How do people eat when in business meetings

[St. Nicholas]

I work in administrative business environment and attend meetings several times a week for 4 to 6 hours. I was wondering if anyone else works in a similar environment and have any tips on how to get in your clean eating.

It is a little discouraged to bring food into the sessions beyond what is provided. What is supplied is usually muffins, danish, and cookies. Lunch can be anywhere from greasy pizza to wraps smoothered in dressings. I was finally able to get water supplied instead of just coffee.

Any tips on healthy eating during senior management meetings?

[Chi_town]

Most people eat like ****. LOL

I either have a healthy alternative like a chicken salad or I'll skip the food all together if I have to and eat later. Have a MRP or bar if I have to, to get my by.

[stahlhart]

Originally Posted by St. Nicholas

I work in administrative business environment and attend meetings several times a week for 4 to 6 hours. I was wondering if anyone else works in a similar environment and have any tips on how to get in your clean eating.

It is a little discouraged to bring food into the sessions beyond what is provided. What is supplied is usually muffins, danish, and cookies. Lunch can be anywhere from greasy pizza to wraps smoothered in dressings. I was finally able to get water supplied instead of just coffee.

Any tips on healthy eating during senior management meetings?

I'd probably have a meal just before the start of the meeting, and sneak a bar in for about halfway through.

We have bottled water supplied at ours, so that's never been an issue. If it starts in the morning, they'll usually have bagels -- I figure one of those dry is better than nothing.

/used to love doughnuts
//used to look like it, too

[namtrag]

Push for at least apples and bananas. Stuff one of those down, and eat a low carb protein or meal replacement bar. I also have bought EAS Myoplex Lite protein drinks to tide me over if I have to skip what is served.

It's tought, like Chi says, everyone likes to eat like ****.

Just remember what Old Superman on this forum told me:"If it was easy to be a bodybuilder, everyone would be doing it."

[IdahoViking]

Wait just one darn minute, are you all trying to say that there is something wrong with eating greasy pizza?

[justtryn]

Thankfully, my workplace usually gets a bowl of fresh fruit to go along with the crap @ meetings. Still, I'll have a couple of little snack bags with almond in them, and maybe an MPR bar in my briefcase, just in case.

[Mr. Someday]

Hell, I bring my meals in even to board meetings. I've gotten a couple of odd looks, but of course just laugh it off as they are stuffing a muffin down their throat! If pastries and snacks are provided, you should not be bashful about opening up a pre-cooked meal of chix and rice or whatever it is that you usually bring with you. People get used to it quickly.

[justtryn]

Originally Posted by IdahoViking

Wait just one darn minute, are you all trying to say that there is something wrong with eating greasy pizza?

Is Judy the "hotdog" lady now serving pizza, IV? I used to LOVE her chorizos right off the bbq!

[kimsquit]

I spend far too much time in meetings as well but I always bring my food with me in a cooler (and my water in a gallon milk jug). I'm beyond caring with other's think.

Originally Posted by St. Nicholas

It is a little discouraged to bring food into the sessions beyond what is provided.

I don't see why it should be - if people have a problem with it, then it's their problem to resolve, not yours to accomodate.

What would you do if you were diabetic or had food allergies? Would you put yourself at risk just to keep them from snickering or making comments?

You can always say that you're keeping yourself in shape so that you can haul their fat ass to the cemetary after they collapse from coronary thrombosis.



~ Chris

[jasonv]

Uh, if food is provided during the meeting, and other people are eating, there's zero problem with you bringing your own food in to the meeting. And yes, talking with the admin who's ordering the food about the possibility of health-ing it up isn't a bad idea, but special requests are possibly going to cause problems and the vendor is unlikely to be able to accommodate it.

If you're on good personal terms with the senior most person calling the meeting, speaking with them might be helfpul, too.

[IdahoViking]

Originally Posted by justtryn

Is Judy the "hotdog" lady now serving pizza, IV? I used to LOVE her chorizos right off the bbq!

I don't know who you are talking about. Hasn't been a 'hotdog' cart near here for a very long time.

[empresscat]

Originally Posted by Mr. Someday

Hell, I bring my meals in even to board meetings. I've gotten a couple of odd looks, but of course just laugh it off as they are stuffing a muffin down their throat! If pastries and snacks are provided, you should not be bashful about opening up a pre-cooked meal of chix and rice or whatever it is that you usually bring with you. People get used to it quickly.

