Is it possible to refuse food at a restaurant if it is not tasty? Refusal of food: objectively, without religion, politics and hysterics What will happen if you refuse food.

Here are a few phrases that you can use to divert attention from yourself and not provoke the anger of your owners:

• No thanks, I'm saving room for another dish.
• I can't wait to try another dish!
• I feel bad about such and such an ingredient, so I’d better abstain.
• It looks very tasty, but I still want to eat what's on my plate.
• I'm so full that I can't fit another bite! Thanks for a great lunch!
• I'll leave that for a second pass! (And then “forget” to serve yourself this dish or say that you are too full.)

Speak in a cheerful, cheerful tone and smile. And try to quickly pass the plate with the unpleasant dish to your neighbor.

Try just a little

If the hosts won't give in or you feel obligated, try taking a small portion of the unpleasant dish. Instead of saying “no,” put just a little on your plate. This way you will show respect to the one who prepared it. Of course, taking one piece or one drop of sauce would be strange, but you can take one or two spoons.

If you don’t like the dish at all, but still want to finish the portion, try to eat it with something tasty. Or season it generously with sauce.

Be kind at the end.

Don't be rude, even if you don't like some dishes at all. When your hosts ask how you liked that particular (disliked) dish, focus on the positive side and shift the conversation to what you liked. For example:

• Dinner was excellent! Thank you for inviting me.
• Oh, I liked it best... It was very tasty. But I never succeed.
• I'm impressed with how carefully you planned dinner. Above all praise!

Just don't mention the dish you didn't like and say you liked it, thanking the owners for their efforts.

There are often people who suffer from a fairly common disease today - food addiction. Such people cannot refuse food, and are ready to eat everything they find in the refrigerator in one sitting. Sometimes, we cannot deny ourselves sweets or sweets, this problem is especially aggravated if we decide to lose weight or go on a diet. Let's figure out how to refuse food or minimize its impact on weight.

If we are faced with a dilemma about how to give up food altogether, think about whether it is worth harming your body in this way. Of course, there are a number of diets based on “fasting days”, but they leave in the diet one or another product that can provide the body with sufficient nutrients for normal functioning. Otherwise, you can come to the point that the body begins to refuse food and anorexia may occur.

How to psychologically refuse food?

First, you need to set yourself how many kilograms you want to lose and, depending on this, distribute foods in your diet. Some people find it helpful to place a photograph of the ideal they want to achieve in the most visible place in their apartment or workplace. A number of girls find daily weight monitoring helpful. To do this, buy electronic scales and record your weight every day with an accuracy of grams. This will allow you to see how much progress has been made towards the goal.

In order to reach your ideal weight, you don’t have to starve yourself, just give up junk food. Keep a food diary where you will write down everything you eat and you will understand how many extra sausage sandwiches, or, even worse, hamburgers with French fries, we eat. Replace fast food with fruits and vegetables. You should also avoid eating in the evening. Your last meal should be at least 4 hours before you go to bed.

What people are not prepared to do to lose weight! Some people torture themselves with diets, some buy expensive (but in most cases absolutely useless) “fat burning” pills, some don’t leave the massage parlor, and there are others who simply pump out fat on the surgeon’s table. But a little time passes, and the weight returns again. And then those losing weight decide to take the most serious step - they refuse to eat. How much weight can you lose if you don’t eat, and is it worth making such sacrifices?

Everyone knows that you can die from hunger. A person can survive without food for only a few weeks, and the last days he will spend in a practically unconscious state. Therefore, for an unprepared person, a 24-day fasting marathon, which some people who are losing weight go on, desperate to lose excess weight in other ways, is like death. In any case, serious health problems definitely cannot be avoided, especially if you have chronic diseases.

Do you know what happens in the body when the supply of nutrients from outside stops? It begins to switch to internal power. But this process takes place over several days. Moreover, the body resists it, and the brain is busy only searching for food. The feeling of hunger increases every day, and if you give in to it, you can eat three times more than usual. By the way, this is how most people recover from fasting.

