Hello there :) Hope your morning is going faaaabulous.
More rainbow sorbet swirls for breakfast…
In this juice: 1 carrot, 1 large beet, 1/2 lemon.
I wanted greens in my juice too! It is Operation use up the spinach week after all. I find that spinach doesn’t juice very well (or maybe I am not doing it right?), so I decided to take the juice from above and throw it into the blender with spinach. I also threw in a banana for sweetness and some Amazing Grass protein powder!
Ta-da!
It was all fun and games until I saw how many dishes I had to wash… *faints*
I’m thinking tomorrow is a vegan overnight oats kinda day. ;)
I had this juice along with a delicious apple smothered in a tablespoon of chunky peanut butter.
If I should ever create my final meal, apple and chunky peanut butter shall be on it.
Negative Comments From Others: Do They Light A Fire Inside You?
Some of you were asking about Eric’s Kick the Coke Habit challenge. He is doing really well and has not had Coke despite craving it like a mad man. He is now buying 100% pure orange juice and mango juice as a substitute when he craves something sweet. He is also drinking a lot more black tea for his caffeine kick. I am so impressed!
He has been getting his share of teasing at work though! Eric and the guys were in Subway yesterday and after Eric ordered water (instead of his usual Coke) his coworker said, ‘This is the last straw!!!!’ ;) It doesn’t phase Eric because he can dish it out like the rest of them and he knows the joking relationship that him and his coworkers have. It is not done in a mean spirit at all.
Last year he switched from meat subs to ordering all veggie subs (*swoon*) and did he ever get razzed for that, but he stuck with it! He is not the type of person who caves to peer pressure, so I have no doubt that the comments will only make him more dedicated to seeing his goal through.
He really appreciates your comments and support and could not get over how many of you wanted to try this challenge with him. Whether it is pop, diet pop, or artificial sweeteners that you want to kick, having a support system is very helpful!
Eric’s experience made me think about comments from coworkers that I used to get. I used to get a lot of teasing about the way I ate (I was a vegetarian at the time). One of my coworkers used to tell everyone in the office, ‘All she eats is lettuce and bird food.’ (while he ate McDonalds every single morning for breakfast!). Another coworker said, ‘Soon your body will become so weak you will have to start eating meat again.’
It is never a dull moment in the workplace when you have all kinds of personalities driving each other nuts everyday… ;)
Sometimes comments like this would annoy me and sometimes I could brush them off. It really just depended on the day and how much stress I was encountering with my job and to-do list. If it was a bad day (which it usually was), I was more likely to let the comments sting, but if I was feeling great, I could laugh it off or retort with my own witty comeback.
Negative comments that I have received in my life have only made me more determined to stick to my goals. Once I had a ridiculous comment from someone who said my bakery would never succeed so I might as well go back to a miserable desk job- at least that paid well.
Negativity lights a fire inside me to be successful with my goals. If someone tells me I can’t do something, I will see to it that I prove them wrong. Everything is possible when you commit to a goal.
Comments from others can light the ‘I’ll show you’ fire. I think that fire has been lit inside Eric because he wants to prove to everyone that he can do this.
What about you- Have you ever received negative comments that have only lit your fire to succeed? Do you have any strategies for dealing with negative people in your life?
On that note, I am off to train my first Glo Bakery Employee this afternoon! :mrgreen: Cya later!
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Avoid destructive thinking. Improper negative thoughts sink people. A ship can sail around the world many, many times, but just let enough water get into the ship and it will sink. Just so with the human mind. Let enough negative thoughts or improper thoughts get into the human mind and the person sinks just like a ship. ~Alfred A Montapert
Go Eric! I gave up Diet Coke (used to be an addict) over two years ago and quit cold turkey as well. Last November i had a brief meltdown traveling and bought a can..ended up I took one sip and realized I didn’t even like the taste anymore.
Is funny how others like to comment when you eat differently. I get a lot of comments about my breaksfast – I like to eat veggies and hummus a lot..people always comment & basically say i’m weird. I just think to myself “well it’s better than eating the stuff you buy from Starbucks!”.
I think oftentimes people are intimidated when they see others making changes that they wish they could make for themselves. The negativity we encounter could very well be their own self-doubt being deflected onto us. I just try to reflect confidence in myself and my decisions, because it’s oftentimes not really about me. And maybe I can be somewhat of an inspiration (not to sound conceited).
