Other people's opinions

It never ceases to amaze me how everyone has an opinion on how to lose weight. Someone I know always comments on what I eat and asks pointed questions about how I'm doing on my diet and what exactly do I eat, when, how much, etc. Then he tells me what I'm doing wrong - every time!

For example. Now that I'm on the USANA diet and I only eat one "real" meal a day, he wants to know what I eat. I told him I eat salads, fish and lean meats. Then I mentioned that sometimes I'll have an apple and some pecans for an extra snack. I chose these because I enjoy them and because they are low glycemic. What does he tell me? 'You shouldn't eat those - the apple is high in sugar and the nuts are too high in calories'. Meanwhile everything else I read tells me that low glycemic foods are great for you and apples and pecans are definately in the list.

Meanwhile all I eat is a portion controlled, soy protien bar or shake 4x day (2 shakes and 2 bars). Then for dinner I have like chicken and steamed broccoli. But yeah - it's DEFINATELY that apple that's keeping me at 250 lbs. Arrrrrrgh!

I feel like I should obey this guy (or at least be careful that he doesn't see me eat that apple around him) because my livelyhood depends upon his faith in me. And clearly he seems to make some sort of connection between obesity and stupidity (like those insurance companies? LOL!). What a load of crap. Just because I can't seem to lose weight, my metabolism is off the deep end and my body is giving up on carrying around 100 extra lbs doesn't mean I'm stupid by any means. I've tried so many diets and ended up heavier than when I began that I've learned my lesson. I'm only on this diet because I want that surgery and they want to see you stick to something to prove you'll follow the guidelines after the surgery.

Well that, plus I want to have the best nutritional base possible before the surgery so I don't get massive deficiencies after. I will continue to take the USANA vitamins and likely some of their food too after the surgery... only I won't have to be hungry all the time! That will be nice.

Bottom line? How come everyone thinks they have the right to an opinion / judgement on my weight? I have to live with it, I have to fight it, I have to look in the mirror each day -- I think my own opinion counts WAY more, but I still feel bad when people tell me this stuff. All I drink now (ever) is water, and about 1/2 the time I drink Nestle flavoured water -- which the same fellow tells me is bad because of all the chemicals in it. So let me get this right... I can only eat non-starchy veggies, chicken, fish and lean meat (occasionally) and only drink water. WOW! My life is so much fun! I can't even have flavored water now? Give me a break!!!

>:o(