Agreed. It's one thing to eat if no one else is - in that case, a bar and/or fruit would have to do... but just bring your food, and remark (if comments are made) that you will stop when they offer something healthy. Some people find it easier to say they are allergic (even being diabetic is often so poorly understood that folks will encourage diabetics to "relax once in a while" and eat crap.)

[IdahoViking]

Originally Posted by empresscat

Agreed. It's one thing to eat if no one else is - in that case, a bar and/or fruit would have to do... but just bring your food, and remark (if comments are made) that you will stop when they offer something healthy.

What she said.


Additional incentive to effect change could be done while eating a can or two of Jack Mackerel during the meetings!

[ChocoChick]

Originally Posted by St. Nicholas

I work in administrative business environment and attend meetings several times a week for 4 to 6 hours. I was wondering if anyone else works in a similar environment and have any tips on how to get in your clean eating.

It is a little discouraged to bring food into the sessions beyond what is provided. What is supplied is usually muffins, danish, and cookies. Lunch can be anywhere from greasy pizza to wraps smoothered in dressings. I was finally able to get water supplied instead of just coffee.

Any tips on healthy eating during senior management meetings?

Who does the ordering for these events? Perhaps you can talk to him/her ahead of time and ask for a healthier option (i.e., a wrap with dressing on the side or some such thing) to be available. Usually, if a menu is passed around, you can find something that will be reasonable -- very few restaurants don't offer something that you can make work.

Alternately, you can bring your own food in, explaining that you have some sort of dietary restriction if asked. I've found that it's easier to say that I can't eat certain foods rather than that I won't.

[dbx]

A different perspective:

It totally depends on the corporate environment. In most companies I've been associated with, it would not be proper etiquette to bring your own food, regardless of whether or not other food is catered/offered. Yeah, these were prim and proper corp. environments, but that's the way it was. Sure, sugar free pastries would be okay if similar food is normally catered, but chowing down on chicken and rice while others are eating an entirely different type of food would not be proper business etiquette in environments I'm used to dealing in.

I wouldn't advise letting anyone here tell you how to handle this, as you are the only one that can judge whether you'll be perceived as odd or out of place for doing it. I would advise asking your boss if you're not sure.

[Baldsnake]

I do the bar trick often....briefcase will have at least 3 for an all day-er. I drink their ice tea, bottled water, and eat their fruit. For long plane flights I do the same. For out of town meetings with catered affairs I call down to the kitchen and tell them I am a heart patient and would like to get their low salt low fat heart healthy option. It works every time. One time was real funny when I was at the Mack Truck National Sales Convention. Everyone was served some kind of yucky deep fried chicken, mashed potatos, gravy, string beans, and an ice cream sundae. I got grilled Orange Roughy, sliced tomato and a half cantalope filled with fresh rasberries. I got some nasty glares.

[PhoenixBuff]

Originally Posted by IdahoViking

Wait just one darn minute, are you all trying to say that there is something wrong with eating greasy pizza?

Hell no!

[namtrag]

IV

Nothing wrong with eating pizza, as long as you eat nothing else the rest of the day, and do 2.5 hours of HIIT afterwards.

Other than that, go ahead and eat it.

[Plato458]

For years I was trapped in bun/gooey vol-au-vent meetings and used to hide MRBs in my bag.

I felt that I had to hide in the loos like someone taking a covert laxative, as it wasn't worth explaining what I was having for lunch. Even MRBs were considered very weird in my environment (whey = steroids etc)

When I got up the rat ladder, I used to make everyone at my meetings eat healthy stuff, black tea and water

tee-hee

Now I'm a freelancer, I can pretty much do what I like

Px

[QUALITYGUY1]

The pres of my company is East Indian and happens to be vegetarian, so there is always a ton of fresh fruit, veggie wraps, veggies, and fresh garden salad put out. I guess I'm one of the lucky few.

[oldsuperman]

Originally Posted by Mr. Someday

Hell, I bring my meals in even to board meetings. I've gotten a couple of odd looks, but of course just laugh it off as they are stuffing a muffin down their throat! If pastries and snacks are provided, you should not be bashful about opening up a pre-cooked meal of chix and rice or whatever it is that you usually bring with you. People get used to it quickly.

DITO HERE!

