You're going to run into resistance in whatever you do that's out of the ordinary. When I first started on my weight-loss journey, everyone saw it as a good thing. Here I was dropping weight and getting healthy. After a while though, I started hearing, "You're getting too skinny" or "Are you sick or something?" The reality is that I really could not help it. In removing certain things from my diet, I lost weight automatically. Not only that, exercise became part of my life. So, even though all my numbers and stats (BMI, body fat, cholesterol, etc…) are in great shape, I still get resistance for having lost so much weight.
From the time I started running and losing weight, my goals have been changing and becoming greater. I've gone from trying to run a 5k to wanting to run an Ironman. The majority of people are supportive of my running and my goals but I do meet resistance. I've been told, "Do you think you should be running that much? You couldn't really run when you were a kid." That comment came from a family member. While it hurt, I used that to fuel my passion for running. I have plans to run a few half Ironman races, then a full Ironman all while throwing in a marathon or ultramarathon here and there. I'm not going to let the fact that I used to be fat and unable to run dictate how I live my life today.
On the subject of family members, I have another family member that does not believe that I am lactose intolerant. He does not understand that I get sick whenever I ingest a dairy product. The other day, while at Olive Garden, I wasn't paying attention and grabbed my son's milk instead of my tea. I took three swigs of milk before I realized what I had done…I know, dumb. Needless to say I started feeling the effects about an hour later and paid the consequence for the next 24 hours. When I told the story of me taking three swigs of milk, they looked at me with a look that said "You don't look sick to me." I had to explain to them, for the umpteenth time, that it is a digestion issue. I think that they think that I may be a little sensitive to dairy and that I'm just being extreme about avoiding dairy.
When I told my family I was adopting a plant-based diet, you would've thought I told my parents I was moving to the other side of the world and never going see them again. I didn't even tell anyone for the first week or two about this change, so I really didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal. It's not like I was trying to convert everyone. I decided to go plant-based solely for health purposes. There are people though that meet this with resistance. I'm told that I need to eat meat and that I need more variety than just plants. In reality, I'm doing great. I feel better than I ever have before but people want to tell me everything i'm doing wrong.
You may meet resistance or pressure whenever you tell someone your plans. I don't let it bother me. It actually makes me want to do it even more. There are plenty of people that run ultramarathons, Ironman races and a group of those athletes do it on a plant based diet. I know that it can be done. If you notice that when I first plan on doing something or set a goal, I try to keep it a secret (as I did when I first wanted to do a triathlon and when I went plant-based). I think the reason for this is that I'm scared of failing and don't want anyone to say "I knew it!" I realized that this is the wrong approach to take. If something doesn't work out, who cares. If you have to adjust the timeline for your goal, that shouldn't matter. As long as forward progress is being made, that's all that counts. I'm still having to change my goals and rearrange races to fit my training and my life. I saw a post on Facebook the other day that said "If your dreams don't scare you, you're not dreaming big enough." So, if you meet resistance when you tell someone your plans, don't let it bother you. You know what you want and you'll get it. Don't stay in the same place that you think the world wants you to be in.