That sorbet swirl looks beautiful…I am in the process of purchasing a juicer, I sooooo can’t wait to try it. I did try the chickpea, potato dish last night but used the midget yukons and purple potato and added sweet potatoes and man o man, it was lish lish….I also tried the chia seeds and love them! Yummy!
On the other subject, this totally hits home for me as I’ve been eating pretty healthy for almost 10 years now. The past 3-5 years I’ve been eating differently though, where I’ve experimented with food more and more. I bring my foods to work daily and because I work out at lunch time, most days, I have to eat my meals at my desk. Oh, how I get the goofy comments about my food, almost daily. In fact, we had a new employee start in our group this week and how they introduced me to her was like this, “This is Grace, she’s the healthy one around here and her food stinks and looks gross, so you’ll get to know her really quick”. Well, like you, they got me on a bad day and I was not happy with that, so I threw it right back and said, “At least the food I eat makes me look good and feel good, whereas the food you all eat….hmmmm, I seem to recall you guys are always SICKLY and in crabby moods on a daily basis!” They kind of smirked and moved on. So with that said, I pretty much brush this stuff off, but if someone gets me on a bad day…..ugh! Another short, Tuesday, I was eating a block of extreme dark chocolate at my desk for an afternoon fun snack. One of our tech guys saw me eating it and just had to comment loudly enough for others to hear, “OMG….she’s eating chocolate, ya’ll she’s eating chocolate”…..I just laughed.
I know I’m doing good for myself and at the moment, that’s really whom I’m most concerned with. I am conscientious of my DH eating the right foods as well, but I don’t nag him about it.
Congrats to Eric for sticking to his guns!
My motto is, “Don’t ever and I mean ever tell me “no” or “you can’t, cause I will prove YOU WRONG!!!”
Good luck with your new employee and BTW, I really look forward each day to reading your blogs. This one really helped me consider my choices to be the good ones! :)
I never understand negative comments. They always make me feel terrible! I usually try to forget about them, but now I want to take a cue from you and have them make me say “thats it! im going to to this bigger and better now!”
8 simple (more) reasons for kicking soda! – http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2010/04/8-reasons-to-kick-your-soda-ha.html
this reminded me of your post on eric’s new challenge!
I actually wrote a post similar to this last week addressing the negative comments on my blog. I usually don’t post links on other blogs, but this does really relate.
http://foodfitnessfashion.com/2010/04/07/addressing-the-negitivity/
Wow! That’s so encouraging that your husband is doing well and sticking to it!
I’ve had alot of negative comments on my high raw, vegan diet (recently ammended for pregnancy) and sometimes I couldn’t handle them. Usually I felt good about those comments because it meant that I was making a change for the positive if people who refused to listen to their body’s and continued to harm them thought that I was crazy. However, if I am having a bad day at work and someone says something really cutting, it hurts. I’ve been brought to tears before (not in front of the offender of course) after such comments and felt that food choices shouldn’t bring about so many negative emotions from people. Can’t they just be happy that I feel better?
I never judge people for what they eat and I guess I just expect them not to judge me either. Funny how the world works though.
I love this topic and not because it speaks to me, sadly it speaks about me! My best friend is vegetarian and while I don’t eat processed foods, love fruits and veggies, and am super active, I enjoy meat. When she made the switch I didn’t make fun of her, but I would forget and then say “oh right, the vegetarian thing.” She never said anything but in reading these comments I sure hope I never hurt her feelings. I realize how insensitive I was and how tired she must be of fighting the veggie fight. I am doubly annoyed with myself because I am VERY sensitive to negative comments, they make me feel like a sad 4 year-old and I cannot believe I may have thoughtlessly done that to someone I love. I think being vegan or vegetarian is great if it works for the person, and that personal choices should be respected and not brought up for public ridicule, but it seems I have not followed my own logic in dealing with my friend… I think I will call her right now! Thanks for shedding light on this.
I get comments about the way I eat all the time, but surprisingly, they’re usually positive. When I do get a negative one, though, (and sometimes the positive ones are just negatives in disguise) I remind myself that it’s almost always a result of the person’s insecurity. I really believe that’s why most people make negative comments in the first place.
