what should i do?

here's another challenge - what do i do when i get invited to a party at someone's house?

i've been to a couple of gatherings where the host prepares a lot of food and none of them are on my acceptable foods list. you know the usual fare - pasta, rice, sweets, breaded everything.

i don't want to insult the host by not eating, and i'm not sure if it's even good etiquette to bring my own food to a party.

yesterday my sister-in-law and her husband came by and brought lunch. they told us not to prepare anything. i made a salad nonetheless, which was a really good thing because she brought, --- you guessed it --- pasta, rice, shrimps cooked in a sweet sauce, (very little) crackling pork belly, and tiramisu. i mean seriously, what was i supposed to eat? if not for the cobb salad i made, i would have been breaking my diet again.

anyway, i've received a few invitations for the coming weeks, and i expect the food choices will be no different. some of them know i'm on a diet, but fail to understand that i cannot eat starch and sugar EVER. (my SIL even asked me yesterday if pasta and rice were still off my list. hmmm. how to explain? how to explain? )

so should i just decline the invites? or show up and bring my own food?