Coping with an alternative lifestyle

The majority of the LCHF-followers’ social circles adhere to the official dietary guidelines, which results in a daily dilemma in social settings. Living as a stigmatised group in a culture results in different strategies to cope with status quo (Scaraboto & Fischer, 2012), and four such coping strategies are identified in this study. The choice of coping strategy depends on how long the consumer has followed the LCHF food regime but also the specific social context. The coping strategies provide an understanding of what the choice of an alternative food regime comes to mean in the daily social life and how it becomes an integrated part of the consumers’ identities.

5.4.2.1 Coping strategy 1: Find an excuse

This strategy is often used by LCHF-followers that are not experienced in the LCHF lifestyle yet.

One respondent explains how she coped with the new lifestyle in the beginning: "I started expressing (…) I didn't feel good eating gluten, and it (LCHF) was a solution for me to eat. That is (…) a choice to make (…) to emphasise that part" (App. 8: l. 348-351, Xenia). This quotation illustrates how the respondent deliberately chose to explain her change of diet. In this way she could untroubled follow a LCHF diet since other people thought of it as a valid ‘treatment’. This strategy helps to avoid too many questions, when the LCHF-follower has not yet obtained enough knowledge to defend the food regime. Two other respondents explain how they found an excuse especially in the beginning or in the company of people that are very critical towards LCHF: "I just say that I can't tolerate it (potatoes and rice). 'Okay' then they don't ask more, and they don't ask critical questions, and want me to deliver the long scientific explanation to why I made this choice" (App. 4: l. 139-142, Maria), and: "(…) It's not so difficult when you say you are allergic to gluten. Most people understand and respect that. I believe it is more challenging if you explain it as a choice of lifestyle" (App. 7: l. 199-201, Jane). This coping strategy illustrates how the empowerment of the LCHF-followers appears in time, since the respondents primarily use an excuse for LCHF in the beginning.

5.4.2.2 Coping strategy 2: Work around it

A second coping strategy is working around it, or following the LCHF food regime without being noticed. This is also a strategy often used in the beginning of the new lifestyle. A respondent explains how she started the LCHF lifestyle: "I quickly got used to looking in the menu in the canteen (at work), then I could plan (my days) (…) most of the days I could eat the meat served and then add something from the salad bar and a dressing, and it was okay" (App. 7: l. 158-160, Jane). In this way the respondent could hide her adherence to an alternative food regime and avoid a feeling of stigmatisation at her work place. Another respondent explains how she still struggles with the balance of being a dedicated LCHF-follower and having a social life with people following the traditional food regime:

"I try to avoid making it a thing, when I’m at my friends' house, so that they will not cook for me. Because that is not how it's supposed to be. But I don't want to bring my own food either. Because it's not a diet I'm on" (App. 2: l. 76-78, Janni).

LCHF is very important to the respondents but they will not let it restrict them. Even though this respondent claims her friends should not pay attention to her choice of following LCHF she still appreciates when people acknowledge her choice. This is evident in an example where the respondent was invited to eat at a friend’s house: "(…) So she actually wrote and asked me (about what to cook), and that makes me really happy, because she considers it" (App. 3: l. 372-373, Janni). One of the respondents also reveals how she manages to avoid attention to her diet when going out: “(I can always find an alternative to fit my eating) otherwise I will just ask for it. But I also always make sure to eat a little before going out" (App. 4: l. 235-238, Maria). This respondent tries to stay loyal to the LCHF lifestyle, but without becoming centre of attention.

Even though LCHF-followers use this coping strategy of working around the subject and try to avoid being noticed, they appreciate when their choice of food regime is accepted. Accept by the surroundings also helps to legitimate the food regime in general (Scaraboto & Fischer, 2012).

