Networking makes me fat

rethun01

Ugh! So I'm in a very male oriented industry. So when I go to morning networking meetings (twice a week) we of course eat at places that serve nothing even mildly healthy. The best I can do is order egg whites and a side of fruit, to which the others in the room laugh and rub their bellies and say things like, "That healthy crap isn't for me!" Apparently a heart attack IS for them, but whatever. I know I could eat before I go, but these meetings start so early and they are EVERY WEEK so getting up on a regular basis that early is hard enough. Let alone trying to wake up 20 minutes before that just to eat some yogurt and fruit. My sleep is precious!!

I've worked around the morning meetings and gotten into a decent enough food regimine with those. But its nights like last night that are so frustrating. I really needed to make an appearance at this cocktails and appetizers event. I guess I just assumed wrong that there would be SOMETHING there that I could eat. I tried my best, just had a bacardi and diet. But I'm not joking when I say that the best I could do based on the available options were: 5 tater tots, a cheeseburger slider off the bun, and two squres of cheese pizza. I went into the night with 500 calories to eat and I went over by 500 calories!! HOW DID THAT EQUAL UP TO 1000 CALORIES?!?! And that was my dinner. My normal dinner is about 400 calories, so I ate a little lighter lunch yesterday to build in an extra 100 calories so I could enjoy an alcoholic beverage.

Ugh... so I guess the moral of the story is to eat healthy BEFORE the function. But just so ya'll are aware, I went straight from the office to this networking event. There wasn't time to like go home and cook something. And while I probably could have packed something to eat at my office, I just assumed there would at least be a veggie tray at this function.

rethun01

Ugh! So I'm in a very male oriented industry. So when I go to morning networking meetings (twice a week) we of course eat at places that serve nothing even mildly healthy. The best I can do is order egg whites and a side of fruit, to which the others in the room laugh and rub their bellies and say things like, "That healthy crap isn't for me!" Apparently a heart attack IS for them, but whatever. I know I could eat before I go, but these meetings start so early and they are EVERY WEEK so getting up on a regular basis that early is hard enough. Let alone trying to wake up 20 minutes before that just to eat some yogurt and fruit. My sleep is precious!!

I've worked around the morning meetings and gotten into a decent enough food regimine with those. But its nights like last night that are so frustrating. I really needed to make an appearance at this cocktails and appetizers event. I guess I just assumed wrong that there would be SOMETHING there that I could eat. I tried my best, just had a bacardi and diet. But I'm not joking when I say that the best I could do based on the available options were: 5 tater tots, a cheeseburger slider off the bun, and two squres of cheese pizza. I went into the night with 500 calories to eat and I went over by 500 calories!! HOW DID THAT EQUAL UP TO 1000 CALORIES?!?! And that was my dinner. My normal dinner is about 400 calories, so I ate a little lighter lunch yesterday to build in an extra 100 calories so I could enjoy an alcoholic beverage.

Ugh... so I guess the moral of the story is to eat healthy BEFORE the function. But just so ya'll are aware, I went straight from the office to this networking event. There wasn't time to like go home and cook something. And while I probably could have packed something to eat at my office, I just assumed there would at least be a veggie tray at this function.

filergirl

The other moral of the story is that men who are overweight aren't socially stigmatized to the same degree as women. Power isn't centered around looks or youthful vitality in the same manner. The status quo eats what the status quo wants to eat. You've discovered one of the truths of the corporate world - and the world at large.

Mufasa0331

Wow that sounds brutal! But keep your head up and remember you learn from your past and your mistakes.

neeterskeeter

I know exactly what you mean. My former firm used to have an attorney breakfast on Fridays and I would try to order healthy things like oatmeal with fruit (even then, the restaurant made the oatmeal with all kinds of unhealthy crap), or yogurt and fruit, and the male attorneys would always laugh at me or would seriously ask me WHY I was only eating that, like I had an eating disorder or something. My problem is that I *love* food and breakfast, I mean, I would love to be eating the pancakes and sausage right along with them... but when I do, I gain weight. I have a small frame and I've found I just can't eat heavy stuff often and still lose or even maintain weight. So I felt like they didn't understand where I was coming from, it's not that I wouldn't love to be chowing down, it's just that, if I ate evreything I wanted, I would be really big.

I think you've found a good way to deal with this-- just "splurge" on something not as healthy and make sure you eat well and work out the rest of the day. And yes, eating before hand also helps, then you're filled up whether it's a Cliff's Bar on the go or whether you have time to make a healthy egg and veggie omelette.

I also dealt with it the way that some posters on this thread already mentioned-- by thinking, who are THEY to be making fun of me, and feeling proud of myself for eating well despite the pressure. Because many of those male attorneys were overweight and had no business making fun of me for ordering light. They should have been making fun of themselves for stuffing their fat faces. I'm too polite to have pointed that out to them, but I did sit there secretly patting myself on the back for being the smart one. They are going to get bigger and bigger, and I am going to stay healthy, active and at a decent weight. I'm sure that in your industry it's the same way, so just tell yourself that and secretly use their ridicule as ammunition against THEM.