Being a social pariah

by 100poundsofchange

I’ve posted before that so many activities with friends involve food or going out where food plays a part of your event. Last week for instance there was a going away party for someone at work and of course food was served. This unfortunately had to serve as my lunch break, and I partook. Over the past few months my eating habits have changed however, and as such the food choices I make and how much I eat has been greatly modified. I don’t typically partake in dessert foods, mostly because I don’t particularly care for them in the first place, but also because I find it to be somewhat an unnecessary part of a meal. I try to focus my meals more around the protein than the carbohydrates whenever possible, however I still have a weakness for corn chips. I think the two hardest foods for me to avoid are corn chips and ice cream. These two foods understandably are quite an addictive substance. If sugar is an addictive substance, the dense nature of it in pure form in ice cream, and starch in corn chips makes them particularly harsh when it comes to the waistline.

The next two events were this weekend, where on friday I spent a large portion of the evening making home made sushi at a friend’s house. Sadly the rice was a bit too sticky and caused the sushi rolls to be considerably thicker than normal ones. Rice is another kicker for me, it doesn’t make me feel as bloated as white bread, but causes bad bouts of heartburn when consumed en masse. Saturday was a BBQ at a friend’s house where I drank beer, and ate a hamburger. These events are really commonplace and in the past I wouldn’t have thought twice about what I was consuming. It becomes a point of guilt when I find myself enjoying these activities even thought I know it shouldn’t. There is a social pressure component when it comes to these sorts of hangouts. If you’re not drinking people question why, eventually they’ll leave you alone thinking you have your reasons for not wanting to drink, often times thinking you may have just had too much to drink the previous night. Food on the other hand is a whole other ballgame.

I find it weird the reaction people have when you tell them that you’re not partaking in a particular food. Everyone has their opinion if what you’re doing it healthy or not. This has led me for the most part to be as nonspecific as possible when people ask me what I eat or what type of diet I’m on. Low carb, low fat, vegetarian, high protein, all these diets elicit some sort of almost offensive reaction in certain people, as if you told them their deity doesn’t exist. Everyone seems to be constantly worried about other people’s health and how they have chosen to lose weight. Having been overweight on and off for more than half my life at this point, the amount of research I’ve done not only through experimentation but actually reading medical journals and clinical studies on obesity and diets, has made me more of an expert on the role particular diets react with myself than any dietician or most doctors. Any doctor in my opinion that lambasts a high protein low carb diet is not someone I would trust to prescribe me Asprin. Doctors go through rigorous school and training for all sorts of medical conditions for the greater part of 8-12 years. However I have lived in my own personal research study 24/7 for the entirety of 29 years. Do I know how certain cancers can effect my bone marrow? Of course not, but I can tell you the different effects of diets and certain drugs on the receptors in the brain that are responsible for hunger and satiety. Which is more than I can say for my primary care physician who doesn’t like the idea of a high protein diet.

I want to make my own life decisions, and want the people in my life to respect those decisions. If i choose not to eat a burger at your party, or not want to eat fast food when everyone else is, respect my decision. If it looks like I might be heading for an eating disorder, then chime in, but don’t tell me that my choice of diet is wrong or unhealthy. I will live my life, and you live yours. If I die at the age of 35 because of a diet related problem, then you can tell me you told me so over my grave and feel superior, but until then shut up and let me live my life.

Current Weight: 276 Pounds