People generally understand they should not tell other people how to live their lives. Somehow, though, we lose sight of this when it comes to overweight people.
Since more than 60% of women and nearly three-quarters of
American men are obese or overweight that may occur quite often.
Whenever you have the urge to comment on what someone is
eating, ask yourself: Did they ask?
You will save the other person grief by avoiding a
conversation that is completely unnecessary.
People think they are being helpful with their comments, but
they probably don’t know how harmful or unhelpful some of that unwanted advice
can be.
Unsolicited advice signals to people that you have already made
a certain judgment about the way they look.
If someone asks for advice that’s awesome. Go for it and
give them all your knowledge. But leave everyone else alone.
I'm unlucky I guess - such person in my life is my mother.
ReplyDeleteNow we live apart and it's fine but as a kid I would often hear comments about the food I eat or the quantities of it - particularly during my teenage years.
(if someone asks - yeah, it was her who gave me the food... I don't see any logic in that either :D)
Sometimes the only thing you can do is to tell such people directly what you think. Or be super confident and eat what they think is "inappropriate" - that's even better :)
Offering advice without being asked is like asking for trouble.
ReplyDeleteBeing on a low carb diet I get a lot of unsolicited comments in the break room. Like...just hot dogs? Where is the bread or ewww....Anyway, it's like myob..I don't comment on the three muffins you just ate. It does get demeaning, but we just power through.
ReplyDeleteSuch an important topic! People who are dealing with being overweight don’t need unsolicited advice. Encouragement is okay when the timing is right but even that can be a delicate situation. I don’t broach the subject anymore, even if a friend or family member has lost weight. If they remark they’ve lost weight or something similar, I’ll note they look good or something I hope is encouraging but not condescending. Any advice on handling this?
ReplyDelete