How Do You Stay So Positive About Low-Carb?
Just in case you haven't heard me express it lately, THANK YOU for reading my blog. Without the dedication of readers like you, "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" would be just another among the millions of blogs out there. But it is YOU who makes it special!
I'm often asked how I stay so positive about livin' la vida low-carb when all we ever hear in the media and from those who claim to be health leaders are constant attacks against what you and I hold so near and dear to our hearts. It's a challenge indeed, especially when the ill-informed public only catches a headline (like this recent example) and doesn't bother to find out the facts for themselves.
This becomes all the more difficult and even frustrating when you attempt to share with others the good news that low-carb living has made on your weight and health and they just don't seem to care. That's exactly what happened to one of my readers recently.
Here's what she wrote in an e-mail to me:
Hi Jimmy,
I was talking to a lady I work with today about her diabetes and suggested to her, the best I knew how, to take a look at low-carb eating. I told her about Dr. Robert Atkins and how he helped so many of his patients with their health problems, in that so many got better if not well through this way of eating.
The same old pattern of folks not listening happened again. She indicated that she knew she would die of something and it might as well be diabetes! I realize she, nor anyone else, has to take my advice, but to say something like that! Whew! This I know, I don't want to be diabetic--but if I do become diabetic, I want to be as healthy as possible! My dad was a diabetic and died due to complications from ketoacidosis, so you can see my concern for myself and others.
I guess this is a confession, but I get so tired of trying to say positive things to others about low-carb eating and the health benefits and then have them completely shoot it down. You seem to stay so positive and upbeat in the face of adversity. Please tell me how to stay positive.
Do I just stop telling people about low-carb eating? It probably sounds like I go around talking about low-carb eating to everyone in sight--I don't and really don't hardly ever mention it. It's just that when I do, almost every time people simply will not heed to what could possibly save their lives.
Your blog is always so very informative, encouraging and wholesome. Please keep up what you are doing.
Can anyone else relate? It is perplexing how people refuse to make the right choices for themselves even in the midst of clear evidence and even real-life examples staring them right in the face.
For example, I recently went out to Fuddrucker's with a group of friends from church and the subject of sugar came up. When I explained that I had not consumed sugar in over three years, one of the hefty guys responded back, "Well, if I couldn't eat sugar, then I'd rather be fat for the rest of my life!"
It was a telling response that reminded me that my job is not to stand in judgment of anyone else for the choices they make. After all, it's their life they are destroying with all the carb-age they are eating. It's their conscious choice and it's none of my business to tell them how they should live.
However, it IS my job, especially in light of my nearly 200-pound weight loss, to make myself available to anyone who has questions about how to lose weight and improve their health. I'm always ready to give a listening ear and to share from my own experience if and when the time comes that they are ready.
My brother Kevin is the PERFECT example. I'd been banging my head against the wall trying to help him get his diet and health in order and just about decided he probably would never get it. But he's surprised me and is now traveling down a journey to improving himself. My role is to BE THERE for him now.
To my reader, I say you just gotta stay encouragingly positive and let people decide what's best for them on their own timetable. If you try to push your information on them too quickly, no matter how right it is, then it won't be accepted. It must be on their terms when they are ready. Always be prepared at a moment's notice to help.
Right now, all we can do is share the information we know to be true in a non-threatening manner and then let the chips fall where they may. That's hard, I realize, but keep your head up. Eventually, the truth will sink in! :)
One thing that you might try doing is describing the kinds of foods you eat on your low-carb lifestyle rather than simply calling it "low-carb." I've described this as a stealth low-carb approach to telling others about livin' la vida low-carb, although it's hard for me to do that since EVERYBODY knows I lost my weight eating a low-carb diet.
In fact, just the other day I saw a friend I hadn't seen in a while and she said, "You aren't still eating that crazy diet of yours are you?" Um, if you mean low-carb, then YES, I am still eating that way. Call it crazy or otherwise, but it's helped me lose 200 pounds and I've kept that weight off for good (unlike those "other" diet plans we won't talk about right now!).
Be of good cheer and keep HAPPY THOUGHTS on your mind. Moping through life is no way to live, so how about setting a positive example for others to follow? Who knows, you may just find a receptive ear to your low-carb message after all.
Got a question for me? I'd love to hear from you anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.
I'm often asked how I stay so positive about livin' la vida low-carb when all we ever hear in the media and from those who claim to be health leaders are constant attacks against what you and I hold so near and dear to our hearts. It's a challenge indeed, especially when the ill-informed public only catches a headline (like this recent example) and doesn't bother to find out the facts for themselves.
This becomes all the more difficult and even frustrating when you attempt to share with others the good news that low-carb living has made on your weight and health and they just don't seem to care. That's exactly what happened to one of my readers recently.
Here's what she wrote in an e-mail to me:
Hi Jimmy,
I was talking to a lady I work with today about her diabetes and suggested to her, the best I knew how, to take a look at low-carb eating. I told her about Dr. Robert Atkins and how he helped so many of his patients with their health problems, in that so many got better if not well through this way of eating.
