(And where the heck is everyone?)

For me, every day is a challenge. I've lost 40# in the 3 years since I started working here, but ever since the beginning of the year, the other girls want to have "snack day" every other day. Grrrr. Diane brought in lowfat sour cream for me, but they're not getting the point--who needs to snack on junk every day? I plan for my snacks--fruit & veg, TLC, etc. Today on the table we have

• a can of mixed nuts
• those disgusting little conversation hearts (no one has opened that bag yet)
• Nestle's Caramel Treasures
• potato chips
• tortilla chips
• guacamole flavored tortilla chips
• chex mix
• crackers
• port wine cheese
• Spoon Dip

Oh & the salsa that I brought? No one took it out today. I had a small serving of guac chips & that's it b/c I'm feeling lousy today (sore throat) but again, I ask you, do we really need snack day every day??? So I think I'm going to say something about it when the ringleaders get back from lunch. Maybe have the snacks laid out in a less conspicuous spot than kitty corner from my cubicle? Is anyone else going through this @ work?

Alright, enough of my whining. So should our next challenge be for St Patty's? Easter? Memorial Day?

Easter is in two months. I think that would be a great challenge.

Having all that stuff around every day must be stressful. I work at home and can control my environment and that's sometimes even hard.

Hope you can get through to them that having Snack Day every day is NOT a good idea.

I'm lucky (I guess ) -- there usually aren't a lot of snacks laying around here and, if there are snacks, they're not really close to my office space (which happens to be part of a walk-through/storage closet ). I agree with you, though. Snacks every day seems like too much. I would at least suggest putting the snacks somewhere else if they have to bring them.

As far as the next challenge, I vote for St. Patty's Day. I haven't participated in any of the challenges yet, but I'm thinking of joining the next one (whichever that may be ). It's difficult for me, because my weight loss is never really consistent. Some weeks I lose a lot when I haven't really done well and other weeks I don't lose anything when I've done everything right. Ah, well, such is life.

I have the same problem at work too. If someone gets snacks it is almost always donuts and also we have a lot of chocolates given to us (I am a RN and work on a hospital ward) by patients being discharged.

I think Easter would be a better time to set a goal as St. Patricks Day is less than 1 month away.

At the end of my 60 hr week at work people get tired and food starts coming out on counter tops. Its crazy like trying to eat to stay awake while driving. I mostly ignore it or include anything I eat and document it reminding myself I could really screw up dinner or have no dinner at all!

Miss Chris

I, myself, cannot get keep the junk out of my system lately. Probably the reason for the recent gain. It must stop soon!!! I am in for an Easter challenge. I want to be back to 202 by then. I will make that challenge. As of yesterday, I was at 208.5, so that is only 6.5 pounds to loose. I can do that.

an easter challenge would be good. but hey... easter is another holiday associated with FOOD. at least i don't get easter baskets anymore!

i like jelly beans. they're not THAT bad for you, right? :P

I'm up for either a St. Patrick's Day or Easter Challenge. But I do have a personal goal to reach 199 pounds (a 5.5 pound loss from last Wednesday) by St. Paddy's Day.

Easter is on the 20th of April this year, which is 9 weeks from this coming Sunday. If we go with the Easter Challenge, I think I would like to lose 12 pounds by Easter. That would put me at 192.5. Wow, I like the sound of that

SAPF - I really hope you can convince your coworkers not to have snack days every day. At the very least, maybe you can have them move the food as far away from your desk as humanly possible. Food days at my job used to be directly behind me. I could literally just roll my chair back & grab some food. I wouldn't even have to get up! When I started my eating program, I had them move the food down a few cubes. I found it much easier to resist when the food wasn't right there.

A new challenge sounds great! I like an easter challenge but am happy with either. Hmm snacks, well my dh is into those but I've gotten used to getting him cake and chocolate without indulging. Wish he ate healthier food as I worry about that sometimes but He loves his sweets and I can't see him changing at this stage in life.

Kitty

Well, most people voted for Easter, but I will leave it up to Sandi, Jennifer & BethAnne.

As for work, I took the snacks into the kitchen about 3 o'clock. Yesterday we had a potluck, see my journal for more details on that. So today we had snacks out again. I polished off the broccoli & cauliflower & some carrots.

SuchaPrettyFace, I am soooo there with you. I used to work in the KITCHEN of my office (literally, there was my desk and the kitchen). And these people have snacks out everyday!

There are a few things that I do.

-Put it away. After a couple of hours of being out, not only is it completely gross, it's also just a bad temptation. When no one is particularly eating it, wrap it. Put it out of sight, tie up the bags, close the lids and stick it back in the fridge. If someone asks, tell them you cleaned it up so it wouldn't spoil, attract ants, etc.

-Bring in healthy food. I think you're doing this already but bringing in a bag of apples, or grapes and arranging them in a pretty bowl has an almost guilty effect on other people. They will think twice about bringing something crappy into work.

-Brush your teeth after a snack. I know, so corny but it keeps me from reaching for anything else for awhile.

I talked to my friend about this a little bit. I think we cracked the code!

At one of her former jobs, there was a woman there who was a big gal, then one day she started losing weight, a lot of weight--and the potlucks got more & more frequent. My friend told one of the women organizing the potluck that she would bring fat free ranch dip to go w/the veggie tray she was bringing, and was told, "Oh, no, MaryEllen LOVES ranch dip. Don't bring fat free." MaryEllen was the dieter.

She said it was definitely something to remember when dealing w/my sitch here. Soooooo...

Since I am the one in charge of the potlucks, I printed out the sign up sheet & I put my name up there first, I have signed up to bring a salad & a fruit tray. That way I can have at least 2 things that will be there.

Thanks to everyone for your advice. Jess, I have a toothbrush in my desk!