But if you eat nothing and heroically endure hunger, then about 3-4 days a sharp deterioration in well-being occurs, manifesting itself in:

• severe dizziness;
• attacks of nausea;
• darkening of urine;
• causeless mood swings;
• the formation of a dense coating on the tongue;
• strong acetone odor from the mouth.

This is an acidotic crisis, which indicates that the breakdown of adipose tissue has begun. When it breaks down, acetone and fatty acids are formed.

Until this point, the body's nutrition comes from other sources. First, he tries to save energy by sharply slowing down metabolic processes. And then it begins to use muscle tissue, which is easier to break down than fat.

The conclusions are simple: by giving up food for a day or two, you will unload your digestive system, clean out your intestines, but will not get rid of fat reserves, even if you fast every other day. But muscle tissue may suffer. As a result, the body will become even looser, and its volume will remain virtually unchanged.

Types of fasting

A way to give up food to lose weight is to eat! Proper fasting is really beneficial for the body and gives excellent results. But it requires compliance with certain rules and strict control over one’s condition. If you are constantly overeating on “bad things”, and then you simply stop eating or (even worse!) start eating once a day - don’t expect anything good! Therefore, it is worth learning about the basic rules of different types of fasting.

A short

A fast of up to three days is considered short. It is relatively safe and can be performed even by untrained people. Although there is one rule that applies to all types of fasting: breaking out of it takes the same number of days as you managed to do without food. This is necessary in order to smoothly “turn on” the digestive system to normal mode.

Any fasting involves complete abstinence from food. That is, a person drinks only water or green (herbal tea). You have to be careful with herbs - even the safest ones cannot be consumed in unlimited quantities. Juices are food, not drink. During fasting, the ban also applies to them.

Surviving daily fasting is relatively easy if you are actively engaged in everyday activities, and not lying on the couch and waiting for the time to open the refrigerator.

Here are a few rules that will help make this period easier:

• remove all food items from sight;
• plan the day in advance so that it is all busy;
• cancel all important meetings and intense workouts;
• find a motivation that is meaningful to you and remember it when hunger arises;
• imagine not how tomorrow you will be able to eat to your heart's content, but how beautiful your body becomes.

Try to find like-minded people. Fasting together is much more fun, and then you can compare the results. After completing your fast, eat only light and healthy foods for at least a day: vegetables, fruits, low-fat cottage cheese.

Or you can spend your exit day drinking fruit and vegetable juices. This will saturate the body with vitamins and microelements and give the digestive system another day of rest.

Long

Fasting longer than three days is called long. This is what gives the body enough time to reach its own fat reserves. But if you constantly eat a lot, and then suddenly decide to give up food completely, then in 90% of cases you will fail. Only a few have such willpower to resist severe attacks of hunger and terrible health.

Indeed, how to lose weight if you want to eat all the time and can’t think about anything else? Daily fasting can be done at home, but for three or more days you will still have to go outside, go to work, and there are a lot of temptations there. Therefore, nutritionists recommend switching to long-term fasting only after you have completed at least 2-3 short ones.

To prevent the body from experiencing extreme stress, it must be prepared to refuse food. If you eat less, starting 2-3 days before a long fast, the transition will be smooth and less painful. Although the majority do exactly the opposite - they try to eat enough for the future, so that at least on the first day they do not suffer from hunger.

Don't try to complete all three days on the first try. If your health worsens sharply, switch to juices and gradually come out of fasting. Slowly things will get better, and next time you will last longer without food.

In general, it is very important not to force the body. Fasting should be a pleasant relief, not mental and physical torture.

Dry

Dry fasting is the most effective, but most severe way of cleansing and unloading the body. During it, it is forbidden not only to eat, but also to drink. Therefore, it is strictly not recommended to carry it out in the hot season - this can cause severe dehydration and overload the heart.

