I’m writing this firstly as I really wanted to bring awareness to this topic but also because I’ve recently come across a lot of stories involving insensitive comments or someone who has spoken without thinking and quite often it has been to a person with an allergy/medical issue. Regarding my own health issues, I do it in order to minimise my symptoms and to prevent further illness further one down the line as I don’t want matters to get worse, people often fail to see this, instead only seeing what they perceive to be “deprivation”.
One message I really want people to take away from this is to talk to the person first before making assumptions about them, you may be judging a book by its cover without even realising it.

Also, I’m sure at one point we’ve all felt like our body needs a bit of TLC and therefore have chosen to be more mindful of what we put in it, some people just do it more often than others.
These points and more are summarised below in the top five things I wish people would stop saying about healthy eating/people that they perceive to do it.

5 things I wish people would stop saying about healthy eating Advice Health

1It’s too hard/expensive to be healthy
It doesn’t need to be if you focus on veg, fruit, local protein (eggs/fish) and wholegrains (oats). Basic food such as these are not expensive, focus on these types of ingredients for the most part and give yourself some time, good habits will form, cravings will reduce and you’ll find it a lot easier.

5 things I wish people would stop saying about healthy eating Advice Health

£1.15 wholegrain pasta

2- Knowing what’s healthy is too complicated, so I don’t bother
Ok, I do understand what people mean by this so let me simplify it: choose foods (not chemicals) that provide you with nutrition and are as close to their natural form as possible, as frequently as possible and don’t over eat, simples.

5 things I wish people would stop saying about healthy eating Advice Health

Image: brooksandkirk.co.uk

3- So what diet are you on then?
It’s NOT a “diet” because a diet is temporary whereas choosing to be conscious of your food and picking the more nutritious option is a LIFESTYLE and is something that is willingly done because I like the benefits of good health and feeling good as a result of it, plus, believe it or not I’ve found recipes that are nutritious and I find them delicious!
This also crosses over into labels, were people need to know what you are, i.e. Vegetarian, vegan, paleo etc, why can’t we just leave it at: I like highly nutritious, quality food that’s mostly plants but that doesn’t mean I don’t eat small amounts of quality animal products, so yes I can order a vegan dish without actually being one!

5 things I wish people would stop saying about healthy eating Advice Health

4- Is that all you’re going to have?
Eugh, I really hate this one. Especially when that person has no idea what I’ve eaten that day or plan on eating that night (FYI, if I eat really large meals too late at night my stomach issues flare badly and I can wave goodbye to any decent sleep).
People fail to realise that I’m a petite female who needs less than a 6ft tall man, so excuse me if I don’t have the same appetite as one. This doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with my appetite, it just means I don’t like feeling extremely full and it flares up my symptoms so I prefer to eat smaller meals more frequently/every 4 hours rather than bigger ones with longer in between, that’s all. Keep in mind that many people with sensitive guts don’t digest large meals well so eating smaller ones is more suitable and less awkward for them.

5- One bun isn’t going to kill you, you know
I KNOW!!
It’s called CHOOSING not to have it because I know it’s not great for me, I don’t want to aggravate my digestive issues and I don’t have major cravings for it right now so I’ll choose this time not to eat it and save my treats for a time when I really want them. . . also I prefer brownies, lol!
I really have to laugh at this one because then when people do see me eating a treat, most are like “wow, you’re eating that?! Didn’t think you ever would” and then people wonder why those who eat healthy most of the time choose not to publicise it, go figure…

5 things I wish people would stop saying about healthy eating Advice Health

Bottom line, think before you say any of these types of things to someone, quite often I feel people are doing it because they feel guilty about their choices or feel judged so they’re “hitting back” when in actual fact this isn’t what’s happening so really think about how you’re feeling next time any of these thoughts occur.
Have you ever experienced situations like this? How do you deal with them? Comment below.