Today we are having a holiday meal at lunch. I need some accountability so I am posting my plan here and will report back later today.

I am going to stay on plan today. We are having grilled chicken so that fits in my plan. I brought green beans that is in my plan. Someone else is bringing a green salad, it should fit in my plan. I am going to skip the mac and cheese, macaroni salad, barbeque beans, rolls, etc. That stuff will not be hard for me to skip but the deserts........ a different story. I will try to remember that I weigh in at my doctor's office on Friday.

This is a great plan!

I find that if I don't eat anything "bad", I celebrate myself and admire how far I have come. If I have one taste, bite, lick, etc. of something "bad" then it activates the crazy woman I have inside me and causes cravings that sometimes I can't control.

I used "bad" in quotes as I think trigger foods vary for everyone and while some people say nothing is bad, for me some things are in fact bad.

Just think, most of those desserts are probably from a supermarket bakery and not worth the calories or the processed ingredients. At least that's what I tell myself! Also, your weightloss is amazing, you are stronger than any little cupcake or cookie.

I try to keep a cup of hot tea or coffee in my hands which keeps me occupied sipping.

Can't wait to read your updates today. You GOT this!

Elvislover, you are such an encourager! Thank you,

My biggest fear is starting and not being able to stop. It has happened many times. Now, I often look at something and ask myself if eating it will satisfy me or just make me want more. If I am still going to be fighting desire, I might as well fight the desire for the first serving.

You can do it! Think about how good it will feel to come back and tell us how well you did!

OK, it is over and mostly cleaned up. The deserts are still out but where I don't have to see them from my desk. I stuck to my plan just fine. It was not even hard because I was busy the entire time. I was working getting ready most of the morning and then cleaning up afterwards so I was more active than normally.

Venting Below!

We served 40 people in our department. The top 2 levels of management bought the chicken and stayed outside all morning grilling it and ears of corn. Twelve of us brought all the paper products, side dishes and deserts. About 6 of us did all the setup and cleanup. There was an abundance of chicken, we only ate about half of it. All the side dishes I brought were eaten, but there were leftovers of other side dishes. I was shocked that most of the leftovers were scooped up by people who did not help or bring anything. I was helping a coworker bag up the leftover chicken and people would just reach over and grab a bag to take. I stopped one person who started grabbing several bags and told him that they were spoken for. I made sure that a single mother with 3 children who had cooked and worked hard for this meal got to take home some of that chicken.

I was shocked that people acted like that. Do you think this type of behavior is the norm??

way to go for sticking to plan!!

as for the leftovers, i'm not aware of any etiquette that says you have to have helped with the function to take home leftovers...or maybe i'm reading that wrong...me personally i just feel awkward taking home food mostly because i'm fat LOL and i hate to be seen, in MY mind anyhow, as the fat girl taking home more food for herself....on many occasions i'm offered a plate of leftovers to take home for DH because we're all part of the same social circle yet as a hermit, he doesn't attend the social functions....so i don't feel awkward about being offered food to bring home to him and i will take that

Sadly it is the norm. While there is no law of etiquette that says you cant have ANY if you dont bring anything..If you didn't bring anything you SHOULD wait for the people who worked hard to make it happen got their shares first..after all it's their money that was spent on your meal not yours. Thats my personal opinion though. Now if Im offered leftovers from a families house and didn't bring anything because they specifically told me not to then I will take food home, or whatever they give me. Other than when I am specifically told not to bring anything I either make sure I help set up/prepare the food or bring something; Personally I think it's only fair.

I feel a little guilty about my thoughts yesterday. I realize that I was really upset with just a couple of people. It was not so much that people took home leftovers but the way it was done. They were not offered the leftovers. First - jumping to get them before the meal was really over because the last of us to eat were still fixing our plates. There was no chance to get seconds. Second - taking large amounts. It just seemed so greedy.