During dry fasting, the process of switching to internal nutrition occurs much faster and begins already on day 2-3. Therefore, burning fat in this way is quite possible.

But it cannot be carried out often - it is too much stress for the body. The way out of dry fasting should be a day on liquid food (juices or pureed soups). It is strictly prohibited for people with gastrointestinal diseases.

Strict diets

A more common way to lose weight if you constantly want to eat is to limit the amount you eat or involve an extremely meager set of foods. Sugar is first on the forbidden list. And this is not surprising - it breaks down easily and does not contain any useful substances, only pure calories.

Those who want to really lose weight will have to give up:

• meat sausages and semi-finished products;
• preserves, pickles and marinades;
• baking and confectionery products;
• fatty meats and fish;
• anything that is fried in oil;
• any alcoholic beverages;
• sweet soda and packaged juices.

Even if you introduce only these restrictions into your diet, and eat other foods in small portions 5-6 times a day, it is possible to lose up to 3-4 kilograms per month without any hunger strikes.

But everyone wants it faster! Therefore, most resort to various types of strict diets. We will tell you about the features of the most popular ones to make it easier for you to decide whether to lose weight this way.

Low calorie

On the one hand, this is the most enjoyable diet, since there is a lot allowed in it. In the mildest version, you can eat everything (even harmful things), but you will have to scrupulously calculate what you eat. But a person who is far from dietetics is not always able to do this correctly. Of course, detailed tables of calorie content of foods and ready-made meals from the Internet will come to the rescue. But food must be weighed, everything carefully recorded and constantly counted.

Given that the basal metabolic rate of an adult is approximately 1200 kcal (resting energy expenditure), low-calorie diets limit the daily intake to 900, and sometimes 600 kcal.

If you eat little, this is also fasting, which does not give rest to the digestive system and does not trigger the process of transition to internal nutrition, since food still comes from outside. Whether it is worth torturing yourself in this way - decide for yourself.

No carbohydrates

The question of whether it is possible to lose weight if you don’t eat sweets is purely rhetorical. Those who want to lose excess fat should give up sweets first of all. Sugar is pure carbohydrates that charge the batteries in our body. But fast carbohydrates are found not only in sugar. Their main sources are:

There are also slow carbohydrates, which are gradually consumed by our body and do not lead to rapid weight gain. Strict prohibits the consumption of any carbohydrates. And this is bad - the body is left without the main source of energy. And since it does not immediately reach fat reserves, protein is used.

On such diets, muscle mass is lost, not fat. But if you exclude only sugar and fast carbohydrates from your diet, weight loss will be quite active.

Vegetarianism: yes or no?

People often ask whether it is possible to lose weight if you don’t eat meat. And as an example they cite adherents of a vegetarian diet, among whom fat people are extremely rare. A complete abstinence from meat deprives the body of essential amino acids necessary for building muscle fibers. Once again, it’s the muscles that suffer, not the fat.

If you are serious about becoming a vegetarian, you simply need to learn the basics of nutrition. Then you can create a diet that will completely compensate for the lack of animal protein and vitamin B12, which is also mainly obtained from animal food.

For those who do not want to delve too deeply into studying the principles of healthy eating, we advise not to go to extremes, but to leave the following on the menu at least 2-3 times a week:

• beef and veal;
• a rabbit;
• poultry breast without skin;
• any seafood;
• sea ​​fish.

This diet will allow you to eat well and lose weight by 3-4 kilograms per month. Of course, provided that the portions are moderate.

What to do?

As you can see, the question of how to stop eating completely is extremely incorrect. An unreasonable refusal to eat will not add beauty to either your skin or your figure. And if you want to include fasting in your weight loss program as a way to effectively cleanse the body, you need to do this correctly and after competent psychological preparation.

Many people are concerned about another problem - how to give up sweets. This is quite easy to do, using the principle of substitution popular among nutritionists: sugar with honey, sweets with dried fruits, etc. Gradually, the body will get used to it, and the sight of the cake will no longer be so attractive.

