Hello there,

I'm going to a bday party/family reunion this afternoon (starts at 4 p.m.). I'm also going to a wedding on August 10 and this has been a very motivating factor on this weight loss journey, so I'd like to continue the momentum.

When I visualize myself going to this party, I see myself eating a little bit of salad and maybe some steak but I'm worried that once there, I'll eat a lot more than what I plan. How do I make sure that I stay on track? I will definitely avoid alcohol because that just adds more calories and increases my chances of having something I"ll regret. I might have a few (maximum 3) bites of desert since maybe it's unrealistic to avoid it? I'm addicted to sugar though so I will really try to not even have a bite.

To mitigate the damages, I'm hoping to save my calories by eating very little throughout the day, but I don't want to get famished either so I'm not going to go to low.

Normally, I'd avoid going to the party but I absolutely have to attend this one. How would you handle the situation?

I'm going to a wedding today (leaving in about 15 minutes), so I know how you feel It does have a sit down dinner, so I am saving most of my calories for that and maybe a piece of cake, and a glass of wine. Unless they have bacon wrapped scallops or shrimp, which are a big weakness for me (but luckily i can control it to about 2-3 of them), I don't intend to eat any of the little appetizers, which means I'm going to white-knuckle through all the tasty goodies

I ate an 80 calorie yogurt about 45 minutes ago, and I'm taking a fiber one bar for the road, since dinner probably won't be until 6ish. I wasn't going to count calories today (I'm still not going to be able to count exactly), but I'm up a pound from yesterday for no apparent reason, so I want to be extra careful about what I eat today and make sure I get on the dance floor after the aforementioned glass of wine

good luck with your party today! I know you can get through this!!!

Similar to envisioning how you will handle the food while you're there, my recommendation is to also envision how satisfied you will feel when you come home, having successfully followed your plan. For me, that slightly longer term outlook helps me balance the short-term temptation.

Also, I recommend planning either to have some dessert or to not have any dessert, rather than leaving it up to chance while you're there (which is how I read your statement "I might have a few (maximum 3) bites of desert since maybe it's unrealistic to avoid it? I'm addicted to sugar though so I will really try to not even have a bite.")

Good luck and have fun!

Thank you ladies! Here's what I'm going to do: I'll come here and let you know how I did tomorrow. That way, it'll keep me more accountable and I'll also commit to having 3 bites of desert and visualize feeling proud of not losing control.

Ok so I went to the dinner party and I was so great! I only had some salad, salmon with no sauce, some veggies and two tiny potatoes. No desert. I did have some bread but it was a tiny piece and only because the main course didn't come out until about 8:30 p.m. and I was starving by then from saving my calories and from not eating all the diet busting appetizers. The cake and ice cream looked great but I asked myself if I really wanted it and I didn't. The best part was that I danced and got on the scale and had a little weight loss as a reward this morning. Also, nobody pressured me to eat, which was something I was concerned about. I'm so glad I made it through this event.

Congratulations! it sounds like you negotiated a challenging situation beautifully. I loved that you checked in with yourself about the cake and ice cream and realized that you didn't want it. And dancing is great, fun exercise!
You did a great job!

Thanks mbelle99!

Sounds like a success!