9 Ways Eating an All Plant Diet Will Confuse Your Friends
Have you been thinking about improving your health or losing some weight? You may have heard that trying an all plant diet is a good way to do both of these things, but you are probably still confused, right?
Don’t worry though, because every person you know is going to be 10 times more confused than you are. Here are a few annoying things you can look forward to if you do decide to to give an all plant diet a try.
1) Your friends will ask you where you get your protein
There must be a hidden rule book somewhere that makes people ask where people who don’t eat meat get their protein or they explode. Have you ever seen what a typical teenager eats these days? Have you ever once in your life heard a teenager asked where they get their protein when their diet consists of chips, soda and pizza?
You will get more than enough protein on a plant based diet. You truly don’t need to spend one second wondering if you are protein deficient because there is plenty of protein in so many plant based foods. So does this mean that a cup of spinach has the same protein as a 12oz chicken breast? Of course not, but there is still enough in there. Besides, if you are that worried about it there are a ton of vegetable protein sources that you can use to supplement your eating. Since a plant based diet means you don’t care about calories or fat you can have some peanut butter which has some good protein in it.
2) Your friends will tell you an all plant diet is not healthy
This is mind numbing to me. I’ve had people tell me that eating a diet rich in vegetables doesn’t sound healthy a lot of times. If healthy people with no medical issues said this it would be one thing, but you can bet that most of the people that say this to you are fat and unhealthy. They will eat a dinner of pizza and soda and tell you that broccoli can be harmful if you eat too much of it. I think this has to do with the old adage that when someone can’t (or won’t) do something for themselves they will bring you down if you are doing it.
Don’t listen to them though. They can keep eating “regular” food and they will keep getting fatter and sicker. Meanwhile you will feel better and look better and this will really confuse them.
3) Your friends will assume you eat boiled carrots
I get it. When you aren’t aware of all of the tasty food things available on a plant based diet you think of what you already know. What do people eat? Do they eat boiled carrots or some equally gross sounding thing? Maybe eating a plant based diet means buying a head of lettuce and eating on that all day? You are probably already thinking of how much ranch dressing you will have to buy to make this food taste good. You don’t want to do that though, since ranch dressing is loaded with added sugar and won’t help your efforts a bit.
Dont’ worry, there are a ton of awesome things you can eat on an all plant based diet. You won’t be eating the worlds’ most boring foods at all. So let your friends or family think whatever they need to so that they can feel better about how unhealthy they are eating. Human nature is to make fun of people who are making their lives better, so it’s best to laugh with them and go on with your day.
4) Your friends will constantly ask you if you eat meat
Have you ever met a vegan or vegetarian who can’t go 5 minutes without telling you how they don’t eat meat? I try not to mention my lack of meat eating because I don’t want to be annoying. But that doesn’t stop people who know 100% fur sure that I don’t eat meat if I am going to eat any meat. Maybe they think eating meat is like a cheat meal for a person on a plant based diet or something, or maybe they just want to know if they can have a second helping of meat. If you decide to give up meat and go on a plant based diet, be prepared for a lot of this.
I have found that people really love to argue and tell you how great meat is for your health, but I just ignore all of that and you may want to try this too. Why on earth some other person cares how much meat you eat is beyond me, but I guess they have their reasons.
5) Your friends will be thrilled with your weight loss, ask how you did it, and then do the opposite
This is insanity to me. I’ve had at least 5 different people remark at my 70lbs weight loss and ask how they can do the same. I am really passionate about weight loss because I truly think I understand the whole key to weight loss and how anyone can do it easily. So I write up a 10,000 word paper on what they can eat and what to avoid and I feel great about helping another person. Then a few weeks or months go by and I see that person eating the same garbage and talking about how they “can’t lose weight”.
I’ve had someone tell me they eat the same as me, and then tell me about what they ate the day before and it’s the exact opposite of what I told them. And then they talk about how it’s just too hard to lose weight. I think it’s best to just ignore them when this happens. I have found over and over again that people will change when they want to, and not a second before that.
6) Your friends will say they eat like you, but it doesn’t work for them
It’s hard to lose weight on an all plant diet if you eat a bunch of meat with sugary BBQ sauce all over it with low fat ice cream for dessert. But somehow people think that they are doing just what you told them and they are just one of those people with a bad metabolism. I am not a doctor, but I think that whole metabolism thing is nonsense anyway. I used to think my metabolism was off too, before I was eating the right foods. When you do eat the right foods though you see very quickly that weight loss happens really fast and easily.
7) Your friends will assume you eat grass from your yard
I love being laughed at by sick people who take diabetes and high blood pressure medications. Just like they figure that you eat boiled carrots all day long they also assume you eat “rabbit food”. If you are taking shots of wheat grass then you may as well be eating lawn clippings (same taste) but short of that, this is just insecurity. If your friends joke about how you eat grass or trees just laugh at them and go on with your day.
8) Your friends will ask you about every fad diet known to mankind
People who want to lose weight want to do it the easy way. I understand this too, I am human and hate wasting time or doing anything unnecessary to get to a goal. But just like you will have friends that will bug you about protein and make fun of how you eat, there will be people who will always be looking for a shortcut.
Remember I was telling you about how I knew someone who asked me to tell them what to eat, and then ate the opposite? This same person also likes to try fad diets sometimes. It’s like they think of eating a lot of vegetables as too much work, but counting carbs and fat grams and doing a bunch of math all day easier. People like Dr. Oz aren’t rich because they are truly helping people. They are rich because they give out a lot of advice backed up by a lot of claims that their new product or course will solve obesity.
When it comes to losing weight and being healthy, most diets do not focus on both of these. You can lose weight by exercise alone. You can lose weight by counting calories or by eating non fat foods, but it’s not ideal. There is a huge misconception that health and weight loss always go together. So while you can lose weight on a fad diet, that doesn’t mean you are going to be healthy. And it is important to really understand this. I have been both fat and unhealthy in my life. Being thinner would have been fine, but actually feeling better is really where it’s at.
9) Your friends will think you lost your mind
People love to find fault in others who are trying to improve their life. You may have a lot of friends who are very supportive of your decision to try an all plant diet and you may have some that are not. Some will help you stay motivated and tell you how great you look, and some will make fun of you and put you down. This is human nature and you may want to try not taking it too personal. They are miserable in their own life and they have to take it out on somebody. As you get leaner and feel better though, they may change their tune.
Being healthy and fit is really not very hard to do. Putting up with people….not so much an easy thing sometimes. Remember that you are doing this for you, not them. They may have a lot to say but you will feel a lot better to ignore most of what the negative people say and stick with positive people. This is true for all aspects of life though and not just weight loss. You are doing this to better yourself and there will be people who don’t like that.
An all plant diet is really easy to do and it works amazing for weight loss and better health. I know you can do it and if you know any negative people in your life, I know you will not take them too seriously. If all else fails, just remember how unhealthy they are.
