What to eat when you are invited for dinner

I don't believe in food shaming or heaping food into categories of good or bad... I eat alot of lean meat, veggies, fruits, and whole grains but I eat burgers, pizza, ice cream, just as often. If you are going out to eat you can always find some options that will fit your goals and eating at their places...... it is 1 or 2 meals in a weeks worth of eating, portion out an amount and enjoy it along with your friends. This approach has not cost me success in reaching my goals...... Best of Luck

I just tell people that I don't eat that stuff, but I appreciate their efforts and hospitality. If they get pissy about the situation, I usually say, "But did you die?" It usually either puts things in perspective or earns me a laugh. Sometimes both!

I love socializing and if I know I'm invited out .. I usually save some extra calories for that. It's all about calorie in, cals out for me.

We usually eat at restaurants that a variety of options ... there's always healthy options - veggies and grilled meat available. Sometimes I eat a smaller portion.

As for pizza, I cater for two slices.

Life is about balance and this is going to happen a lot.

whatever you're offered surely.

That's a tough one. If invited to their home for burgers, eat the burger, not the bun. Don't have fries or dessert but a few chips or baked beans.

If it's someone's home then eat small portions. If they question you there is the choice of explaining it all, saying you aren't hungry you had a large lunch, or just accepting some people are rude and brush off the comment.

If it's a restaurant then make the best choice you can from the menu. Eat slowly, drink water and have a good time.

If you don't want to get these invitations anymore then make a big deal about their crappy food, how you eat so much better than they do, tell them the evils of their food choices and make sure everyone knows that you are superior.

Are your friends aware that you prefer not to eat these foods? If they are aware and can't be more sensitive or supportive of your needs, maybe you need to re-evaluate your need to hang out with them? Just some things to consider. Wishing you the best.

When you accept an invitation and the hospitality of someone else, you should eat what they eat. You don't have to eat much. But you should eat what they've bought or prepared. It's the proper thing to do. Don't act superior or like their food is not good enough for you. You'll hurt them.

One meal is not going to kill you. And, if you simply do not want to eat their food, don't accept their invitation.

There is no polite way to say, "I don't want to eat your crapPy food."

How about just, "No thanks"? Or go and eat something healthy. I have yet to go to a restaurant that didn't have lower-calorie, healthy options.

Eat the food available. Unless you are eating out every meal of the day and just living a terrible diet, what the big deal about eating a meal out with your friends/family? You will not gain weight from eating one meal out. Yeah there may be extra sodium so added water retention but that is temporary. Who cares?

Your friends and family aren't dieting like you and most don't care. They simply want to enjoy your company not your choice of dieting to get healthy. Go out and have fun then when you leave go back to eating what ever it is that you eat to keep yourself in a deficit.

Too many people read way way way too much into what 1 meal can do. It really can't do anything!!!! Its the compounding of thousands of crappy meals, and sitting on your @ss doing nothing but storing energy that you don't need!

Go have fun with out friends and be a human again!

I don't believe in food shaming or heaping food into categories of good or bad... I eat alot of lean meat, veggies, fruits, and whole grains but I eat burgers, pizza, ice cream, just as often. If you are going out to eat you can always find some options that will fit your goals and eating at their places...... it is 1 or 2 meals in a weeks worth of eating, portion out an amount and enjoy it along with your friends. This approach has not cost me success in reaching my goals...... Best of Luck

This.

You have a very unhealthy relationship with food, based on this post. You might need to speak to a therapist about it.

So this is an issue I come across at least two times a week: eating with others. I get invited or go out for dinner or lunch and I just don't know how to say friendly: No thanks, I don't want to eat your crapy food. And by crapy I mean like french fries, burgers, pizza, ice cream, big three course dinners and so on, because that is what most of my friends like to eat. As it happens so often it really isn't an option to just forget about a healthy diet for once (once in a while a pizza is okay I think but then we're talking about once in a month or so). Are there any people experiencing the same problems? And what do you do? Does anyone have tips how to avoid making yourself a social outsider in terms of food and still stay with your own food choices?

Thanks a lot!

Why don't you invite your friends either home or to somewhere you do eat the food?

If I'm invited into someones home I eat what's served -- trying to eat as little of the carbs as possible (I eat a fairly strict low carb diet) without making it obvious and offending my host. Restaurants are not a problem, order whatever fits your plan. In both cases I'd fast or eat less either before or after to even out the calories if I needed to.

It's really a non-issue for me since I eat out so infrequently but since it's a regular thing for you maybe look into intermittent fasting? Good luck.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/08/06/a-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting/

Guys, it's fine! I don't have an unhealthy relationship with food :P To me it's just common sense to eat what makes you feel good. When I eat pizza and a lot of wheat I get headaches and stomach pains, I don't really like it either. It's okay once in a while but not more than that. It's just dead food, no wonder it does make people feel bad. If anyone loves a pizza once a week and has no problems with it that is totally fine, it's just not who I am..

So don't eat those things.

I really don't get the problem here.