Not Careful When I Travel W/ Colleagues

jasonD2 · September 27, 2008

I am in sales and spend quite a bit of time on the road. Usually im by myself but on occasion I travel with my colleagues. when i'm on my own I have no problems sticking to my gluten-free diet but when im with my colleagues its a little difficult. My one colleague Tom already thinks im neurotic and crazy cause of the way I eat so as a result im self conscious and have difficulty eating out when im with him (whenever i order a plain baked potatoe and ask for no dressings or seasonings he starts chuckling under his breath) I usually suggest the places, but the other day I got into a bind and had to eat food which im sure had gluten in it. we went to an Outback and they were closed and the only nearby option was Chili's. at that point i had not eaten for 8 hrs and i was starving to death so i caved in. ordered a chicken salad but now that i looked at th Chili's allergen menu its confirmed that I ingested gluten. As i said when i travel alone im fine but i am having real difficulty when im with my colleagues. my managers goal is to fatten me up and be 250 lbs like he is cause apparently I'm too thin for sales. I love my job but sadly the biggest challenge I face is eating out.

Question: its not confirmed that I have Celiacs and I refuse to do the challenge & get a biopsy..im just avoiding gluten as best as I can. If i get an occasional does of it on the road here and there will it kill me? id say 98% of my diet now is gluten-free...the other 2% is whatever exposure i get while im traveling.

ShayFL · September 27, 2008

Have you at least had a Genetic test to see if you even have the genes to be Celiac. If you DO NOT then you might benefit from something like Glutenease and you can also know that you arent damaging yourself on an auto-immune level. If you DO have the genes, then you can know you need to be very diligent.

jasonD2 · September 27, 2008

I have one of the genes but still not sure if i have celiac. There's a 50/50 chance but im still convinced its just an intolerance. my stool antibody was 21 with 10 being the cutoff for normal, so its only slightly elevated

home-based-mom · September 27, 2008

My one colleague Tom already thinks im neurotic and crazy cause of the way I eat so as a result im self conscious and have difficulty eating out when im with him (whenever i order a plain baked potatoe and ask for no dressings or seasonings he starts chuckling under his breath)

He starts chuckling under his breath. So what? As he already thinks you are crazy and neurotic, ordering something you think he might approve of but you know will make you sick isn't going to change his opinion of you. Or that you will get sick. You will never change his opinion of you by what you order or don't order in a restaurant, and he doesn't sound like someone whose approval you need to seek anyway. As long as you are able to make sales for your company without this guy liking you, don't worry about it. Life is short and you can't please everybody. Be polite, gracious, and courteous but do *not* give this guy or anyone else the power in your life to coerce you into eating what you know you should not eat.

If you are stuck eating a plain salad and a plain potato or 3 plain potatoes because you are really hungry, then so be it.

You eat what you need to eat to keep from being sick.

Who knows? Maybe he will go back and tell your over-weight boss that he doesn't want to travel with you anymore because he is uncomfortable with your healthy eating habits, and your boss will send you off in different directions.

missy'smom · September 27, 2008

You can order travel sizes of things like salad dressing from minimus.biz. Not everything is gluten-free but they have many options. You may have to check with the home website for that particular brand or product for info. on gluten content.

uncertainlady · September 30, 2008

I am in sales and spend quite a bit of time on the road. Usually im by myself but on occasion I travel with my colleagues. when i'm on my own I have no problems sticking to my gluten-free diet but when im with my colleagues its a little difficult. My one colleague Tom already thinks im neurotic and crazy cause of the way I eat so as a result im self conscious and have difficulty eating out when im with him (whenever i order a plain baked potatoe and ask for no dressings or seasonings he starts chuckling under his breath) I usually suggest the places, but the other day I got into a bind and had to eat food which im sure had gluten in it. we went to an Outback and they were closed and the only nearby option was Chili's. at that point i had not eaten for 8 hrs and i was starving to death so i caved in. ordered a chicken salad but now that i looked at th Chili's allergen menu its confirmed that I ingested gluten. As i said when i travel alone im fine but i am having real difficulty when im with my colleagues. my managers goal is to fatten me up and be 250 lbs like he is cause apparently I'm too thin for sales. I love my job but sadly the biggest challenge I face is eating out.

Question: its not confirmed that I have Celiacs and I refuse to do the challenge & get a biopsy..im just avoiding gluten as best as I can. If i get an occasional does of it on the road here and there will it kill me? id say 98% of my diet now is gluten-free...the other 2% is whatever exposure i get while im traveling.

I am in the same boat... I haven't been diagnosed with celiac disease - I have been diagnosed with IBS previously and lactose intolerance, but I suspect celiac. Because I don't know for sure, I stick to gluten-free diet at home but when I eat out I tend to get a pizza or a burger (with a bun) and then it takes 2-7 days to get back to normal... I totally understand what you're going through...