Remember also that if you eat too little, the weight will come off very slowly. Therefore, the calorie content of the diet should be thoughtful. Reviews from those who have lost 20 kg or more confirm the correctness of the statement that there is no more correct way than a healthy lifestyle and nutritious, high-quality nutrition. So maybe that's enough experimentation?

is a mental disorder that belongs to the group of eating disorders, characterized by non-acceptance of body image, refusal of food, creation of obstacles to its absorption and stimulation of metabolism in order to lose weight. The main symptoms are avoiding food intake, limiting portions, exhausting exercise, taking medications that reduce appetite and speed up metabolism, weakness, apathy, irritability, and physical ailments. Diagnosis includes clinical interview, observation and psychological testing. Treatment is carried out using psychotherapy, diet therapy and medication correction.

ICD-10

F50.0 F50.1

General information

Translated from ancient Greek, the word “anorexia” means “absence of the urge to eat.” Anorexia nervosa often accompanies schizophrenia, psychopathy, metabolic diseases, infections and gastrointestinal diseases. It may be a consequence of bulimia or precede it. The prevalence of anorexia is determined by economic, cultural and individual-family factors. In European countries and Russia, the epidemiological indicator among women from 15 to 45 years old reaches 0.5%. Worldwide rates range from 0.3 to 4.3%. The peak incidence is observed among girls 15-20 years old; this group of patients accounts for up to 40% of the total number of patients. Anorexia is rare among men.

Causes of anorexia

The etiology of the disease is polymorphic. As a rule, the disease develops due to a combination of several factors: biological, psychological, micro- and macrosocial. The high-risk group includes girls from socially prosperous families, characterized by a desire for excellence and having a normal or increased BMI. Possible causes of the disease are divided into several groups:

• Genetic. The likelihood of illness is determined by several genes that regulate the neurochemical factors of eating disorders. To date, the HTR2A gene, encoding the serotonin receptor, and the BDNF gene, which affects the activity of the hypothalamus, have been studied. There is genetic determination of certain character traits that predispose to the disease.
• Biological. Eating behavior is more often disturbed in people with overweight, obesity and early menarche. It is based on dysfunction of neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine) and excessive production of leptin, a hormone that reduces appetite.
• Microsocial. An important role in the development of the disease is played by the attitude of parents and other relatives to nutrition, excess weight and thinness. Anorexia is more common in families where relatives have a confirmed diagnosis of the disease, where neglect of food and refusal to eat are demonstrated.
• Personal. Individuals with an obsessive-compulsive personality type are more susceptible to the disorder. The desire for thinness, starvation, and exhausting stress are supported by perfectionism, low self-esteem, uncertainty, anxiety and suspiciousness.
• Cultural. In industrialized countries, thinness is proclaimed one of the main criteria for a woman’s beauty. The ideals of a slim body are promoted at different levels, creating in young people the desire to lose weight in any way.
• Stressful. The triggering factor for anorexia can be the death of a loved one, sexual or physical violence. In adolescence and young adulthood, the cause is uncertainty about the future and the inability to achieve desired goals. The process of losing weight replaces areas of life in which the patient fails to realize himself.

Pathogenesis

The key mechanism for the development of anorexia is a painful distortion of the perception of one’s own body, excessive concern about an imaginary or real defect - dysmorphophobia. Under the influence of etiological factors, obsessive, delusional thoughts about excess weight, one’s own unattractiveness, and ugliness are formed. Usually the image of the bodily “I” is distorted; in reality, the patient’s weight corresponds to the norm or slightly exceeds it. Under the influence of obsessive thoughts, emotions and behavior change. Actions and thoughts are aimed at losing weight and achieving thinness.

Strict dietary restrictions are introduced, the food instinct and the instinct of self-preservation are inhibited. Lack of nutrients activates physiological protective mechanisms, metabolism slows down, and the secretion of digestive enzymes, bile acids and insulin is reduced. The process of digesting food initially causes discomfort. In the later stages of anorexia, food absorption becomes impossible. A state of cachexia occurs with a risk of death.

