When Family & Friends Don’t Agree With Banting

There are always going to be people in your family or circle of friends who raise their eyebrows at you. Some may want to call the men in white coats to come and take you away! Generally, all of us, you, me and everyone else, don’t like change… and that also includes change to lifestyle.  I saw it with myself when Mike decided to (temporarily) stop drinking coffee. It is inconvenient for me to have him suddenly wanting only tea. So you can imagine that he doesn’t really do backflips when Helga comes home laden with full cream milk, cream & coconut oil & gets stuck into everything that has been “forbidden” in the past. There were a number of people in my circle who weren’t so sure about all this. What am I doing eating all that fat? So here are 5 tips to help you cope when family and friends look at your funny…

1. Be Patient

Don’t expect people to immediately say, ‘Hey that’s a great idea! Let’s start eating fat.’  People have to get used to this idea. I am quite gullible and easily believe what people say.  I also trust Tim Noakes. We also come from differing background and points of view. I’m more at ease to try something new but not everyone is like me! We are all different and some are extremely cynical and don’t rush into trying new ideas. They need to think about it before making a change. Be patient with them, but persist in eating Banting yourself, even if they don’t.

2. Don’t Start Out Too Radical

Prof Tim Noakes comes from a background where his father died of diabetes. He risks the same fate if he doesn’t do something drastic. So you can understand that he is in a position that requires those extremes. Many of us are regular weight, healthy individuals who don’t have horror health issues in our families. You may want to embrace a Banting lifestyle and so jump in boots and all and start dictating a new way of eating. This won’t endear you or Banting to your shell-shocked family! Little steps goes a long way to keep the peace.  Reduce sugar in coffee & tea gradually. Have one piece of bread instead of two. Halve the sugar in the cake. I did that with last year’s Christmas Cake and not a single person noticed!

3. Don’t Judge

Constant nagging and criticizing about what others are eating is going to alienate them from both you and a low carb lifestyle.  Glaring disapprovingly at what someone is eating is not going to further your cause! Once you start eating low carb and eliminate overt carbs from your diet, don’t judge your family when they still want toast or potatoes or whatever else they usually eat. They need to come to the same conclusion as you in order to really start making changes. You can advise them, but if they’re not interested don’t judge them – you can’t control them. Take note of the words of Proverbs 25:24  “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.”

4. Find Middle Ground

Believe it or not there are many foods to choose from that will be appealing to all parties but that are low carb. Find middle ground in preparing low carb foods that all enjoy and wouldn’t  even know the difference if you told them. Large veggie bakes can have loads of vegetables, just exclude potatoes if you want to cut back on carbs. Serve meals with lashings of cheese sauce which you make with cream cheese, cheddar cheese and cream. Or make mushroom sauce with fresh mushrooms and cream. Stop cooking out of a packet and cook fresh – that immediately will reduce carbs. For dessert serve strawberries and cream, or add cocoa to double cream yoghurt with a little 85% chocolate melted into it. Bring in a bowl of almonds, with an assortment of cheese and raw veggies & a few boiled eggs chopped in half,  instead of regular high carb snacks.  They will be just as appealing & far healthier.

5. Very Importantly Become More Informed

The science behind Banting may seem complex and difficult to grasp. The more you read up on it, the better informed you will become. Listen to  the interviews with Professor Tim Noakes. Google phrases such as ‘how Banting works’ try and learn more about it. Read Why Eating Too Many Carbs Is Bad For You. Find out the facts behind low carb eating, so you can understand why you are eating it and why it works in helping control blood sugar levels and reducing weight.  When you know why you are eating what you are eating, you will have a far greater argument to offer a cynic instead of saying, “because Tim Noakes said so!”

I hope you’ve found this helpful!

Keep the smile going.

God bless you!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