How To Awkwardly Admit That Actually, You're Not Eating X

[AKcollegestudent]

Last night, I was out with friends and ended up hanging out with someone I didn't know. (Well, okay. Someone who I've apparently been introduced to probably seven times, given that he greeted me by name. Oops.) We'd been with people who know that offering me pizza is going to be met with a polite, "No thanks," but by the time we actually reached the campus pizza grill, we were the only two still around.

"We should get pizza and wings!"

"I'm not very hungry, but I'll grab water and hang out."

"Okay," he reconsiders. "I'll get the wings and you get the pizza."

*trying to figure this one out* "Actually, I can't eat a couple ingredients in wings and pizza, but I'm having fun hanging out."

"We can get something that doesn't have anything you're allergic to?"

At some point, I went no, really, allergic to wheat--yes, I know that's misleading, but you try being specific with someone you don't know!

About ten minutes later, he said, "Oh, celiac. But I thought that people just had indigestion from that!"

There is nothing like trying to educate someone about celiac and its other symptoms when it's 1 am, the smell of his pizza is making you queasy, and you've been out dancing all night, so you're thoroughly exhausted. (And my ex and I had gone to the bar earlier in the evening, so the buzz really wasn't helping.)

Oy.

Also, is there a reason why the smell of pizza really, really makes me wince? I know that others say that they miss it and feel like friends and family are taunting them with it, but seriously? It just makes me gag, even when I'm totally sober. Has been for months.

[skigirlchar]

at least he had HEARD of Celiac!

i too get nauseous when i have to go into the bread isle at the grocery store.... and I HAVE TO to get to the gluten-free FOODS!!! some idiot though it would be a good idea to put the gluten-free foods w/ the organic foods on one side of the SAME ISLE as the bread!

it could be that you are breathing in things that your system doesn't handle well. (dried crust dust for example)

good luck!

[AKcollegestudent]

at least he had HEARD of Celiac!

i too get nauseous when i have to go into the bread isle at the grocery store.... and I HAVE TO to get to the gluten-free FOODS!!! some idiot though it would be a good idea to put the gluten-free foods w/ the organic foods on one side of the SAME ISLE as the bread!

it could be that you are breathing in things that your system doesn't handle well. (dried crust dust for example)

good luck!

I'd noticed it with the bread aisle, actually--some genius thinks that anyone who uses peanut butter or the frozen food case clearly wants bread. But I'm around pizza so rarely that I notice the issue more.

I vote that whichever mouth-breathing architect decided to make the bread aisle an important feature of the design, and not tucked in a corner, gets to have celiac or allergy symptoms related to bread/wheat. I love my grocery store at home--the person who designed most Carrs Safeways tucked the bread into one corner, and it's really easy to avoid because Nothing Else is over there.

[ciavyn]

Can't say that the smell of pizza makes me queasy, but I'm glad to have an illness that makes my out-of-control noshing on bread impossible to do anymore. I can't afford to be that way! LOL!

Speaking of gluteny items near the gluten-free aisle...we have a damn Cocopop machine RIGHT NEXT TO the dairy, deli and organics. That crap is in the air everywhere! Talk about annoying. There are two machines, always going, and they stick it right in the middle of the store. Grrr....

[eva-girl]

i think he was just trying to be nice...at least he wanted to hear more about it instead of practically forcing food down your throat or looking at you like you've lost your mind. don't beat around the bush: just say "i'm not hungry" (firmly but nicely) and leave it at that. i find that when i hem and haw that's when people start trying to cajole me into eating cake or pizza. i say "no" and that's that. then i change the subject.

[MagpieWrites]

I have to confess... while I'm cool with the smell of pizza, driving by the major bakeries in town will give me a royal headache and a knot in my stomach (to the point I'll even try to plan trips AROUND the bakery so I don't have to deal. Oddly... this means I usually pick the route with the sewer treatment plant over the smell of bread baking - people in the car with me DO look at me a bit strangely!) too.

I'm not sure it's an actual celiac/gluten thing though. I get the same problem when I'm near seafood restaurants and my mom bakes banana bread - I'm deathly allergic to shellfish and bananas are a close second. I think a good chunk of it is psychological - you KNOW it would make you sick to eat what you're smelling, and your body is tossing up all the sensory memories in a flash... just in case you had the stupid idea to eat the dangerous substance. Folks who have been stung by bees get nervy around buzzing, and a dear friend who got severe food-poisoning (as in hospitalized) once at a Chinese restaurant gets a stomach ache if you TALK about the restaurant. It's like your body just wants to make SURE you aren't going to do anything IT will regret! (I've found that my brain and my stomach don't really trust each other. )

[sandsurfgirl]

The word allergy makes sense to people and it sounds serious to them. I use the word allergy frequently if I need to get my point across at a restaurant or in a social situation. It's quick and it makes sense.

[rdunbar]

I've read many times on the forum that people feel teased and tempted by the smell of glutenous foods, but I'm with you, the smell makes me nauseous, so much that i'll avoid walking by a bakery. I've been off of wheat for 2 years plus, but only got all the gluten ( and casien ) weeded out (hopefully) about 2 months ago. I've had this reaction to the smell of wheat for quite a while, so maybe it takes time to develop it after you stop eating it. i feel like someone would need a crowbar to get me to open my mouth to ingest that garbage!

[drloots]

yea using the word 'allergic' usually brings a firm 'no' to the conversation as sandsurfgirl said. Most people just move on after that and suggest you pick the food as a nice gesture. They could be allergic to something too so don't feel you're the only in the group.