At some point in life, we learn that if we are at someone's home, and they cook something for us that is less than enjoyable- we still eat it. We don't want to cause a scene, or embarrass the person who put effort into a home cooked meal. I have done this before many times... WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU DO IF YOUR HEALTH IS AT RISK IF YOU EAT IT?Last night I was faced with a health risk. We went over to a friend's house for a birthday celebration, and they made Chinese food. I was pretty excited about the prospect of the food, and when it was served I took a nice portion of the chicken dish. I also had a bowl of vegetable/beef soup. As I took my first large bite of chicken, I felt like a bomb went off in my mouth. Had this woman just cooked the entire chicken dish in cups of soy sauce?? I think she did, and I was in trouble. There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence around the table because there was a huge problem... I sat there and struggled with myself over this issue. Do I eat the chicken, and deal with the sodium explosion in my body? How rude would it be to leave all of this chicken on my plate? I know that I am salt sensitive, but this is going to be extremely obvious that I don't like what she made...
Now before I go on, I must establish the level of saltiness... a bucket of ocean water? here is a cup of soy sauce, drink up? dump this entire salt shaker on my food to ruin it, but I am still eating it? I am not being picky bitch at this point... I am thinking about the past issues I have had with sodium. and worried about my health. I am watching the mutherfuckers around the table (including my husband) choking this chicken down... I try another piece that I secretly dunk in the leftover broth of my soup, to see if it will wash some of the sauce off... no such luck.
I look around the table at the group of people surrounding me, twelve people in all. Eleven of the twelve of us are overweight or obese, four are alcoholics (one trying to stop), five have problems with blood pressure, three are unable to hold jobs, and every single one of them except me are eating this fucking sodium explosion...
I had a few minutes to ponder this situation (by the way this is not the biggest group of losers ever, six of these people are Master's level educated, and one is a real life genius... they just have health/habit issues that are begining to cause trouble), and all of a sudden my husband starts eating my chicken because he is embarrassed that I am leaving it. I am dying on the inside for him... please don't continue to eat this chicken, with the amount you just ate on your plate, plus the portion on mine we might have to take you to the hospital tonight...
AND THEN THE MOMENT CAME... the woman who cooked the chicken dish looks at my plate and say to me "Oh, it looks like you didn't enjoy the chicken very much!" (fuckshitpiss). Here are my options at this point-
Option #1. Claim that I am full and not eat the birthday cake that is coming next (I specifically planned for the birthday cake with my calories for the day). I have not had birthday cake in almost a year. I might claim that I am stuffed, but that would include NOT eating the tasty birthday cake. It would also look foolish because the tiny bowl of soup included with the chicken dish wouldn't fill a baby.
Option #2. Start making gagging noises and tell her that the food was gross, and make fun of everyone for eating it... good luck at your next physical guys! Still enjoy cake.
Option #3. Claim that I enjoy the taste, but that I am salt sensitive and worried about my blood pressure. This will immediately convict all persons at the table, including the cook. Still enjoy cake, and not look like an ass for saying that a tiny bowl of soup filled me up (option #1).
I chose Option #3... and the cook was convicted because she is struggling with her blood pressure. It was actually a good choice because a bit later she brought up her struggles with me, and I was able to share with her my own story about salt sensitivity and how I messed myself up earlier in the year with eating too much in my diet. She talked about her own stuff, and concluded that if for nothing else, she needs to exercise to control her blood pressure.
Now, my husband was mortified, and the others around the table would not have opted for telling the cook that it was too salty to eat. I decided at that moment that part of my weight loss journey was to stick to my guns, not just at home, but everywhere I went. Not caring how it made people feel because I think that feeling guilty or worried because you ate something that you shouldn't have is just as bad as saying NO to the situation. I was also surrounded with people struggling with their own health issues... every one of them has seen me lose almost 90 since last year (although no one will say a fucking word about it, but that is a different post), and I want to be an example. If we don't get invited back to dinner, it will still be worth it.
So there.
