Eating Dinner at a Friend's House

[daus_n_ny]

I have just starting the program and doing well but have some concerns in social situations. My wife and I do a lot of entertaining and also love going over to a friends house for dinner. Any advice on how I can avoid offending the hostess by being a very picky eater?

Thanks,

Daus_n_ny

[Mitra]

Welcome :).

How well do you know your hostess? If your meals take the form of meat+veg+starch then it's fairly simple to just miss out the starch. Sweets can't really be handled in that way, and you might need to offer to take something along, or just explain ahead of time that you won't be able to eat any sweet things. Could you take a selection of interesting cheeses to share?

Maybe it would be easiest for you to host a meal first, so that they can see the sort of thing that works, and realise that there are lots of things you can still enjoy.

I'm sure there'll be lots ideas - most of us here enjoy eating :).

[gitfiddle]

Hello! I guess I'm lucky that most of the dinners I am invited to are pot luck. Our Latino friend always has lots of meat cooked wonderfully. It was a little touchy at first because much of what her family eats is starchy and she's famous in her community for her traditional dishes and I think she thinks I'm weird. She's diabetic too, but doesn't understand.

Our other friend is an excellent Italian cook, which means pasta. I declined the pasta and bread and pretended to love the salad. That happened a couple of times, but we haven't been invited to a spaghetti dinner in a long while. Yesterday they had a big birthday party and the main dish was chili.

Maybe you could start a trend in pot luck dinners? I have found that as we and our friends age, food avoidances abound and it's just a matter of finding out what works for everyone. One thing you don't want to do is make a big fuss. I've noticed that people just quietly skip what they don't want and it's often not an issue.

[pegala]

I just upfront tell friends when accepting an invitation,,I will come but I am on a diet and if I don't eat something don't be offended..Before I go I eat something protein like a cold hard cooked eggs or a few shrimp so I am not starved and tempted to go off..So far I haven't ran into anyone who objected and said not to come...Anybody who knows me will see how much weight I have lost and respects it took a lot of hard work..If the situation looks impossible for the diet..ie lasagna and garlic bread etc..I simply politely decline the invitation..