“Is that on your D-I-E-T?” or “Should you be eating that?” or “Those veggies look disgusting.” Hearing judgy comments can be frustrating. Knowing what to do (and not do) when people are unsupportive can help you stay motivated to eat healthy.
As a nurse who likes to make healthy food choices, I’ve learned a few things about other people’s diet and food questions and their rude comments.
Some people are truly curious about your healthy food choices.
Others are being purposely rude and unsupportive.
What’s the best response? It depends.
Sometimes, saying nothing and walking away is best.
Other times, a timely comment or action is helpful.
Whether you eat healthy food to improve your overall wellness or manage a symptom or disease, you should be prepared with a few responses to help you stay motivated about your healthy eating goals.
This article explores tips for handling such situations gracefully and ensuring your commitment to a healthier lifestyle remains solid to stay motivated to keep eating healthy.
Here are some ideas to help you be prepared when people are unsupportive or purposely rude.
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Tips to Stay Motivated to Eat Healthy When People Are Rude
Sticking to a healthy diet is essential for your well-being, but it can sometimes attract unwanted attention, comments, and judgments from others.
To be consistent, it’s important to be prepared with thoughtful responses to help you stay true to your choices without feeling pressured or discouraged.
Don’t Feel Obligated to Explain
Judgment comments can be embarrassing, especially when made by someone you don’t know well or in front of a crowd!
Having a light-hearted comment at the ready can prevent you from feeling obligated to ‘fix the awkwardness’ by explaining your situation to everyone.
Typically, these comments are more about the speaker’s insecurities and less about your priorities.
Choose one or two canned comebacks that fit your personality and match the scenarios you frequent.
Just keep it short and move on. You aren’t going to be able to fix their insecurities.
Examples include:
- “It works for me!”
- or “It keeps me awake!”
Stop Saying This
Most people who eat healthy food put a lot of effort into staying well after consciously deciding to do so.
But, when we tell friends or family that we can’t eat something, it diminishes our control over our situation and can cause negative thoughts.
So have a positive response on hand.
For example,
- “I’m not eating that right now.”
- “I’m only eating foods that make me feel good.”
Stay Neutral
People can seem more aggressive if they know (or think) you have pre-diabetes, diabetes, or other chronic conditions.
You may hear comments like:
- “If you didn’t eat so much sugar, you wouldn’t have to deal with diabetes.” and
- “Managing your diet and getting more exercise will cure your diabetes.”
Don’t get mad. Stay neutral.
How?
Think about how frequently diabetes management is in the public eye right now. Most of the time, people comment because they’ve recently read an article or seen a memorable commercial and think it is helpful.
When people judge your healthy diet, it’s easy to feel fearful, judged, hurt, or frustrated.
It’s tempting to tell the person to stop being so intrusive (in not-so-friendly ways!).
Instead of making comments out of anger, focusing on how great you feel about taking better care of yourself is a great way to stay motivated to eat healthy.
Diabetes is complicated, and no one is an expert after reading one article on social media.
Responses can be:
- “Thanks for your concern.”
- Or “Don’t worry, I’m following my doctor’s orders.”
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Quick Comebacks And Action Protect Your Motivation
Lecturing will only keep the focus on the situation.
The sad truth is that they don’t want to learn anything from you about eating healthy. So, change the focus back to them instead.
A quick response from your canned response list and then a question to the person will usually shift the focus.
An example may be:
- “It keeps me awake!”
- And then, “Hey, how’s your (family, kids, pet, project) doing?”
Remember This to Keep Eating Healthy!
You decided to start eating healthier, so remember why you chose to do it in the first place.
Remember your WHY and focus on it.
Giving in to pressure from someone who does not advocate for your future health or wellness is a silly and damaging mistake.
Don’t do it!
The Bottom Line – How to Stay Motivated to Eat Healthy
You are the only one in charge of your health and wellness. You are your best advocate.
Someone will likely comment at some point. Being prepared is the key to keeping the situation from being awkward.
Having a canned comeback, remembering the motives behind the comments, and focusing on your WHY is the way to stay motivated to eat healthy!
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Article originally published May 11, 2018
Be sure to grab your FREE Self-care Starter Guide! Lisa Kimrey is a 33-year veteran registered nurse (RN), speaker, and author of the Bible study, The Self-care Impact: Motivation and Inspiration for Wellness. At Mylifenurse, Lisa combines her nursing expertise with Scripture-based encouragement to show readers who serve and care for others how to begin and maintain their self-care journey – without feeling guilty or overwhelmed – to feel happy, healthy, and rejuvenated.