Experts, Critics and Saboteurs

I've mentioned before that I don't like people to know I'm dieting. I do hate when people discover that the fat girl isn't happy with herself, but it's more than just that.

Having been on several successful diets in my life, I have always eventually had to share with people that I was watching what I ate. When you drop alot of weigh, people notice and want to know what you're doing. Apparently, there's a big secret to weight loss that they don't know and insist I share.

When I do share, I find that all people fall into one of these categories: The Diet Expert, The Diet Critic, or The Diet Saboteur. Some people fall into several of these categories.

First, The Expert:

It doesn't matter what I'm doing, they know a better, faster, healthier method that I should try. Who cares that what I'm doing is clearly working for me? They know everything and their approach to weight loss would be much more effective.

The Critic:

Almost everyone falls into this category. When asked what I'm doing and I respond with my weight loss and exercise plan, they are, you guessed it, very critical. I'm either not eating enough, I'm exercising too much/not enough/not the right way, I'm omitting too many foods that they couldn't live without, whatever.

The Saboteur:

These are the "oh, come on. You can have just one bite" people.

When I first decided to follow the Cheat to Lose plan, I was petrified that people would find out. I didn't want to hear boo from anyone. I don't care to know what you think or don't think about my eating habits. Because of how the plan works (5 mini-meals with very specific portions), it was going to be impossible to hide the change in my eating habits from my coworkers. What would I say when they grilled me on my new diet? How would I respond to their criticisms?

To avoid dealing with the experts, critics, and saboteurs all together, I developed a plan. I decided to tell anyone who asked that I was "following doctor's orders" by eating in this unusual way. Who can argue with that? So far, no one.

It's not a blatant lie. My doctor does want me to lose weight. So I'm following doctor's orders :)