Bad business trip: bet you haven’t been here

#1

Well the trip to China was a tough one with me being the guest at your standard massive Chinese banquets with a cultural model that requires massive eating while building those business ties. But now I am heading to Papua New Guinea. Yep. That’s the place I am guessing few of you have visited. Like most countries with subsistence economic histories they aren’t exactly keto friendly. Here is the Wikipedia take on the cuisine. Guess I will spend my spare time on the treadmill.

Almost every meal consists of rice and another starch, while meat proteins are only occasional.
Breakfast is viewed as the least important meal of the day; citizens of Papua New Guinea at this time may drink coffee, tea, or Milo accompanied with a simple and small breakfast that may consist of pastries and fruits, or even fish and rice. Lunch is traditionally the largest meal of the day. It is known to be a big feast at home with the family, which can last for a few hours. Lunch may consist of vegetables, fruits, soups, rice, and other items. Desserts may also follow this meal.

I have business lunches and dinners every day. What I do for the company.

#2

Ask for hazard pay. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Seriously, though. Maybe just try sorting through and eating the proteins and green veggies. I’ve had to learn the art of pushing stuff around on my plate, and nibbling here and there, to make it look like I dove in and ate a bunch. So, maybe go to a restaurant, order something that might mimic what you’d be eating there, and practice sorting, nibbling and pushing the food around.

I’d still ask for hazard pay, though.

(Katie) #3

Back when I worked in Technical sales support I was often called upon to go to lunch/dinner with prospective customers. So much so that I I I used to tell people I go to lunch for a living

I learn the art of moving food around and nibbling here and there…never actually eating much if anything. Put your hand on your belly and claim full. Pick out the fish, etc…but move the rest around so it doesn’t look like you are none of the rest.

As for a drinks…always get it in a can, bottle, or dark glass. No one can tell you didn’t drink it.

(Bob M) #4

We have a friend who travels to China all the time. He says they also drink a lot. He ends up drinking and eating a ton while over there, but he also bikes a lot and is thin.

Some theorize that white rice isn’t that bad, but I find it makes my blood sugar go through the roof. I tried heating and cooling then reheating rice (creates more resistant starch) and still got high blood sugar levels.

If they have any vinegar, chug some of that. It can help lessen the spikes. Eat meat first, too, then rice, if you can. Or meat, then veggies, then starch. That can help.

If you have to eat starch, potatoes can be OK, if they offer them.

Soups are questionable. If they are “homemade”, they can be good. If they are made with thickeners, that can be tough. I had some soup from an Asian place in the US, and it caused high blood sugar from whatever they used as a thickener.

Good luck!

(Full Metal KETO AF) #5

I have been to Irian Jaya, the eastern side of the island (Indonesia). I don’t really have any comment about keto food there (maybe you will try “long pig”)! I plan on traveling in Indonesia and SE Asia next July-September and will probably resort to eating carbs while I am there. I’m hoping to have better metabolic flexibility by then but it’s hard to eat keto traveling in that part of the world. I will try limiting carbs but staying full on keto might not be possible. At least in the tropics my appetite is suppressed by the heat and being more active in the tropics seems to burn more calories. When I was younger I spent a year in Asia and went from 200 lbs to 165 eating a carb heavy diet with little meat much of the year, especially in India. I was 26 though not 61. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #6

I would care where I went. I’d eat meat, and only green veggies. If I could get ahold of cream cheese, heavy cream, or butter, I’d be even better :slightly_smiling_face:

Otherwise, I’d look at it as kind of a semi fasting trip. Maybe I’d lose that last few lbs I’d like to :slightly_smiling_face:

#7

Completely unrealistic if you understand local cultures. Maybe that would work fine if you are a tourist. Not many tourists in PNG

(Katie) #8

Fish…

If you are with a customer you do not get to pick the place. I’ve been some seriously bad greasy spoon places In wouldn’t feed their food to my dog. There is an art to looking like you ate when you didn’t

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #9

I don’t know about PNG, but in China it is totally okay to not eat the rice. A lot of local people don’t eat rice in restaurants because it seems like a waste of money since it is practically free at home. The sauces are extremely iffy, but I just eat the meat and veg. Also, I’m a girl so it’s okay if I don’t drink. But I’ve heard even for guys there is less pressure than there used to be.

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #10

I’d just tell them, “Dr’s orders”… I’ve developed a food allergy in which carbohydrates could kill me. :wink:

(Trish) #11

What Chris said. I’d at least go with something like having celiac so that would take care of breads and pastas and pastries. Maybe you’ll have to eat the rice. Or just say you have multiple food allergies and have to be very careful. They must understand allergies.

#12

You know what is disturbing to me about this post? How many people seem comfortable with lying about having a disease, Doctor’s orders, allergies, or other prevarications.

Being keto isn’t worth being dishonest

#13

Well asking for hazard pay for going to Papua New Guinea isn’t unreasonable but trust me, excessive carbs isn’t on the long list of reasons why.

(Port Moresby— worlds most dangerous city)

#14

Well I thought I would report on the conclusion of this trip. I had been concerned about PNG because many friends had told me about the food and the cultural implications. But at our first chat, one of my colleagues who hadn’t seen me remarked about how much weight I had lost. Well our hosts all could stand to lose a few pounds and one of them had even had gastric bypass surgery. When I told them I had lost 50 pounds in less than 5 months they wer super curious and lead to a good discussion about low carb, keto, etc. They all agreed to make sure we would eat at places where some low carb options were available and in fact the dinner would have made any of you happy!

I can’t say that my Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Singapore and Melbourne visits were quite as successful. That flaws there were my longstanding addiction to baked pork buns, xiao long bao and lakhsa. Even after a series of self-inflicted way too high carb days I came home a pound lighter than when I left. So this was a good lesson for me!