Based on my personal experience, Kashrut is one of the markers that truly sets the Jewish people apart from other peoples. While what you eat is, to a certain extent, an expression of one's individuality, it also expresses how one relates to one's community, friends and family. I cannot stress this point enough. The concept of sharing a meal with one's coworkers, relatives and outer community changes when a person begins to observe some of the Mitzvot of Kashrut.
When I began the conversion process, I ate only hekhshered products both inside and outside the home, but after seeing the negative effects my actions were having with my non-Jewish family members as well as the members of my Jewish community who don't keep Kosher, I made the decision to eat unhekhshered hot dairy, meat and fish (from Kosher animals, and with waiting times between them observed as best I can) outside the home while keeping a Kosher kitchen within my home.
To some, it may be hypocrisy and to others it may be sacrilege, but I've found that it allows me to simultaneously maintain a hold on tradition while having the flexibility to honor the people I care about most by partaking of their hospitality.
By DL, Conservative male