[BerkshireGrl]

The past couple weeks (this is my week #2), I have been very gung ho about being low-carb. I had some startling cholesterol test results, and have seen some honest, no-holds-barred fat photos of me on my recent vacation.

I am DETERMINED to make this work, and I am not faltering.

Enter the feeders and the saboteurs. They seem friendly. Some are even my close friends.

SITUATION #1:

Male coworker: I brought chocolate in today. A whole bag of Hershey's kisses with almond. Won't you take some? I had to bring some in after you brought back chocolate from your vacation to share...

Me: No, thank you.

C: Awww, come on.

Me: No, I can't, thank you though. I really have to stick to my low-carb diet. I had some bad test results.

C: *sighs with a smile* Ok, fine!

SITUATION #2:

Same coworker, a couple days later: Would you like this [giant] bag of tortilla chips that came with my lunch? And salsa? I hate salsa.

Me: No, thanks.

C: But... Ok, maybe somebody else will eat it. (He pawns it off on the women in the back of the room, who put it far away on a shelf so it won't tempt them either. Finally, after he goes, they throw it away.)

SITUATION #3:

Same coworker, today: Would you like a peanut butter cookie? I made them myself. They're really good.

Me: No, thank you. They're like crack to me.

C: They have a lot of sugar on top. They're delicious.

Me: I bet.

He rolls his chair over to me and makes the cookie do a little song & dance on my desk about how delicious it is.

I jokingly yell at him to take it away and he does, while saying "Wow, your willpower is quite impressive. An example to us all."

So... This guy is not quite the jerk he comes off as, he can be funny and charming, but WHAT THE BEEP!?

DUDE.

Then my best friend asks me if I want to split a giant brownie with her at lunch. No. She accepts this with an exaggerated frown, crestfallen that 1/2 of her guilt cannot be removed through pawning off a mongo brownie half on me.

Do you all encounter this like every 2 days, or am I in some weird "Twilight Zone" episode?

[Arctic Mama]

I've been on both sides of that - I LOVE cooking for people and seeing their reactions to delicious food, it is the same thrill I get when giving a gift to someone - their reaction is what warms my heart and makes me happy.

And yet I am also in the uncomfortable position of, like you, having a diet that doesn't conform to the standard American diet or even many so-called healthy ways of eating. I am low carb and low inflammatory with my food choices, which means no grains, sugar, legumes, rancid fats, and a fair but of dairy and yeast are personal triggers for me, too. So while I love cooking delicious food for people and seeing their reaction, these days I cannot eat it myself and have had to turn people down who insist on sharing their delicacies with me.

It is tough, because I love them and want to make them happy, but it is the same to me as having a true food allergy, these days. These foods make me sick and worn out, they throw my body out of whack and make my immune system go haywire. And yes, they make me fat. While I can have them on rare occasion, it isn't as often as the food pushers want me to eat them.

I do what you did - just politely decline as often as necessary and refuse to eat it. I let them know the food looks and smells delicious but I can't have it, and then change the subject.

But I confess I did NOT know the other side of this matter before a fair ways into my weight loss journey when I discovered I really needed to eliminate certain foods permanently (with the rarest of exceptions) if I wanted to lose weight and be in good health. I didn't get that I may have been putting someone in an uncomfortable situation with my requests they try my food or being put out when they declined. And I think most food pushers are like me - it honestly doesn't cross their mind that they are being at best clueless and inconsiderate, or at worst cruel to the person who wants to partake but simply can't.

I had to walk a mile in those shoes before I could understand the fit, so to speak.

[Kayriel]

I don't really like the word saboteurs as it seems to imply they're purposely trying to undermine your efforts. No one can undermine your efforts but yourself.

However, the word feeders is a good one. In Asian cultures, it's polite for a host to give/offer food at the dinner table (particularly since it's family style eating with a lot of dishes in the middle). This makes it a bit difficult at family dinners with my in-laws where they keep trying to put more food on my plate that either I can't eat as it has carbs or because I've simply eaten enough. The best method is to politely say that I'm full and couldn't eat anymore or to say that I'm concentrating on another dish (usually steamed/stir fried veggies).

Luckily I spend most of my time at home or eat solo/with my husband so I don't have to worry about people constantly offering me food!

[krampus]

Hi from just the other side of the Berkshires!

My mom sometimes physically pushes her dessert at me. Other people leave me alone. I do work in nonprofit where people are super sensitive to dietary restrictions, which helps.

Today's struggle: Pretending I didn't see a platter of cookies in the break room.

[3FCer344892]

My parents are a bit like this ... especially when there are leftovers when we've eaten dinner over there. They always try to pawn them off on us. My mom will say, "It's just going to get thrown out to the dogs." or my Dad will once again tell us how he doesn't want to eat on leftovers through the week. (He hates leftovers). If my mom's just having lunch and I don't want anything to eat, she'll try to halve her food with me, or try to get me to make myself something. lol. It never fails.