I swear, the 10-person office I work in is just the headquarters of diet sabotage -- or for anyone trying to eat healthy. Of the ten people, half of us are trying to eat healthier and lose weight, with varying degrees of effort. But man. The stuff we have! Just today, in the office we have:
1. A dozen fresh glazed donuts from Krispy Kreme. (Only 8 people will be in the office today, incidentally.)
2. A bowl stuffed full of Kit Kats, Reese's Pieces, Reese's Cups, and Twix Bars.
3. A 12-pack of cookies from the grocery store bakery.
4. A huge 5-pound bag of trail mix.
5. A drawer full of snack-sized Oreos and Famous Amos cookies.
It's just crazy. I swear, people just bring in junk food when they feel like they're eating poorly themselves. Sooooo frustrating. After succumbing to much candy this week, I'm trying to avoid sweets today. It's hard, with warm donuts just beckoning from the kitchen area. Grrrr.
I hear you!! There are only 2 people in the office today and both of us are dieting. I have 2 male students today and he brought in (not realizing it was a light office day) an entire box of the most decadent pasteries I have ever seen. It's killing me. Usually my office is a pretty safe place!!!
You can be strong - I know it's hard but if the urge gets too overwhelming, leave the area for a while - make up something if you have to and walk a few minutes to get away from it. I just got back from walking 2 miles on my lunch hour and I find when I do that, crazings vanish (at least for a little while). Somes days I am much stronger than others, but get your self talk going, even if you have to say it out loud to hear yourself.
It sounds like it is time for a new company policy - no more using the office as an "it's OK if I get it for the office" excuse or as an unwanted food dumping ground! It sounds like there are enough of you trying to eat better than you could get everyone to come to an agreement.
By now they aren't hot anyway so why bother with the Krispy Kremes?
You can do it! Just keep thinking, "It's not worth it, it's not worth it!" That helps me! Those Kit Kats aren't worth my not wearing a bathing suit on my graduation cruise!!
The mantra that works the best for me (in fact I have it taped to my computer monitor) is "Don't give up what you want most for what you want at the moment". When all else fails it is simply "don't give up, don't give up DON'T give up!"
I can relate! I first began to really gain weight the summer I worked at ODOT on a long-term temp position. It was Junk Food City, and I sat in a cubicle all day long, snacking. The change from being a college student to having a desk job next to a constant supply of doughnuts was pretty drastic.
Lucky for me, at my new job we only have that "special" think on Fridays called "breakfast club." BUT...the teachers I work for plan treats as lessons a lot. Today we had pizza for a field trip. Cafeteria stuff I can usually shy away from by not bringing money
I try to allow myself a small amount of the treat (because the kids expect it) and I allow myself a serving of whatever they are serving Friday. I know ahead of time though and skip my normal breakfast.
Now, instead of snack time, I bring my own. My suggestion to you is to have a variety of snacks so you don't feel stuck to the "one" you brought. Also keep a variety and change it up so it doesn't become boring. Find a treat that isn't your normal carrots and yogurt but more of a luxury but STILL better than that donut. Keep very little around each week. And don't bring more until next week. Reach for that luxury when you just can't stand not having the other things. I dole out 20 Red Hots OR Sugar Free Creamsavers hard candy (I like chocolate and carmel creme) when I feel the urge for candy.I tried to buy sugar free chocolate, but the nutrition panel isn't all that hot and I didn't like the taste.
It is one thing I like about low carb. When I had my last job (prior to this one) there were several of us girls doing Atkins. But work had a cake about once a month for the "birthday" people or for some special meeting they were celebrating other successes.
I just told myself it wasn't for me. Knowing that kind of sugar was TOTALLY off limits, for me it wasn't that much of a temptation. It was much harder to resist when the foods were something I could have limited amounts of. Knowing how high in sugar and fat those sheet cakes were, and knowing how that sort of an inundation of sugar always made me feel after being low carb for any length of time, made it just easy enough to resist. Of course sitting in a meeting with other people and them all scarfing down cake never made it completely easy.
What made it worse was when the other Atkins people caved in and ate.
I found it easier to be strong when they were as well. I guess that's why we should be doing our Way of eating for ourselves alone, and not in any group way.
When I was a grad student I had very little money, there were lots of things I wanted, but just couldn't afford. To make things easier for myself, I had to really just separate myself from the desires -- I knew I couldn't have it anyway, why want it? A mall was just a big place full of stuff I couldn't have, and I found it easier to go through it thinking of it as a bunch of pretty stuff that was for other people. Sometimes, I could buy something, but I had to be very careful.
I think that mindset has been helpful for this new lifestyle. When there are yummy foods about, I usually just try to think of them as something I can't afford.
Usually this works well, and I find I have few real cravings for the food (just like when I couldn't buy anything) -- though it is not a perfect system by any means. And sometimes I do decide to "spend" a lilttle. The biggest difference is that this has become a conscious decision. I rarely really thought before about my food "spending" and the consequences of eating things I couldn't really afford.
It is hard having the temptations around, but in the end it's no different than the choices we face away from the office while driving home, browsing our cabinets, going to restaurants, or spending time with non-dieting friends. It's sucks sometimes, but there it is.
Office of Sabotage!
It sounds like there are enough of you trying to eat better than you could get everyone to come to an agreement.
