did and I told her. She said, "I'd rather keep getting plastic surgery!!" I just laughed. The same friend, months earlier, had just recovered from having liposuction. Several of us were over at her house for a get-together and she was having everyone feel of her lower abdomen saying, "feel how hard it is!!!" Then she looks at me and says, "let me feel yours!" and before I could even say anything she had jabbed her finger into my belly. She just said, "$hit! It's hard as a rock!" I laughed then too. Yeah, her stomach was flatter, but you can't buy 6-pack abs.

On the plastic surgery note--I just can't get over all these women getting liposuction to get rid of their body fat. They really think that they can get the fat sucked out and it's going to be permanent. Do the surgeons tell them that it's only temporary and that body fat is put on by overeating?