Eating: a social activity

So generally speaking, I intend for this blog to be positive, namely because I've found this entire process a very positive experience. I'm happy about the changes I've made to my lifestyle and I'm having fun experimenting with various tweaks - small changes to my macronutrient balance, longer periods of fasting, etc - but let's talk about this:

Eating with other people has become more complicated. 

It's true: it's just a thing that happens. When I imposed no restrictions on my eating apart from taste, it was easy enough to go to pretty much any restaurant. It's definitely more complicated to choose a restaurant now. Following a ketogenic eating system means lots of meat, fish, eggs, healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts (especially walnuts), salmon, dairy fats, etc) and leafy greens. There are lots of variants on this, so as long as the restaurant offers salads, there should be something to eat. However, a lot of chain restaurants tend to add a lot of unnecessary carbs to their salads - noodles, beans, tortilla chips, and bread on the side. It's usually possible to request adjustments, but if your friends or family insist on going to a restaurant that only serves crêpes or ramen, you might be in trouble. And then there's the whole question of "what exactly is in this?" Some restaurants offer calorie counts (though very few in Québec City!), but I've never seen one that offers full nutritional breakdowns of their meals! 

The bigger difficulty is eating with people who are unsupportive. Eating this way isn't something that requires a lot of sympathy and validation - that's not what I mean at all! I mean, people who either look down on you for having made a change, people who seem to take your decision as judgement against the way they eat/live, and then of course, the people who actively try to dissuade you from doing what you're doing. There are different methods to deal with this kind of thing, but I won't pretend that it makes it easier! I live alone and find it honestly quite easy to find things to cook and eat which work with the plan I've devised for myself. Eating with other people is where it can get complicated. 

The entire question of giving other people advice might merit its own separate post, but I'll just say this: the further I go in this, the more personal I see that these decisions are. If someone asks me for advice, I'm happy to give it. Offering unsolicited advice, however well-intentioned, can be quite rude. I try very hard to avoid inconveniencing my friends with my newfound way of living, and to be the least complicated as I possibly can about my eating requirements when we go to restaurants or have dinner parties. I'll just say this so that it's super clear: if you and I are eating together, I don't care what you eat at all. Eat what you like, and I'll eat what I like, and we can all be happy. Same goes for if I'm fasting: if it's a day when I'm not eating at all, you go ahead and do your own thing. I'm not judging you by it, because everyone needs to find a lifestyle that works for their needs. If you're reading this and you have friends or family members who are trying out a new lifestyle, do them a favour and don't question it, criticize it, or try to dissuade them from it. Chances are it's hard enough without that kind of interference, even if you meant well by it. 

Yeah. Eating with others can be complicated.