Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Its That Time Again...Sales Meeting

jasonD2

By jasonD2
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

jasonD2 Experienced
jasonD2
Posted

Got my company sales meeting in a few weeks. Lunch will be brought in and there will be group dinners at night..restaurants unspecified. For lunch I probly wont eat or just bring some protein bars, but what if the dinners are at restaurants that are not celiac friendly? I will be sitting at a large table with all of my co-workers and dont wanna seem weird...and I must be at these dinners.

Coping with the social aspect is still a huge problem of mine

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


momtopa Rookie
momtopa
Posted

Got my company sales meeting in a few weeks. Lunch will be brought in and there will be group dinners at night..restaurants unspecified. For lunch I probly wont eat or just bring some protein bars, but what if the dinners are at restaurants that are not celiac friendly? I will be sitting at a large table with all of my co-workers and dont wanna seem weird...and I must be at these dinners.

Coping with the social aspect is still a huge problem of mine

I'm not going to be much help here, unfortunately. In fact I avoided work today because I knew our managers were serving lunch to everyone and I didn't want to stand out. I normally work at home every other day and today was my day to be home anyway, so I lucked out there. Sounds like you don't have much of a choice, though, huh? Is there any way you can call the restaurants ahead of time and explain the situation so they can be ready for you when you get there? Good luck to you! How are you doing otherwise?

Janessa Rookie
Janessa
Posted

do you have time to go home between work and dinner? You can have dinner then meet everyone at the restaurant and have salad or steamed veggies. You can also excuse yourself and speak to your waiter away from the table if you don't want attention on yourself.

JNBunnie1 Community Regular
JNBunnie1
Posted

Unless your coworkers are Wheat Association of America employees, they probably won't think you're weird. Just call ahead and tell them you need naked chicken and green beans and when you get there tell them you're the naked food dude.

Reba32 Rookie
Reba32
Posted

speak to the organizer ahead of time and make arrangements for edible food for you to be brought in at lunch, and pick restaurants that will have at least a couple of choices for you. Don't starve yourself just because you're to shy to tell people you have a food caused disease! That's just rediculous. If you had diabetes would you be too shy to say you can't eat a bowl full of sugar?

SGWhiskers Collaborator
SGWhiskers
Posted

OK, what you SHOULD do is call ahead to the chef at 2:00-4:00 in the afternoon that day and explain your order of plain steak, veggies, and baked potato. Request that he make your dinner and deliver it discretely and emphasize the allergy part. Then when you get to dinner, try to sit at the corner of a table so you can catch your waitress or get up more easily. Discretely tell her you have food allergies and that the chef will be making your dinner for you.

If you see an impending disasterous restaraunt on the schedule, I would see if you can talk the head cook or manager into allowing for a dish to be delivered from someplace safe. They will be wanting the business from all the other sales people, so will be more willing to accomodate one person with allergies. I would figure the closest safe place to your work and have them on standby all week for a pick up from you. Hmmm. Maybe even talk a bus boy into delivery for a good tip to the office for lunch with a second meal you can have cold for dinner at a risky restaraunt if necessary. Our Outback has takeout.

The people at the sales meetings won't be concerned about your food looking different or arriving in a take out tray from another restaraunt/home. Just slide the meal from the take out tray onto your plate and move on. If you get a look or a question, simply state "food allergies" and if they remain curious, state "I'm not going to bore you with the story" then ask them a direct sales question. Shift the conversation back to them. Even if it is asking about their lovely wife, their last vacation, their marketing projections, or their view of the presentations that afternoon. Something so that they have to think and answer in a paragraph and it will get their mind off your food.

If they press you with questions, tell them "Ask me again after dinner. Right now, I want to learn more about your company."

If you had a cast on your arm, people would ask what happened. For us, eating out gathers the same type of questions. In more formal situations, I try to keep the answers brief. If I get the sense people might think I'm wacko, I mention blood tests and doctor wants me to be strict with my precations. Curiosity is natural when something looks different. It is your response to that curosity that will make the difference in how you are viewed. With a cast, everyone would expect you to share that you fell on ice and then eat with your other hand, but no one would want to listen to 30 minutes of accident, ER, and itchy cast stories.

I really do feel for you Jason. You are in a tough situation and have learned to gracefully handle this.

StacyA Enthusiast
StacyA
Posted

I had a company dinner that I was NOT looking forward to, but I called ahead, and ordered a naked steak and baked potato and it was good and I felt okay afterwards. There is life after gluten-free.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

I'm just diagnosed. My 13 year old son asked today "Have you told anyone? Is this a secret?" I said it it not a secret because it is nothing to be ashamed of. However, I don't like to make a big deal or cause others a lot of extra work. If the people around you ask why your eating that or not eating, I think a brief "food Allergies" & if they want to know more "That's boring, lets talk about something else".

