Great neutral responses to those SAD comments...

[RawHeaven]

This is inspired by Carlsbad who recently shared her experience conversing with a SAD person who was asking her where she gets her calcium and protein...insinuating that she's deficient. Carlsbad wrote next time she'll ask "Where do you get your antioxidants?" I thought it was so great that maybe we should start a thread and get some other ideas and we'll have something to resource for those special moments. Or at the very least we can laugh instead of getting frustrated with the same old SAD questions and comments.

I'll add a 2nd one...

"What are you doing about having an acidic body?"

How about you? Please do share. Let's get fun and creative. :p

[VeggieMel]

"Where do you get your enzymes?"
"How do you deal with all that salt and sugar?"

[SuBu]

And what are you doing to stave-off heart disease and cancer?

[Revvell]

Where do you get your nutrients?

[Frugal Raw]

(To someone eating heavily wheat/sugared foods)

...Nice candida breeding ground ya got there!

[sport]

I have posted this one before but it is a long time ago so I feel free to repeat it.

You are not normal eating like that.

No, normal at my age is to be fat, have high blood pressure, be waiting for a heart attack or cancer. I am not normal and I never want to be.

[StarFire]

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/laugh.gif ... OMG!! I have nothing to add -- ya'll are doin' great without me.... but I just had to say --- THESE ARE GREAT!!! ahahahahahahaaa!!!! :D

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/YouCrackMeUp-6-7.gif

[VeggieMel]

I have posted this one before but it is a long time ago so I feel free to repeat it.

You are not normal eating like that.

No, normal at my age is to be fat, have high blood pressure, be waiting for a heart attack or cancer. I am not normal and I never want to be.

Oh, that's a great one!! I'm making a mental note of it!!

[Stina]

Okay, a neutral retort would not be to say, "Well, as long as your diet is working for you, great!" and then stare at their fat midriff!

[Pking]

For people who usually ask, "Why don't you eat animal products?" Simply because I rather eat foods that alive and kickin with nutrients...instead that dead foods full of chemicals. Or, I can pull my live food straight from the natural soil, wash it, then eat it. The result? A healthy meal. Let's see you take a bite out that live cow/chicken/fish after you give it a good wash. the result? You'll probably wind up in the mental house:eek:

[Carlsbad]

Oh my gosh Stina, you crack me up!! I was howling when I read your post. That is so funny! I've been thinking more and more about my response to the critical lady, and I think what I'll do next time someone tells me I need to have variety is to go into raptures about all the fantastic variety that I do have. Because really, raw food is such a joy! I haven't eaten the same day's food twice since I started in July, and that is so cool. I've discovered all kinds of delicious foods since I went raw (avocados, coconut, pineapple, persimmons, papaya, nuts, etc) that I could go on and on about how amazing the food is. And really, that's a much better way to spread the word about this way of life anyway.

I know people react with criticism because they are trying to defend their own unhealthy, unhappy choices, and I'm working on responding with love and sympathy instead of frustration. But I know there will be some people who'll push those buttons, and I may think of Stina's response idea and grin! :D

[Raw Angel Mom]

-Where do you get your vital energy?

I love that one that you posted "Where do you get your anti-oxidant" So funny and it really crack me up....

Great tread, i love it.

Isn't it such a concern on where we get our protein, iron and calcium? Oh mye,but i love educating people so i am more then happy to share what i have learned but not everyone like to do this so answering back that way seem to be a good one.

If we bother to answer their question maybe on top of that we could add all of those great comments. Such as "and i am getting my anti-aging, anti-oxidant, extra energy, enzymes and healing for my body."

[VeroP]

In a conversation with my sister today, who eats very SAD (yesterday we ate out and the really "good" waitress brought her three Cokes!), she was concerned that the spaghetti I would give her for supper was to be made with whole wheat pasta.

I asked her why she didn't consider adjusting herself to eat healthier foods. She said "You only live once, I want to be happy."

WHAT! That is such a hard one! It goes along with "You have to die from something."

