Arctic Mama, I had an eye opening conversation one time with a "friend" who was at least honest with me and gave me new perspective. I've been in the same situation where I've lost enough weight that people can tell, and yes, some always ask how and then proceed to tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Anyway, this "friend" asked me what diet I was on and I just replied trying to eat in a more healthy way and counting calories and carbs. She kept pushing for more info, asking what I considered to be really personal questions, and finally I just asked her why she was doing that instead of just stopping with giving me a compliment. Her answer was honest and it floored me. She said that if I was successful at taking and keeping the weight off, then she wouldn't be able to look down on me for being over weight. She went on to say, you know everyone needs someone to look down upon and fat people are easy targets. Now you know why "friend" was in quotes.

I began to notice that some people would compliment me and then move on to a different topic, but others did what I now refer to as the attack mode conversation. It finally dawned on me that this was their issue to deal with and if they persisted I would terminate the conversation or else just say I don't want to talk to you about this.

This myth, though, occurs with almost every health buzzword. Not just "low fat," but also "all-natural" or "gluten-free" or "organic" - actually. Such buzzwords create a 'halo of health' around the packaged foods in question, so we work ourselves out of old myths into new ones.

If consumers perceive a food or restaurant as "healthy" - for WHATEVER reason - people tend to overeat, choose extra sides, and/or otherwise eat more than they would of a product they perceive as being unhealthy.

I agree with this! The majority of my diet is organic and whole foods. But I even have to carefully check the labels of organic foods as well (some are pretty terrible). The myth lies in the fact that just by eliminating one element from your diet you will suddenly drop all extra weight and become a pillar of health. Losing weight comes from moving more (through formal exercise or just being more active in general) and eating a well researched, balanced diet that doesn't leave you starving and tempt you to binge. The proper balance seems to vary from person to person, but there does need to be a balance of some sort.

I don't understand why some people can't just keep their traps such. My sister and mom have both lost weight, sometimes by methods I don't think are necessarily sound for ultimate health long term. BUT, they're not hurting anyone else and seem to be OK for now so, good for them.

I mention if they look good, sometimes tied to weight, sometimes not. If they look like they've gained, I don't say anything. But I try not to be critical now matter how much money my mom pay spend on powders and "supplements". It's just not my business.

My mom called me a 'fanatic' in front of someone that asked me about my plan the other day. It really upset me when I got to thinking about it. I'm eating healthy! My mom is on weight watchers, but her only liquid intake is coffee and she considers the slice of onion on her denver a serving of vegetables! I too keep my mouth shut.

I'm really starting to feel like people are trying their damnedest to cut me down at every juncture of this journey.

Insecure people tend to belittle others to make them feel better. It's super unfortunately when it's a parent (btdt).