So I was flipping through my new Hungry Girl cookbook, and saw that she uses the 40-cal/slice instead of the 50/cal slice bread we normally use. I mentioned this to my mom and suggested, "Hey we should use this bread instead!"

And she says, "You know, you can't go too low in calories or food stops tasting like food."

...Really? Lol and I've even had that bread before, and all it really is bread that's more thinly sliced. It's not like it has different ingredients. I think its funny how whenever I try introducing an alternative to something that might be a little lower in calories or a little bit healthier, my mom finds some reason to not like it. I know I could buy the bread myself, but this is less about that and more about how my mom and family in general seems to refuse to make healthier choices in their diets. I made kale chips the other day and got my mom to try one, and of course the first thing out of her mouth is, "I don't like it." And my first thought was, "Of course you don't, because it's a leafy green vegetable with salt on it instead of a chili cheese frito." I just wish sometimes they'd at least TRY to make better choices. -sigh-

Evangelizing (no matter the topic) almost never works. It's incredibly hard to resist the impulse - and it's hard to see it as wrong - because all you're doing is trying to help. But people tend to react poorly to evangelizing behavior, and so good intentions get rejected and even encourage the opposite result.

10 calories a slice won't make or break your, their, or anyone's weight loss. Keep on keepin' on with yourself.

Well, the bread thing probably isn't a good example - 20 calorie more for two slices of bread in a sandwich is hardly a noticeable difference. AND it's bread/wheat calories, so neither of them are really healthy foods if it's just that one is sliced thinner.

But I get where you are coming from. She's not motivated to try harder and doesn't want to stray from what she knows and likes.

It doesn't stop with food either. My Mother in law is keeping her free to her Hamilton Beach blender because she doesn't like my Vitamix Blender. Hers is better.... uh-huh.

I've noticed the lower calorie bread is often too airy for me to be enjoyable. When I buy bread, I buy the sprouted grain bread which is 80 calories/slice (+2g fiber, 5g protein) because the nutrition of the bread is more important to me than the calories.

I very much agree. Nutrition to me trumps calories.

I agree - the low calorie bread is often not satisfying so whats the point if I eat more later? Plus it often has a lot of crappy fillers.

But I look at hte ingredients more than I look at nutrition lable.s I also buy the sprouted grain bread when I eat bread.

Besides, she is right about the kale chips LOL. I do eat healthfully and I tried making some of those. One of the few things I have tried that I absolutely could not gag down and had to throw out.

Just joking... I do get your point though.

It sucks but what are you gonna do? You only discovered healthy eating and nutrition X months/years ago.

I try to tell myself that when I sit silently watching my parents eat frozen chicken pot pies...

In a way, she's right, in the sense that calories don't just magically disappear...they have to SOMETHING to cut them back, whether it's taking out fat, carbs, protein, making it smaller, or whatever. If you're just using the bread as a carrier for whatever's in between the two slices, then i see how 40 calorie bread can be exciting. But it's not going to be the same as higher calorie bread.

In this case 20 calories isn't going to make or break your bank so no need to pursue it with your mom.

Some people are so anti-diet anything, I don't know if they feel like it's acknowledging they could lose a few pounds or what.

And...I'm in love with kale chips so anyone who doesn't want to share means more for me! YUMMY!!!

Been there done that lol

I get what you're trying to say, that your mom isn't really helping your weight loss journey. But family is like that. You just have to figure out way around them. *hug* I know how it feels

My mom's actually pretty supportive in my weight loss efforts, she's just not that supportive in her own, lol. And you're all right, 20 calories really isn't worth fretting over, and I'm not. It's just one of those things where you've discovered something awesome and you share it with someone and they're like, "NOPE!"

Melissa hit the nail on the head with her blender comparison. And I shouldn't say my mom's completely anti-healthy cause she's not. She will cook healthy meals and she even said she'd use the cookbook I bought herself. She's just not as willing to stray out of her comfort zone just for the sake of health. I guess it's just one of those things where I wish they'd be more open-minded and try new things, but then again, they probably could say the same about me in certain situations. It does seem like they don't try with health though; my mom will cook a healthy dinner but sit down and eat 2 sandwiches with a side of fritos and cookies for lunch, lol. -sigh-

You can't really force someone else to be supportive of themselves. There comes a time when someone is ready and times when they aren't. And the more people are pushed, the less likely some will even attempt to try.

I can talk mad game about weight loss but unless I commit to it, I won't do it. My mom complains about gaining some of her weight back but when we go out and eat she orders 2 appetizers and tons of food. She's not ready to take control of her weight.

My mom is similar. She'll come visit me for a few weeks at a time and when she does, obviously we eat our meals together. Both of us are strapped for cash, so we'll make almost all of our food at home. I'll make something healthy and nutritious and she'll pick at it, then down half a tub of orange sherbert with a pita chip chaser.

Her as she picks out half the veggies in a dish: "Oh, I like vegetables. Just not peppers, onions, spinach, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, romaine lettuce, or cauliflower..."

Me: Shakes head and laughs. "Yeah Mom, you really like your veggies."

Don't even get me started on how much butter she eats. She'll have 1/4 stick of butter with a serving of peas.