Sunday, March 1, 2009

Dieting Dilemmas

It's a common dilemma:
You know someone is dieting, but you aren't really sure. Also, you aren't sure if they lost weight. But you don't want to insult them by not saying anything.

Hmmmmm......

I have been on a diet for a while. I have some weight to lose, and I am trying to use the time that I am not in shidduchim to slim down a little.
But nobody is perfect (and I'm nobody which means I'm....) and I don't always eat the way I should. (No, please don't tell the shadchanim!)
So anyway, people are aware of my dieting efforts. And they constantly praise me for my efforts, telling me how good I look and how impressed they are and how I am shrinking and I am fading away to nothing and they are so impressed at my self control and....and....and.....
But.
I hate when they go on about it, but I hadn't lost any weight. It makes me feel really dumb. I get all squirmy, wondering if it is rude to correct them, tell them I really didn't lose any weight. And that I had actually just eaten something I really should not have eaten ten minutes before this conversation. It also invalidated other compliments they give me. If they are telling me that I look like I lost a ton of weight when really I hadn't lost any, then obviously they aren't sincere when they tell me that they love my new shoes, or that my cake that I baked is delicious....
But on the flip side, it's also insulting not to say anything, in case I really did lose weight. "You mean to tell me you didn't notice that I lost weight?!"
So here is my solution. You know someone is on a diet, she looks good but your not sure if she really lost weight or not, so you say:
"You look really good"
Yep. Simple as that. If the person lost weight, they will tale it as a compliment on the weight loss. If the person didn't, they might say something along the lines of "well, I don't think I lost much weight since you last saw me, but thanks anyway."
And you get to pat yourself on the back knowing you solved a dilemma. And celebrate by eating an ice cream, preferably in front of your dieting pal, to test their willpower.

3 comments:

Originally From Brooklyn said...

Tell them, "You know, your face looks thinner than when I saw you last." You really can't go wrong with that. Or maybe you can, who knows? You could comment, "It looks like you haven't been enjoying your food lately, wanna come for some ice cream?" This way even if they have been loosing weight you can help stop that horrible trend. ;)

the dreamer said...

i feel exactly the same way.
really.

Something Different said...

CIB- I think you wind up with the same problem that way.

Dremaer- WOOHOO! I was validated!