Classification

There are several stages during the course of anorexia. Not the first, the initial one, the patient’s interests gradually change, ideas about the beauty of the body and its attractiveness are distorted. This period lasts for several years. Then comes the stage of active anorexia, characterized by a pronounced desire to lose weight and the formation of appropriate behavior. At the final, cachectic stage, the body is exhausted, the patient’s critical thinking is impaired, and the risk of death increases. Depending on the clinical signs, three types of the disease are distinguished:

• Anorexia with monothematic dysmorphophobia. The classic version of the disease is that a persistent idea of ​​losing weight is supported by appropriate behavior.
• Anorexia with periods of bulimia. Periods of fasting and severe food restriction alternate with episodes of disinhibition and decreased focus, during which gluttony develops.
• Anorexia with bulimia and vomitomania. Fasting periodically gives way to gluttony and subsequent provocation of vomiting.

Symptoms of anorexia

A mandatory symptom of the disease is a conscious limitation of the amount of food consumed. It can appear in different forms. In the early stages of the disease, patients lie to others about feeling full before it occurs, and chew food for a long time to create the appearance of prolonged and plentiful consumption. Later, they begin to avoid meeting with relatives and friends at the dinner table, find a reason not to attend family dinners and lunches, talk about an allegedly existing disease (gastritis, stomach ulcers, allergies) that requires adherence to a strict diet. At the late stage of anorexia, complete cessation of eating is possible.

To suppress appetite, patients resort to taking chemicals. Psychostimulants, some antidepressants, tonic mixtures, coffee and tea have anorexigenic effects. As a result, dependence and addictive behavior are formed. Another common symptom of anorexia is attempts to increase metabolism. Patients exercise a lot, actively visit saunas and steam baths, and wear several layers of clothing to increase sweating.

To reduce the absorption of food, patients artificially induce vomiting. They provoke vomiting immediately after eating, as soon as it becomes possible to get into the toilet. Often this behavior occurs in social situations when it is impossible to refuse to eat with other people. At first, vomiting is induced mechanically, then it occurs independently, involuntarily when entering a suitable environment (toilet, private room). Sometimes, to quickly get rid of fluids and food, patients take diuretics and laxatives. Diarrhea and diuresis can gradually become the same involuntary acts as vomiting.

A common manifestation of a behavioral disorder is food excess, or food binge. This is an uncontrollable bout of eating large amounts of food in a short period of time. With eating excess, patients cannot choose foods, enjoy the taste and regulate the amount of food eaten. “Binge drinking” occurs in solitude. It is not always associated with a feeling of hunger; it is used as a way to calm down, relieve stress, and relax. After overeating, feelings of guilt and self-loathing, depression and suicidal thoughts develop.

Complications

Without psychotherapeutic and drug help, anorexia leads to a variety of somatic diseases. Most often, young people experience delayed growth and sexual development. Pathologies of the cardiovascular system are represented by severe arrhythmias, sudden cardiac arrest due to a deficiency of electrolytes in the myocardium. The patients' skin is dry, pale, pasty and swollen due to a lack of proteins. Complications from the digestive system include chronic constipation and cramping abdominal pain. Endocrine complications include hypothyroidism (hypothyroidism), secondary amenorrhea in women, and infertility. Bones become fragile, fractures become more frequent, and osteopenia and osteoporosis develop. Substance abuse and depression increase the risk of suicide (20% of all deaths).

Diagnostics

Anorexia is an independent nosological entity and has clear clinical signs that are easily recognized by psychiatrists and psychotherapists. Diagnosis has a high level of agreement between clinicians and is reliable, but can be complicated by patient dissimulation - deliberate concealment, concealment of symptoms. Differential diagnosis involves the exclusion of chronic debilitating diseases and intestinal disorders, sudden weight loss against the background of severe depression.