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,242
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    rickak
    Newest Member
    rickak
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      Accuracy of testing concerns

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Welcome to the forum, @McKinleyWY, For a genetic test, you don't have to eat gluten, but this will only show if you have the genes necessary for the development of Celiac disease.  It will not show if you have active Celiac disease.   Eating gluten stimulates the production of antibodies against gluten which mistakenly attack our own bodies.  The antibodies are produced in the small intestines.  Three grams of gluten are enough to make you feel sick and ramp up anti-gluten antibody production and inflammation for two years afterwards.  However, TEN grams of gluten or more per day for two weeks is required to stimulate anti-gluten antibodies' production enough so that the anti-gluten antibodies move out of the intestines and into the bloodstream where they can be measured in blood tests.  This level of anti-gluten antibodies also causes measurable damage to the lining of the intestines as seen on biopsy samples taken during an endoscopy (the "gold standard" of Celiac diagnosis).   Since you have been experimenting with whole wheat bread in the past year or so, possibly getting cross contaminated in a mixed household, and your immune system is still so sensitized to gluten consumption, you may want to go ahead with the gluten challenge.   It can take two years absolutely gluten free for the immune system to quit reacting to gluten exposure.   Avoiding gluten most if the time, but then experimenting with whole wheat bread is a great way to keep your body in a state of inflammation and illness.  A diagnosis would help you stop playing Russian roulette with your and your children's health.      
    • trents
      Accuracy of testing concerns

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @McKinleyWY! There currently is no testing for celiac disease that does not require you to have been consuming generous amounts of gluten (at least 10g daily, about the amount in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for at least two weeks and, to be certain of accurate testing, longer than that. This applies to both phases of testing, the blood antibody tests and the endoscopy with biopsy.  There is the option of genetic testing to see if you have one or both of the two genes known to provide the potential to develop celiac disease. It is not really a diagnostic measure, however, as 30-40% of the general population has one or both of these genes whereas only about 1% of the general population actually develops celiac disease. But genetic testing is valuable as a rule out measure. If you don't have either of the genes, it is highly unlikely that you can have celiac disease. Having said all that, even if you don't have celiac disease you can have NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) which shares many of the same symptoms as celiac disease but does not involve and autoimmune reaction that damages the lining of the small bowel as does celiac disease. Both conditions call for the complete elimination of gluten from the diet. I hope this brings some clarity to your questions.
    • McKinleyWY
      Accuracy of testing concerns

      By McKinleyWY · Posted

      Hello all, I was diagnosed at the age of 2 as being allergic to yeast.  All my life I have avoided bread and most products containing enriched flour as they  contain yeast (when making the man made vitamins to add back in to the flour).  Within the last year or so, we discovered that even whole wheat products bother me but strangely enough I can eat gluten free bread with yeast and have no reactions.  Obviously, we have come to believe the issue is gluten not yeast.  Times continues to reinforce this as we are transitioning to a gluten free home and family.  I become quite ill when I consume even the smallest amount of gluten. How will my not having consumed breads/yeast/gluten for the better part of decades impact a biopsy or blood work?  I would love to know if it is a gluten intolerance or a genetic issue for family members but unsure of the results given my history of limited gluten intake.   I appreciate the input from those who have gone before me in experience and knowledge. Thank you all!
    • trents
      A little about me and my celiac disease

      By trents · Posted

      I know what you mean. When I get glutened I have severe gut cramps and throw up for 2-3 hr. and then have diarrhea for another several hours. Avoid eating out if at all possible. It is the number one source of gluten contamination for us celiacs. When you are forced to eat out at a new restaurant that you are not sure is safe, try to order things that you can be sure will not get cross contaminated like a boiled egg, baked potatos, steamed vegies, fresh fruit. Yes, I know that doesn't sound as appetizing as pizza or a burger and fries but your health is at stake. I also realize that as a 14 year old you don't have a lot of control over where you eat out because you are tagging along with others or adults are paying for it. Do you have support from your parents concerning your need to eat gluten free? Do you believe they have a good understanding of the many places gluten can show up in the food supply?
    • Peace lily
      Gluten Free Coffee

      By Peace lily · Posted

      Okay went online to check green mountain k cups .It was said that the regular coffees are fine but they couldn’t guarantee cross contamination.with the flavors. im trying to figure out since I eliminated the suyrup so far so good. I’m hoping. thanks it feels good to listen to other people there views.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.