My dad is pretty constant with bitching me out if I don’t “eat what the family is eating!” What the family eats is usually rice, beans, yogurt, and flatbread for dinner. Indian food is a low carb dieter’s nightmare.
He and my mother bitch me out when they see me eating more than one (Omega-3 fortified, I might add) egg yolk in a sitting. I’m bulking and usually go with a half dozen yolks in a sitting. They start going on and on about cholesterol and some other junk.
My mom thinks meat is bad for me and starts making these weird comments everytime I buy meat or eat something meaty. She especially hates it when I buy steak, since I was raised Hindu and Hindus consider the cow a holy animal. I wonder what she would think if she saw the .8 lb USDA Choice (CAB) Boneless New York Strip I had the other day, served blue rare with Gorgonzola cheese.
I told them I’m trying to gain weight and they both ripped into my goals with “If you gain weight you’ll never be able to lose it! This is stupid; don’t do it!” My dad also told me bodybuilders don’t “have anything upstairs” and are all losers. Nice 40" waist there, bub.
I’m 5’9" and just barely broke 140 lbs a few weeks ago. I started out around 135 lbs.
I try not to let them get to me. They buy my food so I guess I can’t complain too much; it’s just so discouraging.
It will always be like that as long as you have any significant health goals that include diet considerations.
You’ll need to get accustomed to the harassment. You will get the same harassment from friends (especially your girlfriend) if you are truly serious and stick to your diet.
You have the correct idea though: just remind yourself: ?I could eat like they do if I wanted to look like they do??
Mostly friends asking me to have “just one drink” or family telling me it wasn’t healthy to eat such a strict diet (usually while they’re eating a classic southern sunday meal, stick of butter in every dish).
Most of those comments turned into requests for nutrition advice when my results started to show.
My Saboteur is also one of my best friends and most powerful ally. I’ve known him for 16 years and we went to the same high school and college together. He and I have been T-mag readers forever as well as old-school MM2K readers (remember Steroid Star Profiles?).
I got him into ECA back in the early 90s and he got me into creatine in the mid 90s.
We basically use reverse-psychology as ‘sabateurs’ to motivate each other. I’m on the Velocity Diet and he’s always encouraging me to eat junk. I’m always warning him that he’s overtraining and that he should skip more workouts.
Either way, we’ve both functioned as such for the last decade and a half and he’s one strong motherfucker now, but not as strong as me. HA HA! I hope you’re reading this, dude.
“Looking pudgy today aren’t you?” or “your face is getting fat” or “are you gaining weight?” - he is just negative in general like that at times
comments from my girlfriend:
“why don’t you stay here with me instead of lifting,” or “is lifting more important then me?” or “you look fine why are you on a diet?” or “I don’t think the diet you are on (Velocity Diet) is healthy, I mean how can it be?” - a bit negative at times but generally supportive. I would call her a halfway saboteur. She doesn’t always like what I eat but as long as I don’t force it on her she’s ok with it.
comments from random people, especially at work:
“what do you mean you need to lose weight?”, “you don’t look like you weigh 180” ," that diet has to suck," “i’m gonna bring a big tasty hamburger in next week and eat it right in front of you,” → this is what I would call jealousy not a saboteur…
at the same time though… i believe some of this is light natured ribbing but it does happen… sometimes it sets you back. Other times it motivates you more.
My Saboteur is myself. The voice that says to have another serving is mine. The person who says you’re too tired to work out today is me. The one who puts off things that will benefit me, is me. I am my own worst enemy. The only one who can defeat me is me.
I can’t wait until I get to cube land and whip out 2-3 cans of tuna one day after I’m tired of eating chicken everyday. “Dude what the fuck is that smell?”
My saboteur USED to be my wife–not consciously, but she would prevent me from getting to the gym or at mealtimes. Now SHE wants to get to the gym, and I’ve got a lot of influence on what WE eat.
Nowadays, I have to agree with ToShinDo. I blame me for any problems.
Seems like some of these saboteur designations are a bit flaky. No offense, but someone not liking the smell of fish in the workplace doesn’t qualify as a saboteur just because of that.
In this case, if you didn’t bring food generally considered smelly to the workplace and they still were able to find fault and criticise - you’d have a much stronger case.