The same old pattern of folks not listening happened again. She indicated that she knew she would die of something and it might as well be diabetes! I realize she, nor anyone else, has to take my advice, but to say something like that! Whew! This I know, I don't want to be diabetic--but if I do become diabetic, I want to be as healthy as possible! My dad was a diabetic and died due to complications from ketoacidosis, so you can see my concern for myself and others.
I guess this is a confession, but I get so tired of trying to say positive things to others about low-carb eating and the health benefits and then have them completely shoot it down. You seem to stay so positive and upbeat in the face of adversity. Please tell me how to stay positive.
Do I just stop telling people about low-carb eating? It probably sounds like I go around talking about low-carb eating to everyone in sight--I don't and really don't hardly ever mention it. It's just that when I do, almost every time people simply will not heed to what could possibly save their lives.
Your blog is always so very informative, encouraging and wholesome. Please keep up what you are doing.
Can anyone else relate? It is perplexing how people refuse to make the right choices for themselves even in the midst of clear evidence and even real-life examples staring them right in the face.
For example, I recently went out to Fuddrucker's with a group of friends from church and the subject of sugar came up. When I explained that I had not consumed sugar in over three years, one of the hefty guys responded back, "Well, if I couldn't eat sugar, then I'd rather be fat for the rest of my life!"
It was a telling response that reminded me that my job is not to stand in judgment of anyone else for the choices they make. After all, it's their life they are destroying with all the carb-age they are eating. It's their conscious choice and it's none of my business to tell them how they should live.
However, it IS my job, especially in light of my nearly 200-pound weight loss, to make myself available to anyone who has questions about how to lose weight and improve their health. I'm always ready to give a listening ear and to share from my own experience if and when the time comes that they are ready.
My brother Kevin is the PERFECT example. I'd been banging my head against the wall trying to help him get his diet and health in order and just about decided he probably would never get it. But he's surprised me and is now traveling down a journey to improving himself. My role is to BE THERE for him now.
To my reader, I say you just gotta stay encouragingly positive and let people decide what's best for them on their own timetable. If you try to push your information on them too quickly, no matter how right it is, then it won't be accepted. It must be on their terms when they are ready. Always be prepared at a moment's notice to help.
Right now, all we can do is share the information we know to be true in a non-threatening manner and then let the chips fall where they may. That's hard, I realize, but keep your head up. Eventually, the truth will sink in! :)
One thing that you might try doing is describing the kinds of foods you eat on your low-carb lifestyle rather than simply calling it "low-carb." I've described this as a stealth low-carb approach to telling others about livin' la vida low-carb, although it's hard for me to do that since EVERYBODY knows I lost my weight eating a low-carb diet.
In fact, just the other day I saw a friend I hadn't seen in a while and she said, "You aren't still eating that crazy diet of yours are you?" Um, if you mean low-carb, then YES, I am still eating that way. Call it crazy or otherwise, but it's helped me lose 200 pounds and I've kept that weight off for good (unlike those "other" diet plans we won't talk about right now!).
Be of good cheer and keep HAPPY THOUGHTS on your mind. Moping through life is no way to live, so how about setting a positive example for others to follow? Who knows, you may just find a receptive ear to your low-carb message after all.
Got a question for me? I'd love to hear from you anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.
Labels: happy, health, low-carb, positive, weight loss
posted by Jimmy Moore at
6/30/2007 04:52:00 PM
2 Comments:
Hang in there buddy! I know it can be very hard sometimes to stay positive in the light of all the noisy negativists and naysayers - but then again, keep in mind that you have the truth (and science) on your side!
It's also good to keep reminding yourself that humans have the eerie ability to not only consistently resist change, in any form - and for most people this comes almost as a basic instinct. The greatest minds in history have always been rediculed, scourned, and even threatened by the "establishment". It's a part of human development and psyche.
What in my experience often works best, when people ask me advice or tips about diet, is look them deep in the eye and ask "Do you want the truth? Are you serious about your health, or are you not really interested in educating yourself?". In other words - I am very blunt, not very diplomatic, it's like shock therapy. That really gets their attention and then they do listen. Of course -and that's often the tiring part- they do come up with the same lame arguments they have been indoctrinated with, all these conditioned Pavlov reflexes, but these are easy exposed as the falsehoods they really are.
The truth has a special property, I find. It adds up, it rings a bell, and most people respond positively to reason - IF they are genuinely open-minded. That's the key, and like you observed: they must be "ready" for the truth.
If not, it's indeed like banging your head against the wall. And that gets tiring very quickly indeed.
There's one thing they can never take away from you, Jimmy. That's the fact that you, in contrast to all these misinformed "expert" liars and professional or pathological spindoctors, have positively influenced the lives of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people. No matter what they say about you, no matter how harsh, mean, imbecilic or misguided the commenters, no matter how hard they try - absolutely nothing can change the fact that you have literally saved those lives. And nothing, not even the Government, can take that fact away.
Keep that in mind! Is there anything more rewarding in this world?
God bless you, Science! I appreciate your constant encouragement for me and for reminding us all what's most important. Take care! ;)
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