so it was one of my best friend's birthday celebration this weekend.

while i was relatively restrained compared to everyone else at the party, take a gander at the goods. between these fine culinary options and the pitchers of beer i'm pretty sure i was well over calorie limit for the day just at the bowling alley...before we went out drinking for real.
i weighed myself this morning and discovered i've gained 3 lbs since friday morning. coupled with being on seriously restricted workouts on physical therapist's orders, i'm not gonna act all surprised here, but daaaayumnnn!

really need to start channeling nancy reagan and just say no. to it all.
and stop letting my tall skinny friends order make food decisions for me.

sigh

Geez, not a single vegetable in sight!

Not sure there is a great answer--at least for me. I tried eating throughout the day before a party so I won't be hungry, but inevitably I end up eating and drinking more than I should anyway. So, I now go with the strategy of not eating a lot throughout the day, eating and drinking the things I want at the party, and then eating a little less the following day.

Since I don't go to a lot of parties, doing this once or twice a month doesn't really seem to hold me back too much.

I guess I can be glad my husband isn't much for parties and socializing after reading this. We almost NEVER get out (and I'm a total extrovert so it sucks for me). I think it's too much to expect yourself not to eat at a party. Better to plan for it then stick to the plan.

I'd be the really annoying person who said: "Sorry, I really can't eat anything here." If forced, I'd get one of those hamburger patties out of its bun & break it up in small forkfulls, then leave most of it on the plate. I'd be munching on food from my purse out where the smokers stand or something. This sounds pathetic, but it's saved me a lot of self-reproaches on the day after.

i think the problem is more me having very little willpower than the social shame of not eating. and then when i have my friends telling me ohhh it's ok, it's just one day, come on, i usually give in since that's really the answer i want anyway. even though i know full well that it's not that simple for me. for them, yes. they're all between 5 and 7 inches taller than i am and weigh between 5 and 20 lbs less than i do.
i need some tricks or strategies to teach myself or force myself to hold back in these types of situations.

LOL. believe it or not, that's a zucchini stick my friend in the green is steering towards her mouth.

hmm... i think my very best strategy would have been to skip the bowling alley. i LOVE partying and would HATE missing it but if that's what it took to avoiding downing all that food- i would. then you could just meet up with them at the bar to drink and dance the night away.

Here is one strategy I use. I allocate to myself some amount of food and alcohol I'm going to have at a party. For example, I may set 2 plates and 5 drinks as my limit. BTW, like you I have little self control so I try to set a high enough level and expect that I will go over my limit that day.

Then when I am at the party I make myself a plate and eat off of that instead of grazing. Also knowing how many drinks I'm going to have helps me pace the drinks so I don't over do it.

Anyway, to be honest this isn't always successful since I sometimes eat and drink way over my allocation anyway.

The thing that I noticed about that table full of food was how beige it all was. A major component of my plan (when I mindfully stick to it!) is to be as colorful as possible. When I get to celebrations and sports events, I do my darndest to avoid the beige stuff. I won't say it works every time, and boy, you sure didn't have good options there ... but it's been a decent, workable rule. I've also had some success with having a drink in one hand and a glass of water in the other - with both hands full, I'm a lot less likely to pick something up.

I usually don't drink alcohol and instead opt for sparking water or soda water with lime or diet soda. It keeps my eating under control. If I get tipsy, I'll be less inclined to watch what I eat.

I like it when I am expected to bring stuff. so I bring a veggie platter and maybe pretzels. Having catered food is bad, cause they rarely have a good variety of food, especially good stuff.
So my usually survival tips don't work in this situation. but I would Bowl alot, stay away from the food table, have a glass of water (yes even expensive bottled water from the bar....) between drinks etc.
At house parties I often start a game of cards ( love euchre and hearts) or if there will be other musicians, I bring my fiddle and play as much as possible. I also bring my knitting if I can sit and talk with people and knit to keep my hands busy. If there is dancing, I dance as much as possible, drink water.

I try to eat before I go to the party and once there I try to drink alot of water. If I drink it triggers me to eat so I try to stay away from it. I also try to sit as far away from the food as possible-if I can't reach it, it won't go into my mouth.

I stay as far away from the dessert table as possible and try to keep sipping on a non-caloric drink for distraction.

hahaa love the pics!

for me - at a party like that i cant touch a morsel or i will eat more than my share. i have to seriously abstain - either plan ahead (eat before, bring a pack of nuts, etc) or just go hungry in order to avoid totally destroying the work ive done all week... cause overeating+drinking=soooobadformyplan

id say only about 15% of the time am i able to do that (mostly by making a serious decision before going), but its the only way ive ever made it through! UGH.

Boy - this is a HUGE issue for me. My social calendar lately is one I wish I did not have - however since so much of it is related to work I can't really skip out. And if I have one...it usually turns into many. I have a self control issue right now. Other than not going out - I have NO IDEA what to do