by Nancy » June 16th, 2006, 10:07 pm
Ark ~
Congrats on getting this far in the job process! I hope everything turns out great for you.
You have an interesting situation to say the least. With five days until the interview and the food experience, it really is not much time to gradually introduce food to prepare you for a 5 & 1 since you've been on the 6/0 for four months. If the idea of switching to the 5 & 1 appeals to you, then start now to avoid a blowout later.
You may not be ready for food yet. Four months into my program, I was not ready to transition to the 5 & 1.
If I were wearing your slippers, I probably would not care to go into any detail about my personal life. Like Manly indicates, I also would not want to give the appearance of weirdness to my prospective supervisors but I would not want to abandon my plan for one day either.
Something to consider would be to have tea and water at each 'meal time.' Most likely, the interview/meal will not last more than three hours so I would have my Medipacket during the 'down' time and most likely not in plain view of the interviewers. Yup, I've had many a RTD in the stall in the BR!
It might be easiest to pass by the breakfast meal by saying, "I usually don't eat much breakfast, I will just have coffee now. Thank you."
You could also consider having just plain oatmeal for breakfast, put no milk on it, and just eat a small portion of it. Push it around in the bowl. Mostly drink water and tea or coffee. I was at a business conference last month and I knew I would be wined and dined at dinnertime so I ordered a pot of tea and a serving of oatmeal for breakfast. I used Splenda and just did not bother to pour any of the half-and-half on my oatmeal. I ate about 1/3 of the serving and drank two pots of tea. No one noticed that I didn't put the half-and-half on my oatmeal.
If there is an entirely new interview crew at lunch, you could say, you aren't used to eating breakfast and since you had a breakfast meeting earlier, you'd prefer just a pot of tea for now. You will think of something, I'm sure.
Several times, I was in public interactions where I did not wish to go into any detail about my program and just looked the person/people in the eye and said, "No, thank you, I'm fasting today." or "I'm on a medical program right now and it is necessary that I pass this time. I will have a pot of herbal tea, that’s all. Thank you." I did not get any quizzing from the group.
At other times, I got the business - "Huh? Why aren't you eating? Don't you feel well?"
When I said, "No thank you, just not hungry right now. Maybe later." the ‘maybe later’ phrase took the pressure off and as the time went by, they got wrapped up in the conversation and since my hands were busy with the glass of water and the cup of tea, they saw me putting things to my mouth and they forgot I wasn't eating.
Sometimes you can read the crowd and decide if you want to go into details or not with them. Somehow, you have managed for 4 months to avoid grub, I'm sure you will be able to follow your heart here and make a great decision. They are health care providers; hopefully they are compassionate, empathetic individuals and will understand that sometimes people just do not want to eat.
Best wishes to you for successful interviews - we have all the confidence in the world in your abilities - you are an incredible person!
Nothing tastes as good as thin feels...
The Formerly FLABulous and Now very Fabulous
Nancy Pettit
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