Sometimes I come across food at a party or large gathering that I REALLY want to try and it looks incredibly unhealthy. Let's take a cheese danish for example. I will usually take one in front of everyone to make it look like I'm participating. I cut a small piece of it onto my plate, and then discretely and immediately throw the rest of it out to remove the temptation. I feel bad because I was raised to not waste food, but if I keep the whole thing on my plate, the temptation is hard to resist and it will go straight to my waist instead. This way I get to indulge in the "bad" food a little. If this cheese danish cost me $2.95, then it is obviously costing me money to throw it out. I try to look at it as $2.95 is what the cost of an appropriate serving size for me is, not the actual cost of the entire calorie-laden danish. Besides when you look in the trash can, you'll see plenty of other people throwing away half eaten sandwiches and other things so it's not just you.
Of course if you are going to this Renfest alone or with just very few close friends who know and understand your new lifestyle, then I think it will be easier to completely pass up on temptation by thinking about your scale, like you said. If your friends buy some tempting items, you could ask to try just 1 bite of it to satisfy the craving a little, I've done this before too.
If I'm at home, I do it a little differently. I will cut a small piece of that same cheese danish onto my plate and put the rest of it in the fridge to eat another day. This way I'm not being wasteful but it's usually not possible to do this at a party so in the trash it goes.
Edit: I agree with what Gen n Healthy said too. My family used to do this all the time at fairs. The four of us would all split one funnel cake, cotton candy, pretzel, packet of fries, you name it. My brother or I got to pick the one food thing we would all be sharing on that trip to the fair. We all got to indulge a little and no one was eating in excess. We still do this when I'm with them, but when I go to things by myself with people who don't understand eating healthy or sharing, it's harder to do.
Last edited by orthodiva; 04-19-2008 at 12:34 PM.
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