I’ve been on the South Beach Diet for exactly a week now and the results are pretty amazing. The diet is healthy or at least healthier from what I am typically used to eating and I don’t feel hungry as the diet advocates 5-6 meals a day. I do miss fast food, potatoes, bread and mmmm my boyfriend’s yummy pasta but I’ve managed not to falter, yet. Grrrrr…but reading Boss Stevie’s blog certainly doesn’t help….

Mentally, I am prepared for difficult days: days when I gain kilos instead of losing, days when I have to put my diet on hold to entertain clients, days when I need to say “NO” to Bakerzin’s orgasmic Pistachio Crème Brulee even though every fiber in my being yearns for it…

What I wasn’t prepared for was the lack of support from the people around me. It’s astounding, but not all that surprising. At work for example there’s this 40 odd unmarried lady who hardly ever speaks to me. But last Tuesday, while I was happily munching away on my salad, had the nerve to walk into my cubicle and boast about her ability to eat anything without gaining weight. Two days later she offered me some “goreng pisang” and boasted loudly about her super humanly high metabolic rate when I declined the offer.

Some of my friends on the other hand, tell me I look fine and claim that men these days like women with a little more meat. Another friend whom I haven’t seen in over a year made an observation that the diet didn’t seem to be working and predicted that I’ll gain all the weight I lost eventually.

Why is it that certain people (indirectly or otherwise) sabotage my diet plans?

Personally, I think there are several reasons:

• There are those who want to make me feel better so they say things like “…But you look fine now”. They want me to feel great about myself and are sometimes not aware of the implications of one more cheesecake. While such people could easily derail my diet, they mean no harm or ill intention.




• There are those who are struggling with their own weight and might feel pressured to lose weight if I were to succeed. Rather then getting fit, they rather maintain the status quo.
  
  
  

• Finally there are those do it out of jealousy or out of their own insecurities. For example, I am speculating that the 40+ old single colleague is doing it so that she feels superior to me in this aspect. I also had an ex-boyfriend who was afraid I’d leave him if I started to slim down.

How do I handle such situations?

I picture myself in a sexy bikini on a beach in Phuket giving the finger to everyone who thought I wouldn't make it.

I will not give anyone the satisfaction of stopping me from getting what I want.