Discussion Board

Wonderful and sad stories about the inlaws. Things get better after a number of years. One of the posters mentioned avoiding confrontation which I agree with. I guess my early instinct was to change the world, but I found out that others do not appreciate, just like we would not appreciate the "joke" about licking the door from the original post. Anyway, if you would like professional advice on how to deal with the inlaws and others I would recommend the Doug Lisle DVD, the pleasure trap. He explains how to deal with both Kevins, believe it or not, and everyone else. He also explains to us why it is normal for these clods to be like that and why it was normal for us to overeat too, even though it made us unhealthy. I have been a long time McDouglar and owe my health to the McDougall plan. But the Doug Lisle DVD, available from this site for about $25, was a missing piece of the program that has helped me immeasurably to avoid the push and pull of others. Honest, you will learn a couple of simple things to say that will go far to diffusing the problems. Of course the two kevins are probably annoying on other levels too. But Dr. Lisle has come up with how to handle the issue, definitivley. If you have not tried any of the DVD's they are all really helpful and are also a way to reward the McDougalls for their great work. I am thinking of asking Santa for the new DVD, the new book and an e-book for my stocking stuffer.
Sorry for the rant, but the Lisle DVD seems to be working for me.

Sunny,
The DVD blends humor, and touching moments and lots of info. I still need the book.

Funny you mention that. on my side of the family the are less stupd but more "midwestern US". By that I mean they are more fearful of all this weird stuff like not making every day a feast day and skipping the meat. I remember visiting my brother years ago and his daughter, then about 4 years old, begged and begged and begged for broccoli. This is what she called all vegetables. I remember her screeching in the kitchen while my brother said "no, I'm not fixing any broccoli. Have a hotdog, they are better for you". I walked in and said "are you crazy?" and he said "if she had it her way, she'd eat only only vegetables"? And, of course, my come back was "what the heck is wrong with that?".

I was raised on meat, meat, and more meat, plus any pale vegetable (instant potatoes, ice berg lettuce, corn, and dumplings. I used to beg and beg my mother to let me skip the meat, but no way, not in their house.

These days my family still thinks I'm crazy. And I'm definitely going to use the potatoes not prozac line when I get there for Thanksgiving. That might just hit home with them.

Karen

I was raised that way also. My brother and I always tease my mom about how she put this huge spread of food out for our family of 8 and there in the middle was the lonely little dish of veggies (usually canned green beans, peas, or corn).

What was really funny was when I was little, my sister hated veggies and I hated meat so we'd both be stuck at the dinner table long after everyone else had finished. Mom and dad said we'd have to sit there until we finished our food. My sis and I would trade, I'd eat the veggies from her plate and she'd eat the meat from mine. We thought we were getting away with something but found out years later that our parents knew all along!

That is so cute.

I have always known that I am a natural vegetarian. The funny thing is that my father is a huge hunter (all over the world) and he always made us kids go out and clean the bodies (skin, gut, cut) to get the meat. They think that I'm veggie because of that. Ok, it did have some ook factor when I was a kid. But I'm pretty sure that I was born veggie. Makes me wonder if my niece was, too.

K

Sunny's thought on young children disliking meat reminded me that years ago and before I had children I worked for a large corporation and frequently people I worked with would come to me to get ideas about what to feed their toddler who refused to eat meat. I would give simple suggestions for vegetarian foods that would appeal to toddlers and would also assure them that their child would thrive without eating meat. (I also had pregnant women or their husbands ask me for food ideas as aversions to meat seem to be common in the first trimester of pregnancy for many women.)

Steve, thanks.

>Sorry for the rant, but the Lisle DVD seems to be working for me

I use this phraseology (from Lisle) all the time..."my doctor seems to think I need to restrict my fats..." or something like that. Or, "the diet seems to work for me..."

People don't get offended from a "seems" statement. And it doesn't really provide a lead-in for their next critical remark.

fiddler3