So, it's holiday party season-- seems like every day another party, another treat box in the break room, another offer to eat treats and sweets.
This is my second on-plan Christmas so it's starting to be second nature to me, but I CANNOT believe how many treats I've passed up in the last ten days.
Sometimes I get sick of it, but I still say no 100% of the time.
Do you find that as you pass up the typical holiday treats that surround us at this time of year, you go after atypical treats for yourself instead? I know I'm not going to be eating the proffered treats, so I make an effort to buy/do other treat-like things: got some gorgeous persimmons and pomegranates for snacks I don't usually get to have, spent an extra twenty minutes lounging in the tub while reading, bought a new lipstick while I was out shopping.
It helps me think of myself not as "treatless," but as "differently treated."
I am struggling big time. I am still on restriction from working out after surgery and its way flipping cold to walk outside. I am doing plenty of walking by means of shopping but the nibbles of sweets and fatty appetizers are making me crazy. When I can work out I feel less likely to indulge on this junk. I have till Jan 1 of restriction and I am so ready to get back on course! But I need to stand strong this last week of holiday food. Man the chocolate sweets call to me. But I did give away a half of pan of fudge tonight because I kept finding myself eating it.
Thanks for the encouragement tomorrow I will go to the store for some yummy fruit to help me bypass the goodies.
I'm struggling but still doing well - it's a mental struggle, but I manage to keep on plan or within maintenance range most days of the week. This year has a lot more parties and junk than last, so I am just taking it one day at a time and starting back on plan every morning.
But I wish these temptations would go away. It is mentally exhausting.
I have a fairly quiet life, so not overfaced by parties. Got one for the Lads' Brigade next week but I know the leaders well, and have asked them not to be offended if I eat very little. And there have been a couple of non-essential, work-related affairs that I've just sent in apologies for.
I'm shopping for a family Christmas, food-wise, and it's getting harder. I know it's not very friendly to miss food-parties but I know that one taste and I'm lost. Next year, When I'm Maintaining, I'll review. (If I get asked again, of course!)
Ironically I think I'm lucky in this regard as there are ALWAYS treats in the office mail room. Seriously, every single day there is a box of donuts, cookies, or some sort of bakery. One of the office ladies brings something in every single morning. Besides that, there are often bagels left over from morning catered meetings or other random foods.
Exercising the temptation muscle makes it easier to pass up. Luckily, I don't have people affirmatively ask me if I want what is there (so there is no awkward "no thanks"), but off plan foods are freely available all the time. I'm so used to it now it doesn't phase me. I actually laugh sometimes at the amount of garbage food that is given out. It is no wonder that almost everyone at the office is overweight or obese.
I had a Pre School Christmas pitch-in and man can those moms bake! I was able to hang though. Im stoked! I have a goal for the end of the year and I think I want the gial more than I want the treats. I just have to keep reminding myself.
I'm hanging in. I don't celebrate Christmas so I don't have my own or family events to get through - just office and social stuff.
Yesterday it began at earnest at work. Another group on my floor had their big party and left all the snacks and goodies in the kitchen for me to find around 6:00 when I was fixing myself a snack (plain popcorn) to get me through a late last hour of work. It was quite a spread - some very nice looking cookies and some of those wonderful pralined pecans from Trader Joe's that I may or may not have eaten myself silly on once or twice in the past.
I just put the blinders on, I didn't even spend time looking at the goodies. Got my popcorn, got my water, headed back to the office. I suspect there will be more evenings just like that over the next week.
Tonight I'm off to a Christmas party at my partner's boss's house - I am going to eat dinner before we go. My plan is, once again, not to look at the treats. It's unlikely that there will be anything there that will be so special that I can't just pass on it entirely.
It helps that Christmas is really nothing special for me, so I don't have any emotional attachments to any sorts of goodies that only come out this time of year.
Thankfully, we don't have a lot of parties to attend. One for his work, already over, ours at work is a 15 minute whoopie during coffee break, the boss's wife will bring in hot chocolate and maybe some cookies, we visit, trade gifts and go back to work. We don't bring in treats for the office, a few clients drop off boxes of chocolates, but since I don't like many of those and you can't see inside them, they're easy to ignore.
I do have 3 family get togethers to do but those won't be a big deal. As 2 of those involve family that are dieting as well.
We had our office party yesterday and it was fine. I just ate from the first half of the table (turkey, ham, green beans, salad, veggies, cheese, olives) and ignored the second half with the deserts. I focused on mingling and networking, and that worked out very well.
I'm doing reasonably well with limiting treats, but doing badly at getting workouts in. Seems like I've got time conflicts all over the place this time of year and once habit of daily workout broken, I'm having to do a sales job with myself on the other days to get the workouts in.
Just moved into a new workplace building with others, that is half full... people don't know each other too well, so that holiday treat "vibe" has not settled in.
I have worked at places in the past like Matt_H describes. It's constantly someone's birthday, or there are extra Girl Scout cookies, or someone has leftovers to bring in.
If you're a guy in a break room with several women, the biggest pieces of cake (or the corners with the most icing) get shoved your direction. It becomes a reoccuring ritual among those "on a diet" (nearly everyone) to try and get the smallest pieces.
You can avoid the break room, but then "cake pushers" will still sneak it onto your desk while away.
Who is hanging in there?
It's constantly someone's birthday, or there are extra Girl Scout cookies, or someone has leftovers to bring in. 