My saboteurs are three in number and oddly enough they come from the same family and are all female. My girlfriend’s mom is the biggest. when ever i am cutting and have a strict diet she makes these greasy dinners and then when i kind of pick throught he healthy stuff she makes comments like “oh sean’s not eating the potato skins b/c he is on a diet” as if to make everyone else look down on me. she even goes as far as to ask my girlfriend about it and why i do it as if eating healthy all the time is “weird”, just because she cant resist a doughnut or any sort of sugary substance. she is also the one who joined the gym and goes to step classes but wont eat right to get any results so now she is starting to give up b/c she sees no change. classic.
the second one is my girlfriend and i think the only reason she does is because her mom has this brain power over her and makes her think whatever she thinks is right. but then she sees the results i get in the summer and then she shuts up.
the third one is my girlfriends grandmom. she would definitely be the worst but she lives in ohio so i only see her once a year at most. she always wants to cook when she is around becasue that is the only thing she is good at anymore. well needless to say old people cook like old people and make greasy, fatty meals. they taste amazing but nutritionally they could ruin a diet in a new york minute. her favorite to make is turkey, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatos. then when i opt for the turkey and mashed potatos sans gravy she gets offended that i didnt eat everything she made. its frustrating becasue no one can understand being healthy, all they know is to eat whatever they want. then they wonder why they have high cholesterol, hypertension, etc.
[quote]shiplemw wrote:
I can’t wait until I get to cube land and whip out 2-3 cans of tuna one day after I’m tired of eating chicken everyday. “Dude what the fuck is that smell?”[/quote]
May i suggest hard boiled eggs? You collegues will love you!
All my saboteurs tend to be fat women. Since I am in a perpetual state of bulking I like to rant on about how hard gaining weight is whenver they bug me about my gym/diet habbits. It usually shuts them up.
“Weak minded fools! Your own reasoning deceives you. You whine about your women and the jesters that you surround yourself with. The only one who holds you from your destiny is the coward within you. A man makes his fate with the strength of his will, the strength of his arm, and a yard of cold Hyborean steel.” - Conan
EVERYONE around me, in some form or another.
My mother-in-law : for frying everything at family meals. My wife’s family is very close and they (all 4 siblings/spouses/11 grandchildren) eat at my mother in law’s house at least twice a week. Sweeter ‘n’ hell tea, fried chicken, cube steak, biscuits, etc. Southern style cookin’ taste soooooo good but equally bad for me.
My wife : since getting pregnant, there is too much Honey-do listing to have time to sleep and shit, much less work out.
My friends: none of which are willing to endure working out with a (as they say it) “gym-nazi”. They are all good pals, but none will put down the beer and go to a gym.
My old friends at Miller Brewing Co.: They are in cahoots with my lifelong friends. My friends all want to know why I don’t keep Miller in business like I used too. They are concerned that profits will dip to the point that layoffs are neccessary. They have enlisted my friends help with such terms as “let’s hang out and drink beer like the old days” and “you drank then and was skinny. You laid off of it- now you’re gettin’ fat.” You guys know the drill.
My employer : “Sure, we’ll reimburse 30% of your annual gym membership up to $130/year. Just work 80 hour weeks and make sure that you are available at any time 24/7 to respond within 2 hours, okay? Great.”
Mostly— MYSELF : for letting any of the above EVER happen.
I have had a lot of saboteurs. My mom was a huge one, along with my dad. They were always telling me how eating all of that meat would kill me and how I have a convoluded sense of nutritional reality.
Well, that was when I was a senior in high school.
Since then, I have made my nutrition professors stop talking about soy (not through force mind you), shut up a few residents about my kidney profiles because my creatinine levels were too high, and have made my body look like I have always wanted it to, while experiencing incredible natural energy levels.
My parents? They have ignored me, and continued down their obese paths, despite my frequent “intrusions” to elevate them to a better nutritional plane. They also can’t do the most simple tasks, and need me to lift objects for them (stupid training by-product!!!)
In response to the original comment about bodybuilders “not having anything up there,” I would point that this site is inhabited by some really big and equally smart mofos. That is enough for me to kill that stereotype.
