Yesterday I got this from a co-worker to me:

"You can't tell me this isn't healthy! Its a plain whole grain bagel without all the bad fattening cream cheese!"

You don't eat bread? You must be starving!

From multiple coworkers several times a week: "Oh, you can't have [insert processed artificial chemical snack food]? I'm so sorry."

Me [to myself]: "I'm not."

"You see, from my point of view, when I want to eat things like Pasta or Ice-Cream, I just train longer. I think it´s that simple." (Coming from a friend who´s trying to lose weight..)

Ummm..actually, it´s not.

Copy and pasted from a message board I occasionally read; I saw this yesterday. The poster was slamming all saturated fats, but focused on butter (which, being dairy-free, I don't eat, but still would prefer over "butter substitute").

"Butter is butter, contains cholesterol and saturated fat. But it is rather that a lot of poor quality alternative products that are full of trans fat, which we now know can be be worse than butter. However, there are healthy alternatives that do not contain trans fat. Not all butter substitutes are the same. [...] If I am talking about the use in cooking, then using olive oil is healthier, without a doubt."

I did a very dramatic facepalm after reading this.

A family member to me: "Well, Asians eat grains all the time and they're not fat."

"But I need potatoes, rice, and pasta to regulate my blood sugar." - Me a year ago.

"But cavemen weren't stressed out because they didn't have traffic or deadlines to worry about." - A newscaster after reviewing the Paleo Lifestyle

"Wanna go get nachos?" - My room mate every day, even after workouts to lose weight.

"You know a diet is bogus when you cut out an entire food group." - A nutritionist friend.

"Hey, that actually tastes really good!"

"Cave men were only 4 feet tall and lived to be about 20 years old. We need to be eating food that is for tall people and we want to live long lives and eating that much meat is not good for you." - Another nutritionist friend.

In response to a youtube clip from Fathead that I sent my uncle to try to explain to him that the lipid hypothesis is false...

"Yeah, well what are your sources? I bet I could find a video that tries to prove that the Holocaust didn't happen..."

"I can eat all the pizza and ice cream I want! Calories in, calories out!" - SAD person pounding away on a treadmill for 1 hr+

"I have never felt better." - acne ridden, puffy-faced, pudgy vegetarian/vegan

"I eat whole grains and drink Kangen (ionized/scam) water for weight loss." - obese coworker (nurse)

"All that weight you've lost is just water weight. You'll start packing on the pounds with all that FAT you eat." - SAD disbeliever in my 25+ lb weight loss so far.

My 51 year old co-worker said: "Ewwww" when I told her I had an avocado as a snack earlier.

Then she said: "I've never had an avocado".

Really? in 51 years of living, you've never had an avocado?

Amazing.

Yesterday from a co-worker: co-worker: "my friends father had heart disease, so he has to watch his cholesterol" me: "so he is at risk from heart disease because it is genetic?" co-worker: "no! he is at risk from heart disease because his cholesterol is high! I can't talk to you about this anymore!"

"So you won't eat brown bread, but you're happy to eat bacon?" - ffs...cannot even be bothered beginning to explain why.

"Life's too short" - yes, but I'd like to live the longest of those short years I possibly can...

and I was talking to my dad on the phone who said "You don't party? You've got to get a life!" Because I choose to go to bed early on a Friday night so I can be a beast at crossfit on Saturday mornings.

"I can't believe you're not dead yet"

"Are you vegan?" (when I refuse to eat the foods cooked with HFCS and vegetable oil, and settle for the fruits, vegetables, and salad with no dressing instead during most events)

"Yeah but those Eskimos/Africans/Cavemen didn't live for a long time. Their diet was supposed to only help them short term." (and, what about the harsh conditions that such people lived in? Predators? Lack of healthcare?)

"You need to drink 8 glasses of liquid a day"

"I only eat fat free"

"Well, acne and bad teeth is all genetics, you can't really do anything"

"Why are you on a diet, you're not even fat"

"That sounds so expensive" (I spend under $200 per month on food in an expensive city, it's not cheap but it's doable)

Friend: You NEED shampoo. Me: Egyptians didn't have shampoo. Friend: Yeah. but they smelled! Me: Hey, do I smell? Friend: No, why? Me: Does my hair look dirty or weird? Friend: No, why? Me: Well, I didn't use shampoo, conditioner, nor soap on my hair for two years. Friend: ... I think you should shampoo just in case there's bacteria living in your scalp.

