{"id":37812,"date":"2018-08-20T21:16:12","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T21:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tiller.cronometerdev.com\/blog\/?p=37812"},"modified":"2025-01-16T19:12:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T03:12:39","slug":"the-conversation-how-to-talk-to-friends-and-family-about-tracking-your-nutrition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/the-conversation-how-to-talk-to-friends-and-family-about-tracking-your-nutrition\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastering Nutrition Conversations: Talking to Family About Tracking"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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guest post by april wilson smith, master of public health<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When I first started using Cronometer, back when it was brand new, my friends thought I was anorexic, obsessive-compulsive, or just plain nuts (and not the high in Vitamin E kind!).<\/p>

I had been vegetarian for ten years, hardcore vegan for five (no honey, no leather), and a low-fat zealot back in the nineties, refusing even the smallest drop of oil or sliver of avocado. They had put up with all those \u201cphases,\u201d but once I started tracking my food intake on nutritional software – that was over the top!<\/p>

What is it about tracking our nutrition, activity and other health indicators that freaks people out?\u00a0 No one goes crazy when we make a budget or do our taxes or save for retirement. Managing our finances is \u201cadulting,\u201d but managing our health, that one thing that all the money in the world can\u2019t buy – that\u2019s crazy!<\/p>

Most of us who have gone on a journey toward better physical health, whether it\u2019s vegan, keto, tracking a zone type of diet, or just attempting to balance our calorie intake and exercise to achieve a healthy weight, know how defensive other people get when they find out about it.<\/p>

In a nation where 39.8% of the population is clinically obese according to the Centers for Disease Control<\/a><\/u>, and the majority of people are overweight, almost everyone has anxiety about their bodies and health.\u00a0 No wonder we strike a nerve!<\/p>

Here are some of the steps I took to keep the peace with family and friends when I first started tracking my nutrition:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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It's Not You, It's Me<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I made it crystal clear that my choice to eat a healthier diet and track my nutrition was about my own health, not any criticism of what others were eating.\u00a0 People\u2019s biggest fear is that we are judging them (and let\u2019s admit it – sometimes we do!).<\/p>

So put it right out on the table that you just don\u2019t care what they eat.\u00a0 \u201cPlease don\u2019t feel self-conscious about what you eat,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t want to be the food police.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care what you eat – I just need to do what\u2019s healthiest for me.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Talk About Your Personal Challenges<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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By the time I started actively cutting calories, increasing exercise and monitoring my nutrition on Cronometer, I was huffing and puffing on the walk up to my third floor office, had gained 30 pounds on a job where going out for nachos and margaritas was a regular after-work routine, and my size 6 suits were rotting in the closet as I bought bigger and bigger clothes.\u00a0 I was 5\u20192\u201d and 27 years old.<\/p>

I talked about how I didn\u2019t have the energy I needed, how I felt uncomfortable in my clothes, and how I missed being able to enjoy a workout at the gym at the end of the day.\u00a0 I also mentioned my family\u2019s scary history of stroke.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to argue with that!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"Are You Anorexic?\"<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The hardest part for me was the day when I found out that another woman in my office was spreading rumors that I was anorexic.\u00a0<\/p>

Nobody said anything while I was gaining weight and downing margaritas, but sure enough, once size 4 started to fit (I am 5\u20192\u201d) and I was packing little kale salads with yogurt instead of eating burgers and fries for lunch, the gossip got going.<\/p>

I tackled it head on. I confronted the person who was spreading rumors and told her that it really upset me to have my personal health decisions discussed in the office.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t make a big deal with other co-workers – I decided it would just bring more attention to the issue.\u00a0 But I continued to go about my healthy habits and sure enough, people went back to thinking about their own lunch!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Eating Out<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Friends and especially family tend to be very concerned about whether or not you will participate in food-centered rituals, like Thanksgiving dinner, Passover Seder, or the weekly girls\u2019\/boys\u2019 night out.<\/p>

That decision is up to everyone, so how you handle it is going to be different.\u00a0 I decided to go ahead and eat \u201cad lib,\u201d meaning not measure carefully, on those occasions, but just not stuff myself or drink too much.\u00a0 My boyfriend at the time refused to budge from his weighing and measuring for any event, so he would either bring his own food or we would make a special holiday meal.<\/p>

Our families came to love our Thanksgiving dinner with measured turkey, sugar free ginger cranberry sauce made with a little sucralose, Tennessee sweet potatoes made with half pumpkin (lower calorie than sweet potatoes) and a splash of Jack Daniels, mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes, and crustless but delicious pumpkin flan for dessert.<\/p>

I still went out for happy hour after work, but instead of drinking high calorie, sugary cocktails, I switched to red wine and passed on the appetizers (well, maybe one bite here and there!).<\/p>

Food is a ritual, a way of sharing community.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to be clear, both with yourself and your friends and family, that you\u2019re not trying to skip out on those important occasions – you\u2019re just trying to take care of your body so you can be around to see more and more of them!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"Are You Going To Do This Forever?\"<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Most people are used to thinking of \u201cdiets\u201d as things you do for awhile, lose some weight, and then go back to your old habits – usually only to revert to poor health.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Lately more people have come to understand the idea of lifestyle change, where your relationship with food and exercise changes so that you don\u2019t want to go back to unhealthy habits.\u00a0 But don\u2019t expect the people in your life to share this perspective.<\/p>

If you\u2019ve been on diets before or gone through periods of adopting one kind of eating and then changed your mind, your family may be wondering how long they have to suffer through this one!\u00a0 This isn\u2019t helpful or supportive, but it\u2019s bound to come up.<\/p>

My standard answer, after much trial and error, became: \u201cI want to live a long and healthy life where I feel good about myself and my health.\u00a0 I may change my mind about how to do that as I learn more information, but I don\u2019t want to go back to feeling the way I did before I started paying attention to my health.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Wrapping Up<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When we first get into a healthier style of living, many of us are over the moon enthusiastic about all the changes we\u2019re seeing in our bodies, energy level, and mental clarity.\u00a0 This is so awesome, we think\u2026 why isn\u2019t everyone happy for me?\u00a0 We are surprised and upset when those we care about rain on our healthy parade.<\/p>

I\u2019ve done some pretty controversial things in my life, including taking radical political stands and getting arrested in protests.\u00a0 Nothing has gotten me more vicious criticism than writing a blog about Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition.\u00a0 I openly admitted to loving raw kale years before it was cool!\u00a0 The media picked up the blog and my then boyfriend and I did a lot of television and magazine interviews.\u00a0 For much of 2006 I\u2019d open up my computer and find one article calling me anorexic and a comment on the same article saying I looked too fat in the picture!\u00a0 Someone once commented on my blog, \u201cI hope you die in a fire, and do it soon!\u201d\u00a0 Really???\u00a0 Because I eat kale and you eat burgers?<\/p>

Just remember: your health is more important than what anyone else thinks.\u00a0 You have a community here of people who, in our own different ways, are working to live healthier and happier.\u00a0 You have support from others who aren\u2019t satisfied to watch their health decline.\u00a0 Reach out to your support system here, and stay in touch!<\/p>

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

guest post by april wilson smith, master of public health When I first started using Cronometer, back when it was brand new, my friends thought I was anorexic, obsessive-compulsive, or just plain nuts (and not the high in Vitamin E kind!). I had been vegetarian for ten years, hardcore vegan for five (no honey, no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cronometer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}