Weekly, sometimes daily, I am plagued with well-intentioned friends, colleagues and acquaintances who cannot help but give me dieting advice. They tell me things like:

• You don’t need to lose any more weight.
• You look skinny to me.
• You are not eating enough.
• You are not eating the right things.
• Your blogs are boring.

Okay, that last one was just the voice in my head. But the rest come from others, regularly.

I do my best to remain civil.

Inside, there is a voice screaming, “Shut up!”

Several friends of mine use calorie restriction as a weight loss tool. They report the same conversations with their friends. My Keto friends get similar feedback about needing to eat more fruit. My vegan friends hear about needing to eat more meat.

Every time we hear this it feels like someone just sucker-punched us in the chin.

Now I feel compelled to say something. It’s one thing for you to discourage me. But don’t mess with my friends.

What level of narcissistic, self-centered, egotistical ignorance you must possess to assume you can tell my friends to stop their chosen diet?

This may look easy. But it is a daily battle. We battle negative self-talk. We battle cravings. We battle hunger. We battle gravity. We battle disease and illness. We battle arthritis. We battle friends who try to lure us into their fad diets. And now we have to battle the likes of know-it-all Bob and Delores?

Think before you discourage your friends from their diets.

And if you still feel compelled to say something, go find a puddle of water, stick your face in it, and then you may speak.

Okay. I could not find a scripture to justify this rant. This is not exactly an account of Jesus and the money-changers.

So, please forgive me and allow me to end with this.

We understand. We said the same things to others in the past. We forgive you.

Please stop.