Atkins-bashers

[cjsmith]

WTF is up with Atkins-bashing? I'm not even on that diet and I've heard more snideness, put-downs, and just general meanness about it to last me the rest of my life. Some haven't even read what the diet is supposed to be, but the myths about it arouse their ire anyhow. Some raise the subject just so they can spew their bile about it. The internal pressure must be immense. One gal I met at a quilting group got so hot under the collar that I'm semi-seriously glad she wasn't armed. What the hell is the threat here, lady? Go ahead, eat your bread. Nobody's taking it away from you.

Obviously there's something I'm missing, because the way I look at it seems simplistic by comparison: if I don't like a diet I don't go on it.

Is it really more about fat-hatred? That might explain some of it, but not all of it. Is it that anything strongly contradicting previous wisdom must be suppressed? That probably doesn't explain all of it either.

If I leave comments enabled, I'm a fool, right? Yeah, I'm a fool. So I'll just delete any comments bashing any diet at all (see above remark about my lifetime quota being full).

Comments

[tytso.livejournal.com]

I think it's for a number of different reasons. For some people it violates so much of commonly received wisdom that this is enough for them to get upset. And it is true that there are a lot of silly diets out there, so it's very easy for people to assume that Atkins must be another one of those silly diets.

I had one person who didn't like it because I was a famous personage, and he didn't like the fact that I might be inducing other people to do the same thing, perhaps to their detriment. (Which seems to be a relatively busybody notion, but then again so are the people who try to push Atkins on others.) This person also appeared to be a vegetarian, and so diets that encouraged eating of large amounts of meat probably also caused him to be upset. If you're interested, his comments on one of my LJ entries can be found here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/tytso/15630.html).

Personally, I try very hard not to proselytize. If someone asks me whether or not I've lost weight, or if someone asks me if I have any dietary restrictions, I'll tell them that I'm following an Atkins diet, but I never try to tell them that they should do so as well. I'll just merely state that it's worked for me, to the extent that I've lost 40 pounds, and have been able to bring my blood sugar levels under control. (More recently, when I went to Japan last week, and decided to take an Atkins "holiday", because Japan is such a rice-based culture it's pretty much impossible to avoid carbs, I found that I gained six or seven pounds in one week. Since I've gotten back home and started restricting my carbohydrates again, the weight has started coming off quite quickly. Does it prove anything? Not necessarily, since I was working long hours, and I wasn't exercising as much, etc., etc., etc. But in any case, it works for me, and given that it works, I don't feel any urge to mess with success.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

For some people it violates so much of commonly received wisdom that this is enough for them to get upset.

Understandable. Dissent can indeed be threatening; just the IDEA that what one is doing could have been wrong all these years is darned frustrating. (Personally, I think we're still learning a lot about nutrition and about medical science as a whole. Saying an expert is against something or for something isn't, for me, iron-clad gospel.)

If you're interested, his comments on one of my LJ entries can be found here.

I liked your responses: no engaging him about philosophy, just presenting your own experience backed up with numbers. You didn't even take the bait when he insulted your intelligence. I'm impressed. :)

Personally, I try very hard not to proselytize. If someone asks me whether or not I've lost weight, or if someone asks me if I have any dietary restrictions, I'll tell them that I'm following an Atkins diet, but I never try to tell them that they should do so as well.

I deeply respect that. If asked, you explain, but you don't dictate to anyone else what their actions should be. I think that approach makes for smoother interactions between people -- not too many folks like to get preached at. It's not always easy to take this approach, so when I see you doing it, I'm impressed.

Re:

[thorswitch.livejournal.com]

Even though I'm finding Atkins MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to stick to than any other diet I've ever tried (it's been 6 weeks so far and I haven't had any of the crazy compulsive spells I usually get with other diets (which, quite frankly, is amazing), and I am starting to notice some changes. I don't imagine I'd recommend it to someone else, though - not because I don't believe in it, but because I personally think they should check with their doctor and find out what s/he thinks would be a workable and healthy diet for that person. I chose Atkins because that was what my doctor recommended.

In many ways, I'm treating this the same way I treat my faith - this is what works for me, and I'll talk about why *I* like it, but each person needs to find what works for them. It's really not that hard of a philosophy (letting everyone find what works for them) to live with. I really wish more people would do it, you know?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It's really not that hard of a philosophy (letting everyone find what works for them) to live with. I really wish more people would do it, you know?

*sigh* yeah. :-/

In other words, expanding on what Lisa said below, I'm "basher-bashing"! :-)