It’s not always easy to stick to a keto diet, but it can be even harder when you don’t have the support of your friends and family. Having to deal with all the naysayers, who don’t understand why you’re on this way of living, can be frustrating. Read on to find out how to deal with friends and family who don’t want you to eat keto.
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Starting any new life habit can be challenging enough, without facing opposition from those who are supposed to love you. In this article, we will take you through some of our tried and tested tips for how to deal with friends and family who don’t want you to eat keto.
I will also take you through my experience with keto opposition, and the best bit of overcoming this.
Sometimes you cannot please everybody and have to do what is right for you. Read on to find out what I did.
Keto Stats
- Over 13 million Americans are following a keto diet.
- Following a keto diet is the most popular diet trend in 2019.
- In a recent survey, 70% of keto dieters said their friends and family were not supportive of their diet.
- I have been eating keto for over 15 years so I’ve heard all of the objections
Top Tips for Dealing with Unsupportive Friends and Family
Making the decision to go on the keto diet can be a difficult one, especially when you’re surrounded by friends and family who don’t understand why you would make such a drastic change.
It can be hard to find support from your loved ones when they don’t truly understand the benefits that come with following the keto diet.
To make the transition easier, it’s important to address the concerns of those around you and help them understand why this diet change is beneficial for you.
By doing this, you can have the support of your friends and family, even if they don’t completely agree with your choice.
Here are our top tips for dealing with unsupportive friends or family when you’re getting started on keto.
- Explain why you chose the keto diet and the benefits it has for you.
- Have responses prepared for the most common objections to keto
- Remain positive and upbeat when discussing the keto diet with friends and family.
- Ask for understanding and respect for your decision.
- Look for recipes that appeal to the whole family
- Ignore them.
Eating a keto lifestyle can be difficult when your friends and family don’t understand the value of the diet.
It’s hard to stick to a healthy diet when everyone around you is eating unhealthy food, whether you’re at a kids party, the ballpark, or it’s SuperBowl Sunday..
They may even pressure you to eat like them or make jokes about your diet.
It can be extremely frustrating and disheartening.
Explain to them why you have chosen keto
One solution is to explain to them why you chose to go on a keto diet.
Provide them with information on the health benefits of this lifestyle, and try to make them understand that it’s not just about weight loss.
Have responses prepared for the most common objections to keto
There are some common criticism of keto, and these are probably all of the questions that you asked before embarking on a keto way of living.
Educate yourself about the keto diet and its benefits.
Being able to explain the why behind your decision will go a long way in helping your friends and family understand why you are making this choice.
Having a clear understanding of why you are following this lifestyle will help you to stay motivated and committed.
There is nothing wrong with sharing your keto goals with friends and family.
Not only does this make them part of the process, but it also makes you accountable.
You don’t want them saying, ‘I told you so’ if you don’t succeed! This can be a scary step, but worthwhile.
Also, make sure that you are not trying to push the keto diet onto your friends and family.
While it can be tempting to try and convince them to join you in this lifestyle, it is important to remember that this is your journey, not theirs.
Be respectful of their decisions and try to support them in their own health journey.
Remain positive and upbeat when discussing the keto diet with friends and family.
You may have some reservations yourself about keto, and that’s understandable.
However, if you are upbeat and positive when talking about keto this will naturally rub off onto other people.
You may be able to sway their thinking with your positivity, alternatively, they will see how determined and happy you are about keto.
This may prevent them from trying to dissuade you from eating keto or speaking negatively about it.
Asking for understanding and respect for your decision to follow a keto lifestyle.
This should make people aware that you are serious about this, and that you don’t want to get into an argument about it.
Reassure them that you have done your research before starting, this will offer support to your request.
Look for recipes that appeal to the whole family
Introducing your friends and family to keto recipes can be a great way to convert them. Even better if they don’t know that they are eating keto before trying the meal!
Once they’ve tasted keto meals, they’ll soon realize that nobody is missing out.
More importantly, they will see that you are eating tasty, nutritious meals, and not just eating butter and bacon, which is what most people think keto is.
Also, it is important to be open to compromise. If your family and friends do not want to commit to the keto diet, that does not mean that you cannot still enjoy meals together.
This may mean you have to plan ahead and take keto options for you to eat.
Ignore Them
This may sound harsh, but let them have their say, thank them for their comments or concern, then ignore them.
They may be your family or friends, but if they’re not interested in you taking control of your own life, you should ignore them.
By following these steps, you can maintain your commitment to the keto diet while still respecting the wishes of your friends and family. With a little bit of understanding and compromise, it is possible to have a healthy relationship with the people you love while still following the keto lifestyle.
The Best Bit [Proving them wrong]
From personal experience, the best bit is proving everybody wrong. That may make me sound like a horrible person, but I’ll explain why.
I started keto before it was mainstream, this meant that not a lot was known about keto and its health benefits.
As with all things, a lack of knowledge breaded ignorance.
When I told my family and friends that I was thinking of starting keto, they were very negative about it.
You would think having seen me struggle with my weight for years, they would have been supportive.
This was not the case.
So having discussed this with them, and receiving nothing but negativity and abuse, I decided not to let them know.
This was really easy because I was living on my own at the time. I started my keto journey. I didn’t tell anybody that this was what I was doing, I just got on and did it.
For the first three months, I only saw my family a couple of times, and this was in the early days. After three months I had lost over 10 kg, but I have lost a lot of inches.
I knew I looked a lot different. I was still wearing the same clothes (they’d just been tight before!).
My family noticed that I’d lost a bit of weight, but because I was in my old bulky clothes, they didn’t notice enough to ask a lot of questions.
When they mentioned it, I just shrugged it off, and that was the end of the conversation.
Five months later at a family wedding, I got into the most flattering dress, and EVERYBODY noticed my weight loss.
Not only this, my skin was glowing, my eyes were bright, and my hair was looking really healthy and shiny.
Suddenly everybody wanted to know what I had done to achieve this new look.
Suddenly the tables had changed, everybody wanted to hear about the keto diet.
The best bit?
Nobody could criticize keto as the proof was in the (sugar-free) pudding. They were hanging on to every word I had to say!
Dealing With Keto Opposers: How To Deal With Your Friends and Family Who Don’t Want You To Eat Keto.
It can be difficult to stick to a keto diet when friends and family don’t understand why you’ve chosen this lifestyle change. If those closest to you are unsupportive or even judgmental of your dietary choices, it can make it even harder to stay on track, you can soon become despondent.
The good news is there are ways to cope with this kind of situation so that you can still enjoy time with your loved ones while keeping your diet goals intact. Here are some tips on how to deal with friends and family who don’t want you to eat keto.
What are some of the objections to keto that you have heard? How have you dealt with friends and family who have not been supportive of your decision to eat a keto diet? Please share your experiences in order to help the rest of the Keto Eaters community. 🙂
