mteez Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hi All, I'm prepping to start a Whole30 in a couple weeks, and I am really excited and hopeful to start. However, I have a particular friend that gets very protective and defensive whenever I attempt to change my eating habits. Once I tried doing an Eat Stop Eat program and she angrily lectured me to never do it again, and that it was obvious I would develop an eating disorder from a diet like that. I'm not sure how to handle her because she grew up with an eating disorder herself (I have not had an eating disorder). I know some people will be skeptical in general, but how do I explain my choice to do a Whole30 to someone who will be convinced I'm trying to adopt disordered eating? Anyone have a similar friend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jent103 Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 That's a tricky one - people have such different experiences when it comes to eating disorders, either their own or a loved one. I have a friend who, while not as forceful as yours, was concerned about me when she heard I was doing a Whole30. It comes from a place of love, as she has a family experience that this reminds her of. As it comes up, could you emphasize the temporary nature of the Whole30? As Dallas and Melissa have said repeatedly, this is not meant to be a Whole365 - it's not like you can never, ever have Food X again. Framing it as an elimination diet might also help, since it emphasizes the reintroduction of various foods to see how you personally react to them, and talking about all the delicious food you ARE eating might help too. I'm not an expert on eating disorders, so others might have better suggestions, but that's where I'd start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlaccini Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Maybe explain it as follows: You have been feeling unwell as of late and you think it might be a food sensitivity thing. So you are doing a 30 day elimination "diet" to try to trouble shoot to see what it might be. This is a very valid reason for doing a whole 30. Trust me your meals with not be smaller than previous - she will see that you are not starving in how you are eating (trust me I eat much more than I ever did) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaGirl Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Loan her the book and let her read about . Link her up with this message board.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoJo09 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 And maybe just don't mention it at all - unless you eat with her every single day, it's possible she'll never even notice if you don't make a big deal out of it. After all, it's not like you're not eating anything, just specific things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beets Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 When I'm in the odd situation of defending my eating to skeptics I tell them it's an elimination diet for my psoriasis. Just to be clear though, eating w30 is nothing like a gimmick diet! It's really the opposite of a "diet." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjena Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 I tend to try to have what I eat fly under the radar. But, if it comes up, Beet's suggestion works well. I just tell people I'm doing an elimination diet for my allergies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mteez Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I think framing it as a temporary elimination diet is a good way to go, especially because that is a big part of why I want to do this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katoo Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 You know what gets me? If you were munching right out of the bag a big bag of sour cream and onion ruffles followed by a snickers, she probably wouldn't bat an eye. Why oh why is vegetables, fruit, good fat and humanely sourced protein seen as scary and unhealthy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beets Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 It's seen as threatening bc it is different from what's peddled as healthy everywhere else. It's like people are afraid the world will collapse if it turns out fat-free HFCS-sweetened "yogurt" isn't actually healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeadowLily Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britishgal Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I come from a family of eating disorders (plus I am a psychologist and spent years counselling teens with eating disorders) so any new food idea is picked on straight away and lectures start... But i didn't actually tell anyone about whole30. Originally I just informed my mother and siblings I am giving up "processed cr*p" and didn't mention the rest (grains, high fat etc). It has been quite freeing and after a couple of weeks people started noticing differences and asking more. Today my mother (she cannot grasp the not eating low fat idea so I'm not pushing it) asked if I wanted a snack and automatically picked up some fruit rather than the chocolate/cake/biscuits she would normally get for me (as that's what I'd chose pre whole30) and then asked me if flavoured pop had "loads of cr*p" in it. I said yes so she bought herself the plain water (though she had a sandwich...you can't win them all!). I think it's best not to think or talk about it as a diet especially around her as that will get her worries up x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitisthenublack Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 I'm having a really hard time right now with this as well. Several friends and family members have "confronted me" about my "unhealthy relationship with food." Saying that I'm on my way to an eating disorder and restricting myself so much is too extreme. I try to explain that I don't even crave those bad foods anymore, so how is it restrictive if I don't even WANT the food? They think its "unhealthy" to not cheat on your diet! WTF I'm so beyond frustrated with it I don't even know what to do anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoJo09 Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 I'm having a really hard time right now with this as well. Several friends and family members have "confronted me" about my "unhealthy relationship with food." Saying that I'm on my way to an eating disorder and restricting myself so much is too extreme. I try to explain that I don't even crave those bad foods anymore, so how is it restrictive if I don't even WANT the food? They think its "unhealthy" to not cheat on your diet! WTF I'm so beyond frustrated with it I don't even know what to do anymore. "Yep, it is a little restrictive right now, but it's not forever, it's just until I figure out what's causing my acne/stomach aches/hideous period pain. It's not like I'm never going to have a chocolate again, I just want to make sure it's worth it first." And then, eat a big steak with mayo in front of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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