How to respond to unwanted nutrition advice and diet chat.
Another delightful side effect of being a human in the early part of any year is how many of our friends and family love to share their thoughts, opinions and ideas with us about food and movement. This can often be in the form of unwanted nutrition advice, ranging from nuggets of information on nutritional benefits and calorie content, all the way to diet chat, such as, avoiding food when offered to them and lots of context about said diet they are trying out.
My first thought in this situation is often ‘who asked you’, plus some other, more direct language, however, this isn’t something we are often able to say aloud so instead I offer up a range of alternatives.
(1) Politely change the subject. An age old tool, but a useful one. Often this can detract the person from the conversation they were intending on starting and we can avoid diet and nutrition chat altogether. If possible, choose a topic you know will peak their interest. My personal favourite at the moment being;
‘Hey, have you seen the new season of Queer eye?’
(2) Acknowledge, but do not continue with the topic. This could be a ‘thanks’ ‘okay’ or ‘ta’. It might seem strange to say ‘thank you’, but it’s often a useful strategy as it often stops the conversation from progressing. For example, you tell your friend you’ve been feeling tired recently, they offer you the suggestion of getting more iron and an earlier night. You say ‘okay, thank you’ and then change the conversation topic. This lets them know you’ve heard them, but you don’t want to continue.
(3) Shut it down. A more abrupt way to respond for sure, but letting someone know immediately that this conversation is not for you is a good way to assert boundaries. They may not respond well to this, but remember, their response is not a reflection of you. For example;
‘I’ve actually moved away from dieting and it isn’t useful for me anymore’.
(4) Counter it. For example, someone is letting you know how many calories are in something or how they don’t eat cake after a certain time of day.
“Food is a joy and I don’t make rules around it’.
(5) Leave. Sometimes, whatever you say or do, that person is never going to respond in the way you’d like. If you have the ability to, get yourself out of there.
Remember with all of these, how someone responds to you is not something you can control. They might not respond well to you setting boundaries, but you deserve to have them respected.