I try to shut my mouth (trying to get my point across is useless when the SAD mentality is deeply ingrained in others) Instead I try to be a living proof that goes against conventional wisdom. I believe that one of my friends is now curious about my paleo diet. She's shocked that I am not dead yet. She lives on a low fat diet as recommended by her doctor due to her heart condition, but she slowly let go of her fear of trying out my food, and even asked to try my butter. Because she's surprised that I am not dead yet.

"everything in moderation"

"What? You don't eat bread??!!!"

"Look at me, I ate bread and beans all my life and I turned out just fine."

Yes, my friend is not overweight, but she gets sick frequently, acne, never has a good night sleep, her knee "bothers" her, and doesn't have any muscle whatsoever. She can just barely lift 30 lbs.

Though I don't agree with the implicit assumptions in some of the above comments (Such as the notion that paleo is LC by definition) I must say this is probably the funniest and most true thread I've ever come across after many years on many different forums. As a personal trainer, I hear many of the above on an almost daily basis.

• It's "just all genetics"
• I can't lose weight eating...insert starvation level of calorie intake here

  - Yeah you lose weight on X-diet, but gain it all back once you go back to eating "normal"

I can't believe that

"But what do you have for breakfast?"

hasn't made it on the list yet. I get that all the time. Usually it's the first follow-up question after asking me to explain how I eat.

"At least I'm not going to die from eating some weird shit."

-my SAD friend while i put an avocado on top of a burger patty.

"I really want to have this 'x,' but it's 3 points and I'm saving my points b/c I'm going to the Cheesecake Factory later."

From a recent health magazine for women: EAT MORE FISH!

(OK, I can get behind that.)

BUT IF YOU'RE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT, SKIP THE FATTY FISH LIKE SARDINES AND SALMON, AND GO FOR TILAPIA.

(Aaarrgh..)

From a friend who is trying to get pregnant: "Well, I eat plenty of whole grains, so no problem there. But I'm going to stop eating fish and carrots. They're dangerous!"

Same friend to me (I'm also TTC): "Aren't you going to eat like a normal person once you're pregnant?"

"I can't eat artichokes. They're too high in fat!" (???)

"No avocado - too fattening. Could I have a side of ranch?"

"I'll have the (menu item), but could you take out the broccoli, cabbage, peppers, and onions?"

Waiter: "So.. you just want the tofu and noodles, nothing else?"

"Oh, I could never do that. I couldn't live without bread!"

"So, basically, you just eat meat, right?"

"You're so good for bringing your own lunch to work. I try, but I always forget." (Um, it's not that hard?)

My biggest thing, and this goes for my history of pre-Paleo eating as well, is that I just don't have a sweet tooth. Friends, family and coworkers just can't understand why I don't want a cookie or piece of candy or other "treat". They stare at me incredulously, like, how can you possibly be denying yourself? You might as well be from another planet if you don't take the proferred sugarbomb, no matter what your reason is.

Co-worker: "You're on a diet? But you're not overweight!"

Friend who was cooking an all vegetable stir-fry: "I guess this is the exact opposite of what you eat, huh?"

You HAVE to see "Forks Over Knives "...

"Red meat causes cancer. Want proof? HERE - just look at all these Google search results!"

Not from SAD people, but:

"It's great that way of eating works so well for you, but everyone is different, and my system just can't tolerate meat."

"You may want to cut your current vitamin D level by 33 to 50%." --my doctor.

Um, no thanks.

I know I'm late on this, but:

Bodybuilder friend trying to lean out while eating two sandwiches "I need to do more cardio, man"

Doctor "Have you heard of the China Study?"

Me "Have you heard of Denise Minger?"

Friend drinking and smoking "Man, I don't know anyone with as many health problems as you."

Me "You will soon enough."

But it has electrolytes...

"Wait. . . you're NOT vegetarian?" - said by many, many folks who have seen me eating amounts of veg/salads they consider inhumane. My answer is usually, "I like vegetables. With bloody rare meat."

"You're not a doctor." - said by relatives, mostly, after they ask for advice and I tell them something they don't like.

"What smells funny?" - other office inhabitants who have the "misfortune" of walking into the kitchen as I crack open a can of kipper snacks. Cue them opening the freezer to retrieve #14 of 38 Lean Cuisines they have stashed.

"Can you eat that?" "Can you eat this?" "Can you eat ANYTHING?"

"You know, your brain can't function without carbs."

"What about the seven nations study?"