Theola,

>Betty Ann:
> >I am still
> > struggling with the transition to paleo...it's my umpteenth try...since
> > I am the only one in the family wanting to do this.
>
>Don't mean to sound like I'm coming on strong or coming down hard on you
>here but--uh, how do I say this nicely?--others are not the cause of  your
>personal failures to go/stay paleo.   The choices they make don't have to
>affect the choices you make.  I'm the only one in my family, too.  My
>husband (and grown kids) stock the larder with all manner of junk food.
>They have a right to eat as they wish, just as I do.   My personal boundary
>is that their food is theirs, and mine is everybody's.

I am also in the situation you describe, and I agree with your sentiment at
the end of the paragraph above, but I take issue with that expressed at the
beginning. The statement 'others are not the cause of  your personal
failures to go/stay paleo' is very harsh, in my opinion.

There _are_ significant emotional/psychological issues associated with
being 'the odd one out', and I feel that this aspect of a person's choice
to eat paleo needs just as much support as the actual food choices that are
made.

I find that there is a constant tug-of-war between my desire to eat
according to my body's needs (as I perceive them) and my desire to fit in
socially with those around me. This leads to compromises, which I am
sometimes willing to make for the sake of harmonious family and social
relationships.

It's not easy to get the balance right. Shared meals are very much a part
of what holds a family together. There is a limit to the extent to which
every meal can be either individualised so that everyone gets something
slightly different according to his or her desires, or brought down to the
lowest common denominator so that what is available is liked by everyone.
The former can require a lot of extra work, and the latter may be wellnigh
impossible. Suggesting that it's simply a matter of 'I eat what I want and
they can eat what they want' is missing an important part of the equation,
in my opinion.

What keeps me (more or less) on the paleo path is that I feel healthy when
I eat paleo and get unpleasant symptoms when I don't (e.g., sore throat,
knee pain, abdominal discomfort). These are sufficient to prevent me from
straying too far, so that I think it's mostly worth the extra effort that's
required.

But it's certainly not 'a piece of cake' ...

Regards,
Barbara