The diagnosis is established on the basis of the clinical picture; in some cases, psychodiagnostic questionnaires are used (Cognitive-behavioral patterns for anorexia nervosa). Anorexia is confirmed if the following five signs are present:

1. Body weight deficiency. The patient's weight is at least 15% less than normal. BMI is 17.5 or lower.
2. Patient initiative. Weight loss is caused by the active actions of the patient himself, and not by somatic diseases or external situational conditions (forced hunger). Avoidance, evasion of meals, open refusal to eat, provocation of vomiting, taking medications and excessive physical activity are revealed.
3. Obsession and body dysmorphic disorder. With anorexia, there is always a patient's dissatisfaction with his body, an inadequate assessment of weight and appearance. The fear of obesity and the desire to lose weight become overvalued ideas.
4. Endocrine dysfunction. Hormonal imbalances affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. In women they manifest themselves as amenorrhea, in men – loss of libido, decreased potency.
5. Delayed puberty. At the onset of anorexia in puberty, secondary sexual characteristics are not formed or are formed with a delay. Growth stops, in girls the mammary glands do not enlarge, in boys the genitals remain juvenile.

Treatment of anorexia

The intensity and duration of therapy depends on the severity of the pathology, its causes, the patient’s age, his mental and physical condition. Treatment can be carried out on an outpatient or inpatient basis, sometimes in an intensive care unit, and is aimed at restoring physical health, forming an adequate opinion about one’s own body, and normalizing the diet. Comprehensive patient care includes three components:

• Diet therapy. The nutritionist tells the patient and his relatives about the importance of sufficient intake of nutrients, explains the body's needs and the consequences of fasting. The treatment menu is compiled taking into account the patient’s taste preferences. To restore normal nutrition and gain weight, the caloric content of the diet increases gradually over several months. In severe cases, glucose solutions are first administered intravenously, then the patient begins to consume nutritional mixtures and only then proceeds to regular food.
• Psychotherapy. The most effective direction is cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. At the initial stage, conversations are held during which the characteristics of the disease, its possible consequences, and whether the patient has a choice are discussed. A positive perception of personality and body image is formed, anxiety is reduced, and internal conflict is resolved. At the behavioral stage, techniques are developed and mastered to help restore a normal diet, learn to enjoy food, movement and communication.
• Medication correction. To accelerate puberty, growth and strengthening of skeletal bones, sex hormone replacement therapy is prescribed. H1-histamine blockers are used for weight gain. Neuroleptics eliminate obsessive-compulsive symptoms and motor agitation, and promote weight gain. Antidepressants are indicated for depression, SSRIs are used to reduce the risk of relapse in patients with restored nutrition and weight gain.

Prognosis and prevention

The outcome of anorexia is largely determined by the time of initiation of therapy. The earlier treatment is started, the more likely the prognosis is favorable. Recovery often occurs with an integrated therapeutic approach, family support and elimination of factors that provoke the disease. Prevention should be carried out at the level of the state, society and family. It is necessary to promote a healthy lifestyle, sports, a balanced diet and normal weight. In the family, it is important to maintain the tradition of sharing food, which is associated with positive emotions, teach children how to prepare balanced meals, and develop a positive attitude towards appearance.

In our age of the Internet, technology, oversaturation of information and goods, we are endlessly offered something. And if we don't want to become omnivores in the broadest sense of the word, it's important to be able to respond to some "thank you, no thanks" requests. Let's start learning this with mindfulness and selectivity in food. I want to talk about how to politely refuse if you are offered food and you don't want or can't eat it.

I am a “plus size” model, I often attend events, and the hospitable host-organizers almost always want to feed me. Because of my height and strong physique, it always seems to people around me that I eat a lot, but this is not so. I don’t go on diets for the sake of thinness, but I watch my diet to maintain the beauty of my skin, it is my working tool. Therefore, I often have to say the phrase “no thanks, no thanks” about food, and I know how to do it so that no one is offended.

