After swim practice a few days ago, some members of my swim club went out to dinner. As we waited for our food, we began discussing vegetarian, vegan and raw diets.
At one point, I was describing the breakfast smoothies that I make every morning. My smoothies contain over a dozen ingredients, including spinach, coconut oil, goji berries, and nutritional yeast, among other things. It’s a mixture that provides a very decent dose of iron, vitamin B12 and, of course, protein.
One man had a particularly strong reaction to this. “Why would you eat something like that? Wouldn’t that taste really weird?” Finally, he looked at someone else, shook his head and mumbled “I think a balanced diet is best,” somehow implying that my diet, with a comparatively broad range of raw fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts, was extreme and unbalanced.
Ironically, this man making the comments about my diet was probably about 50 pounds overweight. His skin was dry and pale, and it didn’t look like he took very good care of himself, either in the form of diet or physical exercise. I’m not sure what he meant when he was referring to a “balanced diet”, or whether he was implying that his own diet was “balanced”. He certainly wasn’t a spitting image of health.
It’s always struck me that people who eat a more or less “Standard American Diet” have a tendency to criticize people who consciously choose a different diet. I’m most frequently interrogated about how I manage to get enough protein in my diet.
And yet, the very people who have concerns about getting enough protein probably shouldn’t be eating so much protein, because by and large the vast majority of them are overweight. Their stomachs are so big that even the baggiest clothing couldn’t conceal the beach ball of blubber underneath.
If I’m on the wrong track with my diet, then they certainly are 10x more so. If I woke up with a body looking like theirs, I’d probably shriek in horror and spend the next six weeks on a full-time exercise and diet program.
Now before you think that I’m some recalcitrant snob who’s out to pick on overweight people, believe me, I’m not. I don’t care if you eat a disgusting amount of cooked fats, animal protein, sugar, salt and gluten. I don’t care if you down cup after cup of coffee, soda or beer.
But please stop criticizing my diet, unless you’re prepared to look in the mirror at yourself. Because you are what you eat. What you put in your mouth becomes part of your body. And frankly, it’s hypocritical to criticize another person’s diet when the sorry state of your own body demonstrates your total incompetence in taking care of it.
Yet, it’s your body and it’s your choice what you do with it. But you should be aware that what you eat affects everything from how much energy you have, to the color and texture of your skin, to the size of your abdominal pouch, to your likelihood of getting diseases like cancer, and ultimately how long you live.
Wouldn’t you say it’s worth spending some time learning about diet and nutrition, and thinking carefully about what you put in your mouth?
Truth be told, the vast majority of people don’t give this question a second thought. They eat whatever is readily available, or what they were accustomed to eating while growing up. That’s alright if you choose to be one of them. I will stand up for your right to do so, because I strongly value everyone’s right to make their own choices about what they believe, think, and do.
But if anyone comes interrogating and criticizing my diet while openly displaying an excessive amount of body fat, they should be prepared that I’ll simply point at their belly and say “That’s why I choose this diet. Because I don’t want to look like that.”
Photo credit: Flickr
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I'm Bing Wu :) 
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I deeply agree with you, Bing. As a vegetarian, I often stumble on that kind of remarks. The thing is a “balanced” diet doesn’t mean anything.
Some would say “it’s a little bit of everything”, but the truth is, nobody would knowingly put a little bit of, say, cyanide in their diet! Of course, everybody knows it’s poison!
But on the other hand, they put lots of other unhealthy stuff. Fortunately it’s less poisonous, but not that great either.
So in most people’s minds, a “balanced diet” is a lot of “yummy” food, with some “healthy” food to balance out the rest.
Doesn’t sound so great, does it?
Good point – what in the world does “balanced” mean? I think it just means “a balanced mix of everything I’ve been used to eating up till now.” No desire to change or rock the boat in any way.
People criticize to protect and defend their own choices. If you’re wrong, then they’re right, right?
Right.
I find it amazing that an overweight person would criticize your diet in a negative way. I can certainly imagine someone telling a story about why they “couldn’t” do what you do – implicitly complimenting you on having the will, intention, and discipline in to create a habit that leads to a lean, healthy body.
The best answer to anyone 50 lbs overweight or otherwise unhealthy, who claims a “balanced diet” is best is: “And how’s that balanced diet working out for you?” (For that matter, “balanced” is one of those content-free words – like “democracy”, or “freedom”, the speaker often wants it to mean something very specific that’s not implicit in the definition)
Average habits get average results. Extreme habits get extreme results.
Hey Jack! That’s an awesome reply to the claim that a balanced diet is best.
I wonder if being overweight is become so common these days (the majority of people are), that it’s just considered normal, and people who are slim or who have flat stomachs are “special” and in the minority. Thus, if you have a “special diet” that’s helping you stay fit, you’re doing something “extreme”.
That being said, if you look at beach pictures from a couple generations ago, *everyone* is slim.
Bing,
I’ve had quite a few experiences like this as well in good ol’ conservative Texas. One time I was at Burger King (LOL, yes, Burger King) and when I picked up my salad at the front, an overweight frat boy looked at me and exclaimed, “A SALAD?!” Also, about two months ago I was walking around downtown Austin and I heard a bystander say, “Any man who watches his weight is GAY.”
I have a friend from Alabama who feels the need to keep it a secret that he practices healthy eating habits because he believes everyone will make fun of him and think he’s a homosexual.
LOL! Gotta love conservative America, where your masculinity is questioned just for practicing healthy eating habits. Imagine how many people in Texas think I’m gay just because I do yoga!
I agree, I am overweight but am getting into the vegetarian lifestyle. I have people in my family telling me ” you need to eat meat” “dont give up this or that” I want to be grease free!
Why do people have an interest in the presumed relationship between behaviour and gender? Why does a penis or vagina dictate what you ought to do or be in life?
Isn’t this an obvious proof of the fact that the thought world of many Americans in general is very limited and unidirectional? Remove their material wealth and you get primitive, spiritually underdeveloped Neanderthals that love to fight and collect items.
Also it is so boring that people simply can not think beyond the typical sexual duality: either one is “straight” or “gay” in terms of 100%. By the way, is sexuality the first and only thing that comes to people’s minds when encountering others?
Why do people presume you’re interested in hearing what they think of you as if it were obvious to always impose one’s ego upon others? What is the purpose of pretending to be civilized and tolerant while in practice many people simply are not? Narrow-minded people are the living hell of this physical world.
Don’t you find it utterly boring that most people always think according to the same line of thought?
What is it with “gay”? Why is that such a special interest issue?!
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