Rant About Low-Carb Critic Boss

[Seal]

My current job has to do with drug abuse research and I have a long commute which my boss knows has been a struggle. She's aware that I've been looking for other positions and that my husband is searching for a job out of state. So yesterday I told her I was studying for the psychology licensure exam (something I've put off for 8 years) and asked if I could take unpaid leave in the Fall to complete my studying. She said yes with a few caveats which were fine and then said, " I thought you didn't want to go into private practice."

I said, I didn't want to work with drug abusers but I had always wanted to work with people with eating disorders. I just never pursued it because when I was overweight I didn't feel credible working with that population, but now that I've lost weight, I think it might be good to see if I can develop a practice that focuses on weight loss, maintenance and binge eating.

Then she gets this puzzled look on her face and says, "You aren't going to recommend Atkins to them are you? I mean you aren't a doctor and you don't have any idea what it would do to their health."

At the time I said "All the clinical trials are now saying that its as good as or better than other diets. It has good cholesterol and triglyceride effects. And I said I'm not a nutritionist, but I can certainly provide people with information and let them decide for themselves. "

Anyway, this morning I woke up completely irritated about the comment. She was a big supporter while I was losing weight in terms of complimenting how well I was doing. However it was obvious the entire time she thought I might grow a second head or come down with pancreatitis because of being on such an "extreme, dangerous, fad diet". At the time I felt I was taking a risk but I was pretty desperate. Now there's plenty of evidence that while its not a balanced diet, its alot more balanced than what I was eating and that supplements can balance it out. Plus, the weight loss it achieves and the ease of adherence is so superior for many people that it is a better option than a conventional wisdom low fat high complex carb regimen.

She has horrible cholesterol and is on meds for it despite being average weight and has terrible triglycerides and has even mentioned that she knows she probably should be on low-carb but thinks it bizarre that one would go on such a diet (she can't get the WOE concept) and then not be able to eat "normally" again. Once when I had lost most of my weight and she remarked that I didn't even have any figure flaws (which isn't true btw but I can camoflage things pretty well in clothes) she actually tried it for a week, lost no weight and had awful heartburn so she quit.

I need to get alot of work done this morning but just had to rant about this because its really affected me. I don't know what to make of her remark and we don't have the kind of relationship where I could revisit it out of curiosity. It could have purely been a concern about a psychologist practicing outside the bounds of their authority-although I believe that psychologists of all people are the ones to come to when discussing habit formation, maintenance, and relapse prevention which really is what adopting a WOE is all about. And its not like I'd be prescribing something to someone or insisting they'd pick Atkins or low carb. But I feel pretty certain that educating people about different diet options would be an essential part of what I did.

She and I don't see eye to eye about me expressing opinions at all (maybe that's why she hired me at 226.5 pounds-maybe she thought I'd stuff all my feelings). I am sure she doesn't think I'm a sensitive enough person to be in private practice. Which is fine, she doesn't need to come see me. Sometimes I'm not sure I'm sensitive enough, but I do feel like I'm enthusiastic which alot of people need and I have alot of know how, which alot of people don't have. So her lack of enthusiasm was not what got to me.

The thing that hurt is that it seemed like she was slamming the thing that worked for me when nothing else would. Like if I had had breast cancer and she had said well, chemo may have worked for you but you aren't going to recommend it to other people are you???

I want to tell her having never weighed 200+ pounds, never having problems walking around the block, never having your doctor tell you you are on the verge of diabetes, and never seriously being faced with considering bariatric surgery, maybe its easy for her to continue thinking that what helped me lose 100+ pounds was a high risk dangerous health harming intervention that I only stuck to out of shear desperation and a high degree of cognitive rigidity. And even if that had been the case, the fact is that it truly was a lifesaver for me.

But that wasn't the case. Thinking my diet of fish and chicken and red meat and vegitables is unhealthy compared with my former diet of french fries, ice cream, and baked goods is entirely mad!!! I suppose she thinks I ought to have been able to do a low fat high complex carb regimen but the fact was that any carb at all stimulated my appetite and I felt compelled by forces greater than my brain (my insulin resistant cells) to keep pumping in more carbs. And lets face it, normal restaurants and grocery stores aren't exactly replete with high fiber natural carbs. The easiest to obtain carbs are white.

I also wish I could say, "If you got all that sugar and flour and rice out of your body it might quit inflamming your arteries and you might not (despite being average weight) be at such high risk of a post-menapausal heart attack that you have to take medication."

Obviously there's alot going on between us but its very hard to have someone intelligent in your midst, actually very much in control of much of your day to day life, who you would like to have have a good opinion of you, criticizing something that radically transformed your life. I feel almost like she's criticizing my husband or my religion!!! I know that sounds ridiculous but I feel a bit like I'm dealing with some lingering anti-fat person bias. Like I will always be the fat person who "let herself get fat" in her mind, and who didn't have the moral fortitude to lose weight the "proper" way. If I brought this up to her she'd be shocked I'm sure about how I feel but she's made many an insensitive comment over the years like aren't you ever going to eat dessert? I just had to get this off my chest.

So thanks for letting me vent.

Seal
226.5/129/120 +-5 and 20-22% bf.

[chakwaina37]

IMO I feel she was disrespectful to say what she had said. There are som many folks out there that just dont really read enough about this woe to know what it is and how and why it works. And for her to give up after a week she didnt let her body even get enough time to get adjusted for it to work for her so she could even see her own results. I dont think she really even gave it a try to tell you the truth. One week dont tell ya jack. Well all in all were all backing you and very proud of you for all your accomplishments career and health. And I say yes do share this woe with everyone you can. Along the way you may save someones live due to it.

[angela233]

Seal,

tell me more about your plans - they sound so exciting!!

too bad about your boss - unfortunately there are many people that the name "Atkins" turns them off. What she said was hurtful and ignorant - I can't believe that anybody that has seen you lose 100 pounds could be that way - but perhaps there is some (a lot) of jealousy in her statement?

good luck

angela

[nonstickpam107]

I'm so glad you are getting your license and you are interested in helping those who are, um...psychologically nutritionally challenged. Good...we need a lot more people who can be living proof of this WOL and how it works.

Pam