How do you deal with these?
As a long time veggie before transitioning to raw 6 months ago I found it easy to go out/eat with people, vegetarianism is fairly much accepted now. Not that I really care if my lifestyle is or isnt accepted. However when it comes to family gatherings/occasions I feel sometimes I am segregated or cannot go because of there being food in the situation.
Most people like to go to a restaurant or have a party for celebrations
There isnt a polite way to say, “I am not eating your food, vegetarian or otherwise its dead and of no value to my insides I would rather not eat.. but thanks anyways!”
I have my mothers birthday coming up as well as my own shortly.. its very hard not to upset close family especially. My mothers reaction was ” do you have to ruin my night with your food habits”... very tricky
Anyways enough rambling
How do you deal with Parties and Celebrations?
Thanks
Comments
I know what you mean rawdancer, I have the same issues. My poor mother has to deal with me and my sister both!! But I always ask what they are having and then offer to bring something and always pick a raw dish that will compliment what they are having. A nice big salad is something that goes with everything!! I usually bring more than one thing and then that is what I eat!!
I always bring my own food but for Birthdays and special occasions I also bring a beautiful raw pie or cake to share with everyone. Even the hardcore meat-eatin, close minded members of my family can’t resist my scrumptious raw apple pie! The important thing is to just go to parties and things and have a great time and show people that you’re still the same wonderful person you’ve always been you just eat differently now.
I too know the frustration of this situation, My family loves to eat out it’s usually the only chance we have to get together in a group with my in laws, and my husband and his family are very very carnivorous so my opinion usually counts for little when out weighed by 5-6 others who eat whatever and so I have found it best to just grab a salad, if they have one (sometimes a side salad, no cheese, no egg, no bacon or whatever…) and either I’ll eat ahead of time or afterwards, sometimes even bringing along a lara bar or some sort of other raw concoction, I’ve even started making up wraps and such to bring and eat on the way or if not an option, I’ll sometimes just ask for a side of fruit, and some tea or something (I’ve even once ordered a meal then picked a few bites off it and pretended it was gross then sent it back and said I wasn’t hungry anymore because it ruined my appetite (that was a really horrible thing to do but- it worked)that meal was free too yay?) other than that let the raw thing sink in with the family give it time… they will either start to think of you and try to find places with things for you to eat or they will pretend it doesn’t exist and you’ll work your way through it… tonight was actually one of those nights for me, my son had a fund raiser at a red robin for his school, it’s one of those places where the salads all have meat and usually 2 kinds like bacon and chicken, and they have a boca burger but that does me no good anymore so I cheated a little had a soda (bad girl!!!) and then came home and ate a yummy meal of salad stuffed bell peppers I’ll post the recipe soon (btw, the soda made my stomach sooooooo sick it was my 1st in 3 mos and it was a dr. pepper so it had caffeine which made me jittery and weird inside…. I learned my lesson) :-(
Like everyone else who’s posted, I take my food with me whenever I have to go out for a foodie evening. It usually gets scoffed down by meat eaters so take double, everyone will want to try it if you make something nice. In restaurants they can be really helpful if you ask and explain. I read someowhere about a raw fooder who carried a card with a list of ingredients that she could eat, with ” please make me a salad wth these ingredients, your creativity is welcomed and appreciated” and she gave it to the waiter, I thought that was a good idea.
If you phone the restaurant or hotel before hand and explain they can get stuff in for you. It is just a matter of getting over the embarrasement of being different and askng for what you want.
I read that Jess Michael of total raw food went to the Ritz for tea and they brought her out a gorgeous huge fruit salad on a tray made of ice! What I avoid is boozey nights out, and parties where I know everyone is there to get totally drunk. I get so bored around people who are very drunk, a bit tipsy is fine and good fun, but when everyone is paraletic I just want to go home. This can be hard as Britain is a nation of alcohol lovers, and I just don’t want to go down the pub anymore.
Cheers Zoe
Have rang the fancy shmanzy place to request a RAW meal.. should be intresting!
Have now informed my family we are going to a raw vegan place for my bday next month.. :) yay!
Most gathering I go to have fruit platters. Sometimes if it is really fancy they have the cut out watermelons too. Usually when I go to gatherings the host usually wants people to bring some things. You can get a pretty dish and cut up some fruit and bring that. Something that you and everyone else will enjoy. I haven’t mastered the restaurant yet. I will figure something out.
I just experienced this last month at my nephews christening. Funny thing is I told my sister I eat vegan and raw. She asked me. Well Tonya what do you eat? LOL Usually I introduce people to food (because cooked items are substance and not food). By making food items for them to try. Especially things like cookies and treats. Bean free hummus, pate etc. I have yet to see anyone not enjoy it. This way you are sharing a bit of the suspense of your eating habits with others.
Reporting back, had a wondeful meal :)
Starter
Tomato and Basil Salad, they brought me olive oil and some blended avacado/lemon dressings fresh. These were in seperate dishes so I could choose if I wanted these
Main
Salad
Romaine Lettuce Vine Tomatos Celery Lamb Lettuce RAW Broccoli
More blended dressings in various dipping bowls
Divine :)
And to finish
A huge bowl of lovely berries : Raspberry, blueberry, blackcurrants, stawberries, some cubed nectarines
This was fresh and wonderful
Was most impressed :)
Funny thing was had my family stealing half the raw broccoli off my plate, eager to try something new! :)
Wow that sounds amazing, I am really pleased they made you all those dips and raw salad dressing, how lovely for you!
I went to my neice’s birthday party after work on Friday night (she’s twelve! good grief, how did THAT happen?;0). I knew ahead of time that we’d be at a pizza parlor, so I made some arrangements for myself… I stopped at home and made myself a big green smoothie with fruit before I went. That made it easy to forgo the pizza, which was greasy pepperoni and not appetizing anyway, but if I’d been really hungry that probably wouldn’t have mattered! I also brought a bottled water with me and a Lara bar for a couple hours in when I got a little hungry again. Worked like a charm, yay! This was my first get-together situation since I’ve been trying to stay raw, and it went really well.