I talked to my mom later and said it was illogical. Any thoughts on how I could have answered at the time? Mind you, my sister weighs about what I did when I went raw almost 9 months ago - at least 275, mayber closer to 300. That is not happiness. There are so many things that I feel I can do now that I have released about 90 pounds - but for her happiness is white flour pasta?

My mom wisely counseled me that it has to be an individual decision - I agree, but it is so hard seeing someone I love making foolish decisions when she sees the results of my lifestyle change.

So, what can we lovingly answer to that one?

[Cinnamon]

I asked her why she didn't consider adjusting herself to eat healthier foods. She said "You only live once, I want to be happy."

WHAT! That is such a hard one! It goes along with "You have to die from something."

So, what can we lovingly answer to that one?

These are the same responses my cousin who is like a sister to me says when we talk about her smoking (almost 40 years of it now!). She says... "you only live once" and "you have to die from something" and "I don't want to live to be old and diseased."

How do you respond to something like that?? What I do say to her is that I will miss her and will be very very sad when she is gone. That it breaks my heart to see what she is doing to her body. And she lives on junk food, hard core daily drive-thru SAD fast food. I refrain from saying she very well might have a long and painful end to her life due to her bad habits but I guess people are only going to hear what they want to hear.

[RawHeaven]

In a conversation with my sister today, who eats very SAD (yesterday we ate out and the really "good" waitress brought her three Cokes!), she was concerned that the spaghetti I would give her for supper was to be made with whole wheat pasta.

I asked her why she didn't consider adjusting herself to eat healthier foods. She said "You only live once, I want to be happy."

WHAT! That is such a hard one! It goes along with "You have to die from something."

So, what can we lovingly answer to that one?


These are the same responses my cousin who is like a sister to me says when we talk about her smoking (almost 40 years of it now!). She says... "you only live once" and "you have to die from something" and "I don't want to live to be old and diseased."

I'm speechless and I would've also been speechless in the moment.

It's just very deep seated denial maybe? The statements don't make much sense when you're aware of what you're doing to your body and how it functions. But for someone who's feeding emotions with food or thinks that anything less than their normal routine is a sacrifice will just not hear a word of what you say. ???? It probably wouldn't have mattered if you came up with helpful responses in either case.

How about "if you only live once, why live your one life in denial"? They may not get it right away, but maybe a seed will be planted.

[VeggieMel]

When people say, "You only live once." I usually say how true that is and that I want to live a good quality of life, and I can't possibly do that if I'm fat and unhealthy.

[momma-rawma]

I'm speechless and I would've also been speechless in the moment.

It's just very deep seated denial maybe? The statements don't make much sense when you're aware of what you're doing to your body and how it functions. But for someone who's feeding emotions with food or thinks that anything less than their normal routine is a sacrifice will just not hear a word of what you say. ???? It probably wouldn't have mattered if you came up with helpful responses in either case.

How about "if you only live once, why live your one life in denial"? They may not get it right away, but maybe a seed will be planted.


We've been watching 'you are what you eat' with Dr. Gillian McKeith--now she isn't raw...but she puts it on the table quite obviously how living this way is NOT the way to live.

So my response if i felt brave (with my hubby's family I don't anymore...b/c they would get seriously offended if I said why I don't eat certain foods as they have in the past)...

would be to respond how Dr. Gillian does....I bet your poo stinks to the high heavens, you fart and burp a lot, you have indigestion, heartburn, don't sleep well, have headaches, backaches..etc etc etc. How is that enjoying life??

Just my thoughts--I restarted raw just yesterday---after many months of not. Not a denial thing per se..more of a neglectful thing. I got a new juicer for Christmas. :)

In any case--I can't think of what I would say to people. :( B/c more often than not--they choose to engage with me when i don't want to be engaged. I come across as a know it all--and even with stuff i do know what i am talking about..it doesn't convey properly.

But think of all the health benefits of how you are eating--and the health casualties of the way they are eating.


I love the one liners though. But frankly...in my circle--it would go over people's heads.

[LauraPaulsen]

When People tell me my way of eating is "A bit much" or "extreme" I tell them...taking medication for depression, obesity, diabetes and heart condition is extreme, but still, People would rather medicate themselves then change the way they eat.

That usually shuts them up.:D