Wow, that’s awesome about all the healthy initiatives your husband is taking. I am impressed about how strong and motivated he is to make these changes all on his own!
As far as negative comments go, I think it depends a lot on the attitude of the person giving them. If it is meant to be good-natured I can usually take it. But sometimes it just gets really tiring to always be considered the odd one out or the “health nut.”
I’ve gotten a lot of negative comments regarding so many things – my decision to breastfeed (and pump when I returned to work), losing weight, training for my first halfie and most recently, becoming vegetarian. It has been tough at times but I just smile and nod or laugh it off. It takes too much effort to get stressed about hateful people and like you said, it makes me that more determined to succeed!
I’ve definitely had people thinking that certain things I’ve wanted to do with my life were not worthwhile, or I would never succeed. For example, I’d always been passionate about being a performer (theatre, dancing, acting, singing) and was constantly told that I would never ever make it. And… I did give it up because of that.
Even with my pursuits now (become an RD), I am still getting negative feedback. And it’s tough becuase it makes you question yourself. It’s hard to stay strong sometimes, but Eric is definitely an inspiration in the way he handles negative comments. Good for him! :)
Love the quote and the topic today. And i want to congratulate you on hiring your first employee, i am sure they will be a wonderful fit for your growing business :)
One of my very best friends told me that she thought it was “ridiculous” when I became a veg last year, and basically told me that I was doing it for all the wrong reasons. I had put off telling her for as long as possible, because I knew exactly how she would respond!! My family also gave me crap, albeit jokingly, about being veg. Both situations, and any other negativity I’ve received, has only caused me to further delve into WHY I am veg, and why it’s so important for me. People will always have their opinions (and share them, whether you care or not ;-)). I’ve just had to learn to not let others get to me, and simply let their comments remind me why I’m doing what I’m doing!!
I am so impressed with your husband! I’ve given up diet soda multiple times (I usually go a couple months without it!), only to fall back into drinking it. I do have to say it is difficult not having that caffeine source, since I am a law student and WE NEED OUR CAFFEINE! Do you have any ideas for healthier things for things I can eat/drink that will keep me awake? (I already drink tea and coffee doesn’t sit well with my stomach; I’ve also started drinking green monsters in the morning!)
What a great post!
I think that negative comments you receive from people can often come from their own personal issues. If someone has to make a remark about how all you eat is healthy food, it is probably because they don’t want to have to question their own eating habits. People do not want to change. To hide that they are uncomfortable, they will make rude comments to justify their own eating habits.
I think that using the negative comments to “light a fire” can be productive. You just have to remember to be true to yourself, that’s all that really matters.
Good for Eric for sticking to his goals! I wish I had that willpower, coffee and diet soda are my weakness, I’m such a caffeine addict..
Aaaaah I’m so glad other people here feel my pain! I’m 20, and a vegetarian, and get so much crap from everyone I know about not eating meat. My father is a hunter (gross, I know) and everytime I see him he either tells me “Vegetarian means BAD HUNTER to the native americans” or spews off some comment about how you can’t be an Olympic athlete and not eat meat..
My whole family is constantly telling me, oh thats so unhealthy not to eat meat blah blah blah blah blah you’re going to get sick! Like eating cheeseburgers and clogging your arteries is better for you! I’m a Health Science Studies major and have taken a lot of anatomy and nutrition classes so I know how to make sure I’m getting all the right nutrients and its so frustrating to hear how unhealthy it is when I’m really doing something good for my body..
Angela, my wife is one of your biggest fans (I see you have many) and I finally bit the bullet and had one of your famed Green Monsters. Although it tasted a lot like grass I did feel healthier after having it! Thanks!
I try to tell myself that other people’s negative comments towards me are simply jealousy or self consciousness and guilt over their own decisions. It helps me to think that anyway :) I had a co-worker who made comments about what I did and didn’t eat, and I really did think the above was true for her – that she felt guilty about her own choices and took it out on me. I don’t comment on other peoples choices because I have no idea what their life is like, why they choose their choices, or what happens when I am not around them.
I like when you tell someone you are Vegan and they look at you like you have an ilness. At Christmas I made a couple of dished to take to dinner a stuffed squash and a mushroom phyllo pie(both from Dreena Burton’s recipe books) while some gave them a try and thought they were great others looked at them like they were special food for Vegan’s