I'm not quite sure there's a surefire way to express this completely tactfully, so I'm going to go w/ straightforward & start by saying flat-out it's not an attempt to call you out or get in your face or disrespect you. You've given some great tips here & obviously know a great deal about this. I do think your blithe dismissal of others' lack of willpower lacks understanding of what obstacles others, including the OP, face when trying to make serious changes so immediately. You made your lifestyle changes as a young, single guy. It's my understanding you're still a young, single guy. Your stop & make the change on a dime solution is much, much simpler when you can unilaterally make lifestyle, scheduling and time decisions based only on yourself.
All I'm trying to say is leave a little bit of room in your thinking to realize that everyone isn't balancing the same load as yourself, your choices aren't available to everyone and definitely aren't one size fits all. Dismissing others as having weak willpower doesn't help them and isn't necessarily accurate.
I'm not advocating coddling. I came right out and told the OP earlier that she is in denial about her former eating habits. It doesn't help her to encourage no vegetables and Hamburger Helper in particular as being "relatively healthy eating". From her comments here I think she's got to run her race slow and steady. Lots of people start their change by quitting soda. For OP I hope one of her first changes is kicking Hamburger Helper & that kind of processed garbage once & for all. Heck, she could make some type of homemade casserole that mimics the Hamburger Helper by using ground turkey & the whole wheat pasta w/ other ingredients, get her fix for the kind of food she likes & still be making progress. Combine enough of the smaller changes & expend some real effort into exploring ways to enjoy more vegetables & I believe she can & will get there.
I don't feel called out at all, I appreciate good dialog on this subject which is far too often lacking.
Yes, I was 26 and single when I made my big changes and I am about to turn 34 and while I date I am not in anything long term. You are right, it is easier for me to make changes I want on my own. I don't think that makes it impossible for people who are older or not single to make changes. It might be harder, sure, not not impossible. I am not dismissing the difficulty so I hope that isn't the impression you got, I just think that difficulty shouldn't mean you fail.
Something I tell people who are in a relationship and want to change is that they can't let their s/o or kids keep them from their goals. Even if you are the only person in the house who is going to eat healthy do it, don't let the others pull you down. I completely understand that it is harder when you are living with someone but at that point there are three options. You both change by choice. The person who wants positive change brings the other one along eventually. The person who wants positive change allows the other one to drag them down or sabotage their efforts. You see it all the time on the biggest loser. One member loses a lot of weight but allows their spouse to sabotage them down the road a bit. If that means you make your own meal that is what it takes.
Like I said, I am not dismissing the difficulty but in the end it comes down to you. If all you (general you) can do is small slow changes that is great. Not ideal but great.
This is merely my experience but I do deal with it in real life with people I know. When I first moved back to Ohio from Florida I rented a house with one of my friends. At the time he was about 100 pounds overweight and was not being successful at losing it. At first we made our own meals because we ate vastly different but I didn't let the fact he had chips and cookies and cake in the house sabotage me. Eventually he started to eat what I made and came to the grocery store with me and when we moved into our own places 2 years later he was 90 pounds lighter and was training for his first 5K.
I realize that my situation was and is different than others but it is my experience. I think people sell themselves short all the time. They think they can't do it or that it is too hard to be successful but that just isn't the case. Is it easier for some people and harder for others? Absolutely. Humans are smart and strong people. I think if we can invent algebra, harness the power of the atom, and reach the moon safely we can make lifestyle choices. None of them are easy but all of them have been proven possible.
When it comes down to it I am talking more about people in general or the population on these threads and not anyone specific. I only throw in my examples to show my experience. I conceded I can't have everyone's experience just as they can't all have mine. If someone gives me their specific experience like the OP did I can make more tailor made suggestions for them if they are interested but once we start talking about people in general I give general advice that might or might not fit them ideally.
They're confused. They're not vegetarians.
You can call yourself a chair, doesn't make you one, and I'd be nice enough to call you confused if you did.
Exactly. If you eat only fish you aren't really a vegetarian, you are a piscitarian. If you sometimes eat meat-based broth but nothing else you are an omnivore that limits their meat intake to broth.
Vegetarian and vegan, neither of which I am, are pretty standardized unless someone just isn't really what they claim to be.