Nobody is suprised when I show up with my own food.

[namtrag]

Yea, they are afraid you might rip off your shirt and kick their butts!

Just teasing, Old Superman!

Sometimes, you just got to do what's right for you, let them deal with it.

[empresscat]

Originally Posted by dbflgirl

Who does the ordering for these events? Perhaps you can talk to him/her ahead of time and ask for a healthier option (i.e., a wrap with dressing on the side or some such thing) to be available. Usually, if a menu is passed around, you can find something that will be reasonable -- very few restaurants don't offer something that you can make work.

Now, this is a good idea - befriend the person who does the ordering, if possible. Talk to them about your health concerns, and see if you can get a salad or something included for you.

[empresscat]

Originally Posted by dbx

A different perspective:

It totally depends on the corporate environment. In most companies I've been associated with, it would not be proper etiquette to bring your own food, regardless of whether or not other food is catered/offered. Yeah, these were prim and proper corp. environments, but that's the way it was. Sure, sugar free pastries would be okay if similar food is normally catered, but chowing down on chicken and rice while others are eating an entirely different type of food would not be proper business etiquette in environments I'm used to dealing in.

I wouldn't advise letting anyone here tell you how to handle this, as you are the only one that can judge whether you'll be perceived as odd or out of place for doing it. I would advise asking your boss if you're not sure.

Hm ... I've always been part of the "creative" team in some form, so our meetings were more informal in tone... and we were expected to be a little quirky. Hadn't thought about it, but our business ettiquette wasn't the norm.

[Plato458]

Originally Posted by namtrag

Yea, they are afraid you might rip off your shirt and kick their butts!

Ahh, that explains what's happened to this poster - I thought maybe Lou Ferringo had borrowed his shorts or he'd had got them caught in the waste disposal...

Nah, he'd just eaten a healthy brunch http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/TheSugarDaddy/

Px

[dbx]

Originally Posted by empresscat

Hm ... I've always been part of the "creative" team in some form, so our meetings were more informal in tone... and we were expected to be a little quirky. Hadn't thought about it, but our business ettiquette wasn't the norm.

You and some others here are fortunate. Even though friendly relationships were the norm at the types of meetings I attended and committees I sat on, it would have been totally...and I mean totally, uncool to do this. I mean, so unacceptable that you wouldn't even think to ask someone if it was alright. Interdepartmental meetings were a bit more relaxed, but even then it would have been somewhat awkward. Like I said before, different corporate cultures exist out there, so you better be dialed in before you act.

[Plato458]

Originally Posted by dbx

You and some others here are fortunate. Even though friendly relationships were the norm at the types of meetings I attended and committees I sat on, it would have been totally...and I mean totally, uncool to do this. I mean, so unacceptable that you wouldn't even think to ask someone if it was alright. Interdepartmental meetings were a bit more relaxed, but even then it would have been somewhat awkward. Like I said before, different corporate cultures exist out there, so you better be dialed in before you act.

QFT, I worked in advertising and this is spot on. Okay to be creative, vegan, whatever, no-no to be oddball.

Px

[crazycelt]

Originally Posted by St. Nicholas

I work in administrative business environment and attend meetings several times a week for 4 to 6 hours. I was wondering if anyone else works in a similar environment and have any tips on how to get in your clean eating.

It is a little discouraged to bring food into the sessions beyond what is provided. What is supplied is usually muffins, danish, and cookies. Lunch can be anywhere from greasy pizza to wraps smoothered in dressings. I was finally able to get water supplied instead of just coffee.

Any tips on healthy eating during senior management meetings?

Hey Bro,
Protein bars and fruit (easily carried in the suitcoat pocket). If someone asks, tell them you're on a "special diet" ("Drs. orders" always helps).

[Dr the black]

I sympathize with the outside-food-discouraged thing---got a straightlaced business type environment too. Could you unconspicuously take a short break? I mean, people must leave occasionally to check their emails, use the bathroom, yes? So maybe you could take a few minutes, go back to your desk or the kitchen, and chow down on the healthy stuff. Me, I'll be in the boardroom with the muffins. Yum.

Laney

[jmc53]

When I have client meetings that run overtime, I just say "Lets take a break, anyone for tea or coffee or a protein shake"?
Invariably, with a puzzled expression, they just say ummmm ... just coffee for me thanks.