I just got The Kind Diet from the library.  I love to cook and I am really inspired by this book to try the diet/ becoming vegan.  Problem?  The same weekend I was a guest at two different dinners, where, I would probably starve if I couldn't eat meat and cheese.  It's not always practical to bring your own food when you are a guest and I also recently lost my job and I find having to supply all of my food all of the time would get costly.  What are tips for when you are a guest?  I am not interested in preaching to my friends and family about my potential lifestyle choices...I just want to be healthier. 

You might try starting out with giving up meat and when you get comfortable with that give up the dairy...

I usually eat a small meal at home before I go, and then you can nibble on bread or veggies at the party.

I do the same thing Cheryl does....I eat before I go.  If it is a sit down affair, I go late, after dinner, for coffee.....

When I go out or am a guest I eat vegan if possible and vegetarean if not. I will not eat lots of dairy but if some foods have a bit cheese or yohurt or so I dont mind. But I dont eatmeat or fish.
Most of the times it is possible to simple shift the unwanted dairy out.

I have been vegetarain for lots of years so all my friends and family know this, and eating out it is always possible to get vegetarain meals.

Just how I deal with it for the moment. There might come a time that I am more strict on totally vegan all of the tiem, but now, the few times I eat at friends or out I am giving meself this space.
By the way the most of the times it is totally possible to eat vegan though :)

Talk about your health choices... this is perfectly doable without getting preachy ;)
I do and I see people start to think about dairy and their foodchoices!

Love, Axa

I always bring 2 dishes...one rice and one whatever I like on top (veggies or beans).  Family and friends are now looking forward to whatever it is I am bringing.

If they insist that I not bring anything then I will eat before hand...and if there is nothing for me to eat then I will eat nothing...they get the jist pretty quick that it's a good idea that I bring something.

Were you a "guest" or just a "visitor"?   If you were truly a guest, they should have catered towards your desire, irregardless of their ethical stance... right?   ~  right

I do not have much money presently, so i have learned to eat affordably. .  I eat alot of beans and ....well that is my main diet.  So I have  bean sandwiches, with mustard or veganaise and pickles topped over ... then i have some type of chips or something like that and then vegetables... I eat that for like 70% of my meals... it gets me by and it is affordable.(and tastes good too)

Before i woke to be on the vegan road i never would have thought that eating bean sandwiches would be so TASTEY.  (kidney, pinto, black, northerm, garbonzo etc ... i eat a whole varietyd

hopefully those "hosts"  will realize the truth to be ethical

If you are an invited guest, maybe let the host know you are a vegetarian and also allergic to dairy (alot of people have a negative overreaction to the term "vegan" for some reason) and acknowledge this is a big limitation and offer to bring something.

frankly, that is why i started eating chicken again.  although now the world we live in seems to have a lot more options than even 1- years ago when i was a veggie.  it was like, all i could eat was salad (boring unfulfilling salad) or pasta.  people would just always make spaghetti when i came over.  i understand its hard, but there are so many things out there.  and since i started eating chicken, even that is hard for my in laws.  they are swiss and classic american...so basically its alot of cow pig and cheese.  i won't even eat that.  and a DINNER of cheese and potatoes makes me sick and hungry at the same time!

so, even with that its hard for me to go over there because there's not alot i can eat.  for holidays, i always brought my own chicken or turkey or dish, and they would always go first!  sometimes i didn't even get any!  that really pissed me off!

For me and that situation, I would just have my fiance remind his mom that i don't eat this or that, she got really mad last year when i wouldn't eat her green beans - he was like, you made it with bacon!  she forgot i didn't eat meat. lol (its only been 5 years).

anyway, i just kindly remind people what i don't eat, and if its a problem then i eat before or bring my own.  you don't have to make a big deal...and don't make your hostess feel like she needs to bend over backward to make you something...just ask her ahead of time and see what she says - she may want to try something new and it won't be a big deal anyway.