Those making the comments are jealous or have some other self-serving controlling agenda going on in the background.
They know you are starting to look and feel REALLY good (out-shinning them) now – they don’t have the upper hand – you’re on the road to your awesome goal and they can’t stand it-the claws are coming out big time)! The energy and hostility they will pour on you so you fatten up and they feel superior. They don’t want you getting healthy, looking sexy, younger – stealing all of the thunder. Getting compliments and hit on by the opposite sex.
TOO BAD – for THEM, that is. Let them rant. Let them rave. Stick to your goal. If they rant on, just tell them that you can see through them and it’s obnoxious-and that you would never comment on their eating habits or make comments about their bodies. Tell them everyone you meet tells you how fantastic you look, so it’s amusing and kind of creepy how they are the only ones going on and on. They should focus on themselves and their issues.
This has happened to me-so I know it’s a real thing. The people that make the negative comments are manipulators and want the upper hand with you for some reason. Don’t ever give it to them. Smile and enjoy they’re ranting and obvious jealously. Hee, hee!!! You go!

I’ve appreciated reading through all the posts here. It’s good to hear everyone’s perspectives on how to respond to negative comments. This thread has gotten me thinking about what I would do in the scenarios described. I realize that I’ll definitely share that I’m doing 5:2 with my doctor and would be happy to respond by saying that my progress is under ‘doctor supervision’!

I asked a very slim friend the other day if she gets a hard time – she said she used to but not any more. I said I didn’t know how to deal with people and she said well you should tell them to stop eating so many pies!

Not helpful!!!!

Go for it!! You know what to do so like the add says. Just do it. Maybe its an XX chromosome thing to be jealous? I had the opposite with people being supportive but maybe that’s because of the XY chromosome thing? Or maybe like I said you need to hang out with supportive people and tell the rest to…. well you know what I want to say.

Just started reading this thread. Human nature is fascinating. I had a couple of similar remarks, eg ‘don’t lose anymore weight’ (from a smoker) ‘ you’re so skinny’ & I’d only lost 10kg’s, & my BMI was around 22. Let’s face it, today if you’re at a healthy, normal weight, you’re in a minority. When people see you succeeding, they feel threatened. They are forced to look at themselves. But they try to turn the tables by their comments, or by offering you ‘treats’. Much like smokers will offer you a cigarette when they know you’re trying to quit, & make jokes like, ‘you don’t live longer if you quit, it just feels like it’. So, I think it’s envy they feel, rather than jealousy; or maybe a combination of the two.
Such a pity you regained the weight, Manda. But just think of it as a learning curve. You did it once, & you will do it again! This time for good 🙂

Judging by the date of the last post, this thread might be dead now. I hope not and I’m adding my twopenneth worth anyway. I only came across it while reading posts from someone new to a thread I’ve contributed to for a long time so I could get to know them better (that’s you Lael).

Anyway, I wanted to respond to the ‘oh you’re wasting away’; ‘hi skinny minny’; ‘you mustn’t lose any more weight’ comments. My GP has a weight issue himself and was very supportive of my endless struggles with my weight for many years before I discovered 5:2 and reached my goal weight a year ago.

I discussed this with him because I often have the feeling that people are just waiting (almost hoping it seems?) for me to re-gain the 24kgs back. I do have a history of losing lots of weight and re-gaining it but I have explained to people that 5:2 is a change for life. Actually it was my doctor who brought it up (he doesn’t know that I know he had lapband surgery before I became his patient). He said that when we lose a lot of weight, we challenge people’s normality. People don’t like change. You turn their world upside down and they just find it hard to know how to deal with it. Hence the comments.

The other difficulty is that because I still fast to maintain my weight (and because I believe in the other medical benefits fasting offers), people think I’m still ‘dieting’. I spend half my time explaining that I haven’t lost any weight since I reached my goal weight a year ago.

One other issue I have had to deal with is sabotage from my own family. You’d think your OH would be happy to have his wife at her pre-wedding weight at age 60. Sadly, for mine, my fasting equates to some form of deprivation on his part. This is despite the fact that I always cook my OFMs a healthy dinner on my FDs. The day after my FD, my OH heads straight for the kitchen for a huge fry-up – you’d think he was the one fasting! I rarely mention 5:2 in the home now because my family are ‘sick to death of hearing about it’ and basically have no interest in healthy eating as a lifestyle choice. I just quietly go about my routine and sometimes no-one notices it’s a fast day.

Another side of this coin is that a lot of people really wanted to know how I was losing weight while still eating normally most of the time. As a result, I have turned 13 people on to 5:2, all with good success. These are the people I like to surround myself with. The proof will be that, with the passing years, I do not ever go back to where I was.

This is the reason these forums are so brilliant – we get to chat to like-minded people who get it. Well done all!

Hi Thin ,

I wonder if the big fry up after FD is the same thing – there’s been a change to ‘normality’, and so there’s a reaction because our success is a challenge. My OH is good most of the time and happy for me, but occasionally there’s a bit of this sort of thing, particularly if I’m not there when the shopping gets done. There are a couple of things I am just about powerless to resist that I have asked not to be brought into the house. I don’t care if he has them but till my weight loss is done I’ve asked that they not be in the kitchen, and that I not know he has them. I have a particular food intolerance condition that being around these makes it really hard for me. Well, it,s a few monthsvsince we had that talk again, and they came home again thislast week, and we’ll be having “that talk” again. I have repeated it several times, but it still gets ‘forgotten’.

Merry

Do tell Merry, what are those items that you’re powerless to resist? Name and shame them!

I might be being a bit hard on my OH as I have a long and complicated history with food. He’s always said that he’s not responsible for what I put in my mouth. He’s got a point. He gets in trouble if I find chocolate hidden in the garage and he gets in trouble if he offers it to me – so he says he can’t win. A ‘win’ for me would be that he also embraced healthy eating and made items like chocolate a special and rare thing.