lifestyle challenges

sealey0418

Hey Guys,

So over the weekend I had a family gathering, we went out to a restaurant , eating at any kind of restaurant lately and staying on track with my calorie and nutrition goals is a challenge in itself... however, add on the fact that this was a chinese buffet ouf! The restaurant was aptly named.. Calo-Riz (riz being the french word for rice.. pretty clever eh?) . I stuck (mostly) to the veggies (wish they weren`t all smothered in that mysterious concoction), sushi and salad bar, allowing myself 1 eggroll and a small scoop of general tao chicken (I couldn’t help myself!).Still there goes about a day’s worth of calories, probably a week of sodium and all kinds of other stuff I normally would no longer ingest (.. tomorrow is another day to start fresh) I had to look away at all the eggrolls, pizza, hotdogs, fried, saucy everything going on around me so that I would not pass a comment to offend anyone. I have become so adept analyzing my food choices; I have a hard time not doing it to my nearest and dearest. Everyone in my family and most of my friends refer to the foods I eat as diet foods... I prefer to call them ''real food'' and stress this to them when confronted with this. They also refer to my commitment as a diet, I prefer lifestyle but, I believe they know this and we use it as a term to quickly define my choices. As an adult I have always been drawn to healthier foods, I`ve just taken it to a new level, I am developing a healthy relationship with food and activity and I don’t intend to ever change that. Overall I cannot complain too much, my family has been pretty supportive and encouraging. It becomes difficult when they want to share their baking, cooking and when we are making plans. In fact it is very hard in general to relate to the ‘’normal’’ world, I try to keep myself informed of the healthiest options and tricks to adapt but, it gets pretty hard sometimes… when it comes to events, suppers, eating out at lunch.. I watched the movie Vegucated over the weekend and watching the newly vegan Tesla describe her challenges with fitting her new lifestyle in her existing world, had me nodding my head ‘’yep, yep yep… I hear you sister! ‘’ at the screen.
What about you ? What are your biggest challenges and how do you face them? Any tips, suggestions... ?

PS if anyone wants to add me, feel free.. I am in dire need of some likeminded MFP friends!

Have a great day everyone!

CollieFit

The reason they call it diet food (as opposed to real food) and diet (instead of lifestyle) is so they can belittle you and make themselves feel a bit better. Sad but true, whether they're conscious of it or not. By knocking you down a peg and making you sound a little left of centre, they can tell themselves that what they do is "normal" and you're the odd one out.

CollieFit

Sorry I hadn't answered your question about challenges. It's probably the work environment when people constantly bring in doughnuts, cakes etc. It's not good enough to just politely decline but it looks like you're expected to give some explanation as to WHY you don't want the cake. And if you say "because I'm not hungry" THAT really throws them because it's as if hunger is irrelevant because obviously if there is cake you eat it because it's THERE. LOL

jewh420

Amen Size10Againx. Actually my family is very supportive of my new "diet" and help by making meals expecially dinners lower in calioies. But work is another issue. When we have food day at work there is a buffet that can rival any Chinesse buffet. God forbid you should turn down a sample of their dish. This past food day I ate over 1000 calories and 'grazed' the table all day.

I would be interested in others giving suggestions on how to exhibit control but not offend anyone in the process.

chezjuan

I would be interested in others giving suggestions on how to exhibit control but not offend anyone in the process.

If someone gets offended because you politely decline to eat something that you don't want to eat, then that is their problem, not your problem.

If someone offers me something I do not feel like eating, I say "no thanks." If they persist, I say "Thank you, I'm fine." If it is something that I would eat, but don't feel like eating it just then, I may wrap some up and let the person doing the offering know that I'll try it later, but I am not hungry at the moment. If they get upset by any of this, I really don't worry about it because I've been polite.

cheryl_hanna

If you don't want to offend then take a one bite portion of what's being offered. That way you sample and not offend. Don't take a bite at the table and then put more on your plate to eat later. One bite on the plate and walk away. If you are still hungry, eat the healthy snacks you should have brought for yourself. And make sure you enter and account for what you think you ate under your own created BLT - bites, licks, tastes. And lastly remember you are in this for you, peer pressure stinks, but your success tastes even better!

nomeejerome

I choose to include all different types of food, which include the occasional egg roll or lemongrass chicken or whatever. However, I do not allow other people to dictate what I will or will not eat. If somebody wants to share a new recipe, I am all ears, but it does not mean that I have to eat everything that is in front of me. I enjoy cooking and I enjoy trying new foods, but that does not mean that I have to sample things just to satisfy the feelings of somebody else.