The rules of etiquette come to the rescue when refusing. Everything in the world is changing, but - hurray! – these rules remain an unchanged island of stability, although – what a pity! - They are not taught at school. What should you do if you are invited to a social event or dinner party and you need to be selective about what you eat? An example familiar to everyone is the awkward situation in which the heroine of the film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears” found herself:

- Let me offer you some sturgeon?

- No! I can't have fish! I'm allergic to it... Yes... Cramps begin.

That, of course, cannot be said. Don't talk about your illnesses, allergies, diets, or what kind of storm will happen in your stomach if you eat this rabbit and drink this juice.

What if you hate fish, are on a strict diet on the advice of a doctor, were poisoned yesterday or completely lost your appetite due to nervousness, and they are waiting for you for dinner? First, think about whether it’s possible to refuse to go to the event altogether - perhaps not going will be easier than worrying about food all evening. Can? Do this in advance, no later than two days before the designated date. If refusal is impossible for some reason, go to dinner, but follow a few rules there.

1. It is rude to refuse food outright. It's better to have something on your plate and twirl your fork from time to time than to loudly declare that you are a no-no today.

2. During the buffet table, hold a full glass of water in your hand. So you are not bored, and those around you see that you are busy.
Avoid people who actively chew - they will definitely advise you to eat something. As a last resort, if the adviser still catches up with you, cross your fingers behind your back and lie that you have already tried this.

3. Refuse briefly and kindly. If you are a vegetarian and are persistently asked to eat chicken, you can politely and quietly say so. In this case, it is more correct, more tactful and safer to say a short “thank you, no” with a smile, instead of the aggressive “I don’t eat meat!”, justifying “I can’t have it because...”, or the very bad option “I don’t eat unfortunate people” animals! By going into details, you risk listening for the hundredth time to a lecture about the dangers of vegetarianism and what beneficial substances you are depriving yourself of (alas, not all people are familiar with the rules of etiquette).

4. Warn the owners. If you are not at a buffet, but rather at a dinner party, then, most likely, you can familiarize yourself with the menu in advance. Find out what you can't eat and ask the manager to change it for you before serving food.

5. Give the right signals. Place some snacks on the plate “for show.” It is unlikely that anyone will closely monitor how food goes into your mouth and how much you eat. At the same time, when there is food left on the plate, they don’t give you more. Is the table served by a waiter? Great, it is perfectly acceptable to give him a sign: fold the cutlery in a corner - this means a break in food, horizontally - the food was excellent, vertically - you have finished eating.

6. But at a dinner at home, don't go overboard pretending to eat. Don't stock your plate with all the food you can. A full plate may lead the hostess to think that you didn’t like anything. And of course, you shouldn’t try to feed the contents of the plate to the owner’s dog or bury it all in a flower pot. Agree, it’s better to learn to say “thank you, no.”

7. Respect traditions. If you find yourself at a dinner party abroad, keep in mind that the food situation there is much more serious. When visiting foreigners, it is impolite to refuse food at all, because for you, dear overseas guest, the hosts have prepared their best national dishes and are really waiting for you to appreciate them. This means that if you have already arrived, you will have to give up your principles and stock up on pills to improve digestion (unfamiliar food is stress for the stomach).

8. Alcohol is another matter; you can safely give it up in any country. The easiest way to indicate a firm “no” is to arrive by car. You don’t have to lie, the reason is the most objective. In some countries, it's legal to drink a glass of wine, but if you do so, you run the risk of the event hosts politely pouring more and more. Maybe don't start?

And finally, my personal advice. Unless we are talking about a critical health situation, when you cannot eat for medical reasons, do not rush to deny yourself a perfectly cooked dinner. The warm atmosphere at the table brings people together and encourages friendly communication. Just a little tasty food in good company will not spoil your figure, but will significantly improve your mood. In addition, at a friendly table you can make new useful and pleasant acquaintances.