5.4.2.3 Coping strategy 3: Defend and resist

This third coping strategy is often employed when LCHF-followers have gained a reasonable amount of knowledge of the LCHF food regime and it is important to them to fully live by it. This coping strategy can be understood as a reaction to the critical questions asked when following an alternative food regime. One of the respondents expresses how following LCHF is very important to her, and she does not pay regard to other people judging her on her lifestyle choice in social settings:

"I ask beforehand what is on the menu. And if they can change something, and otherwise I will gladly bring my own. I will rather bring my own than eat their food and get sick from it. I really can't see the point, and I don't quite understand those (LCHF-followers) that do, because you have changed your lifestyle, why should it be such a big problem to keep it?" (App. 4: l. 162-167, Maria).

This rather defensive reaction is the result of the frustration LCHF-followers feel from the stigmatisation caused by the traditional food regime. Thus, in some settings LCHF-followers demand for acceptance of their lifestyle and look down on those that might have misunderstood LCHF and use it, for example, as a weight loss diet. In these situations LCHF-followers are not afraid of letting other people know about their adherence to an alternative food regime – on the contrary it makes them proud.

5.4.2.4 Coping strategy 4: A deliberate choice

When LCHF-followers have lived by the LCHF food regime for a while they become more relaxed with regard to the LCHF principles, which causes them to shape personal interpretations of the LCHF lifestyle (Sandicki & Ger, 2009). This strategy is understood as coping with status quo through deliberate deviations. When LCHF-followers are personally responsible for setting limits and boundaries they underline that they are not restricted by anyone else. A respondent explains how planned deviations from the LCHF food regime help her cope with specific social settings:

"I prepare on it and say: 'Okay I know I'm going out Saturday, and I have decided I’m allowed to eat a piece of cake' and then I don't feel so bad. It’s also something about being relaxed about the choices you make" (App. 6: l. 469-472, Maria K.).

In a social setting such as a party the respondent allows herself to consume non-LCHF food. In theory this will contradict her self-image and her affiliation to the shared LCHF identity but because she plans the deviation she still feels in control. It is a deliberate choice to deviate from the LCHF lifestyle and not an instruction. A second respondent explains how she is the expert with regard to her personal food consumption: "I don't think that you outright 'give in' (if you eat non-LCHF food) because it’s always an intentional choice you make. (…) It’s only for my own sake and it’s only me who decides" (App. 4: l. 288-291, Maria). Because this respondent knows her body best, only she is able to decide the best food consumption for herself in a given situation.

People are highly aware of others’ choice of food, and alternative food diets such as LCHF creates attention (Warde, 2014), which LCHF-followers wish to avoid in some social settings. This is articulated in the following quotation:

"If I'm at a party I sometimes drink beer, because I think it’s easy. And there are also beers at Christmas, so I will also get stomach aches at that time. (…) It’s just a choice I make in a way. (…) There are some things I think are worth it (stomach ache) and then there are things I think don't matter. That’s how I choose in a way. (…) It’s like deciding if the following stomach ache is worth it" (App. 8: l. 435-483, Xenia).

The respondent is aware that certain kind of food is not good LCHF food, but in specific social settings she still chooses to consume it. The important is that she is the one making the decision.

A different quotation underlines how the deliberate choice to deviate from the LCHF lifestyle sometimes is the easiest to avoid discussion: "My husband also works with food and is often in social gatherings (…) and sometimes he just needs to say 'Well to hell with it, then I’ll eat this today'" (App. 7: l. 203-205, Jane). This fourth coping strategy appears to be used by relatively experienced LCHF-followers that have embraced the LCHF lifestyle and principle of listening only to themselves. LCHF-followers come to perceive themselves as “bricoleurs” (Holt, 2002:

78) that will not accept anyone else than themselves to compose their identity position within food consumption. They have reached as high amount of culinary capital within the LCHF food regime so that they can decide for themselves when it is appropriate to deviate. They differ from the majority of consumers within the Danish food culture because of their adherence to the LCHF food regime, still they want to be the only ones who can decide in what situations they feel like laying open this part of their identity narratives.