paleo social workarounds?
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renkatrun
Posts: 111 Member
Okay - totally sold on the new lifestyle. Been eating paleo for just a week and feel great. Reading a lot. It all makes sense to me.
Twice this week at work I had lunch with all 200 colleagues - no problem, really - just brought my own and sat with everyone in the huge cafeteria without feeling too conspicuous. But I started thinking about the four or five times a year that my colleagues (as a whole or in departments) have fancy restaurant dinners together.
There are a lot of "foodies" in my department and they fuss a lot about what to eat and not eat every day. A lot of overweight, unhealthy women giving each other advice about exercise and diet while they take the elevator and drink coca cola. I am already braced to avoid conversations and discussions about diets - but ...
What do you all do when you have a dinner work event at a restaurant and everyone has the same dish?
And: How do you stay socially active at mealtimes without having your "superior" or "finicky" or "fad" eating becoming an issue? Dealing with my own family is difficult enough (my youngest has made a remark about my weird fad diets in the past - which amount to two years of being a vegetarian and a year of supplementing with juiced veggies)... I am feeling pretty vulnerable.
Twice this week at work I had lunch with all 200 colleagues - no problem, really - just brought my own and sat with everyone in the huge cafeteria without feeling too conspicuous. But I started thinking about the four or five times a year that my colleagues (as a whole or in departments) have fancy restaurant dinners together.
There are a lot of "foodies" in my department and they fuss a lot about what to eat and not eat every day. A lot of overweight, unhealthy women giving each other advice about exercise and diet while they take the elevator and drink coca cola. I am already braced to avoid conversations and discussions about diets - but ...
What do you all do when you have a dinner work event at a restaurant and everyone has the same dish?
And: How do you stay socially active at mealtimes without having your "superior" or "finicky" or "fad" eating becoming an issue? Dealing with my own family is difficult enough (my youngest has made a remark about my weird fad diets in the past - which amount to two years of being a vegetarian and a year of supplementing with juiced veggies)... I am feeling pretty vulnerable.
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I haven't had this problem because I stick with a nice salad or fruit cup..mmmm Or veggies and whatever meat is being cooked up.0
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Pretty much anywhere you go, you can get a salad with a protein on top so that's my go-to when the choices can be less than ideal. If anyone questions, you can just tell them that's what you were hungry for. If it's a set menu and it's something that isn't any good paleo wise, see if you can call ahead and inform them you have some dietary restrictions...ya know, kinda like getting the kosher or vegetarian meal on an airline0
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i just tell people 'i'm allergic to carbs, they make me fat'
but saying you're diabetic would work just as well.0 -
Eat before you go. Then, you can pick and choose what you want at the dinner, and if anyone decides to comment, you can just say your tummy is a little tender.0
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Thanks everyone! I really wish the words diet (temporary restriction to lose weight) and diet (what you eat day to day) were not the same! I don't want to always get the "but you shouldn't be on a diet" thing and have to discuss it. I feel like it makes me sound "precious".
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A lot of people refer to it as WOE or way of eating. With the current usage of diet, WOE makes more sense. I just say that's how I eat.0
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It's definitely difficult at times, but if it's a function I usually just tell them ahead of time that I'm gluten and dairy intolerant and I usually end up with chicken and veg/salad on my plate. People look at me like I have 2 heads when they question my non-conformist meal and I tell them I just don't eat grains.
If the caterer wasn't negotiable at all, I would eat something before I go and eat any vegies/salad that were served just to be social. Or you could use it as an Intermittent Fast opportunity 0 -
My go-to is that 'my physician told me I have to..." I find people give crap about diets, but shut it when you're under Dr.'s orders.0
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I tell them the truth. It is what it is. I make choices about what goes in my body, just as anyone else. I don't think that claiming a sensitive tummy, or that I have an allergy makes any sense, or whatever makes any sense. If they don't understand, they just don't.0
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These are all great ideas! I would take the "my doctor said so" one further, and say "My endocrinologist suggested it." I do see an endo for my thyroid. Many grains are goitrogens and it is often suggested that I avoid goitrogens as a hypothyroid patient, so my solution is right there.0
