How do I avoid the birthday cake?
 

So I work in an office and it is customery that on your birthday, you get a card from everyone and cake and ice cream. Now so far this month it hasn't been a problem saying no thanks. My problem is that my birthday is on Saturday so I know that they will buy cake for me on Friday. It's almost to the point of stressing me out. I restarted my journey on January 3rd and I have been so good. I have had no fast food, junk food or pop and I have exercised everyday. i don't want to be a brat and say that I don't want the cake because I know everyone here in the office enjoys it, but I don't think me having cake and icecream at this point is a good idea. Does anyone else every feel such anxiety when it comes to times like this and if so how do handle it. Maybe I'm making more out of it then need be, but it's kinda driving me crazy.
Thanks for listening.

We do the same thing at my work -- we keep the cake in our little kitchen area, so I usually say I am going to wait to have a piece until after lunch, or later on in the day (and then I never do, but no one knows). Then I don't feel pressured to have a piece, and I don't have to be like, "I'm watching what I eat, blah, blah, blah." It works for me every time!

Could you pretend you don't feel particularly well? Not sick enough not to work, but just not quite right. I can understand not being quite ready to tell people...and for me, I don't tell very many people about my weight loss efforts, at least until it was impossible to hide it because of the difference in my appearance. I know how it can be a bit stressful at the beginning with sitautions like this, and little white lies come in handy sometimes.

can you offer to bring in the cake ? :)

Maybe a nice angel food cake with strawberries and light whipped cream :D Who says birthday cake has to be covered in sugar frosting and have ice cream with it. Just an idea.

BTW - :bday2you:

or you could be preemptive and bring in one of those gorgeous edible arrangements. they are delicious and so so pretty.

Just say thank you for the nice cake and dont eat it. Say it looks delicious and pass the plate to someone else. No one can force you and dont stress about it. Let them enjoy it but if deep down you want a tiny piece and can resist eating the whole thing go for it and add it up to your calorie for the day and cut somewhere else or walk a little more that day.

You can indulge in a controlled manner, a small bite of cake taste the same as a whole piece but with less calorie and less guilt.

They do this at my work. Honestly, I just ate a small piece. I let myself have things here and there and one small piece of cake won't hurt as long as you eat healthy the rest of the day. If it is going to be something that will completely derail you than maybe bring in an edible arrangement like someone else mentioned as another option. But if you can control yourself to eat one small piece than that's what I would do.

A good way to avoid cake is to eat a meal right before the party starts, then have healthy snacks for you during the party, the idea is that by the time cake arrives, you will really will not want any.

I agree with you controlling the situation. Ask for a light cake that you can have as a little treat, like angel food with light whipped cream and berries as mentioned. I do sugar free cheesecake since I do atkins. A small bit, even a little bite will do.
That way you can also lead by example that the celebration can continue and not make everyone fat!
if the insist on the "usual" I think any explanation will do, from dieting to dr orders or "allergies". Its up to them to accept your conditions, its your birthday.
one of the good things about my slow weight loss, (been doing this over a year now) is that I have cycled through all the holidays and special occasions and hard times and good times. I have learned better how to deal with these occasions and stay on plan, and when to plan not to be on plan, so I can have treats without guilt at certain times. In a year, I did not achieve perfection, (who does!) but did well most of the time, and I believe more than ever that I will be able to maintain my losses.
This is a great opportunity for you to start managing those special occasions.

I have been in that situation before. When asked what kind of cake I would like for my birthday, I asked them not to bring me one. This woman in the office felt "so bad", so she brought one anyway. We didn't all eat lunch together, but it was a small office where it would be noticed if I didn't eat a piece, so I took a slice to my desk, ate one bite, so I could honestly say it was delicious, and discretely threw the rest away. If you do eat lunch together, eat your lunch, claim you are too full for another bite, and take the cake to your desk for "later", then dump it. I would feel rude outright saying no thanks to a cake that was brought for me. And try to keep it in perspective, a small slice of cake will not hurt your dieting efforts, so if you want it, have it, but perhaps you are having a dinner or celebration with family later that you would rather budget your calories for.

Do they always do this at a particular time? If it's during lunch you could stay for them singing happy birthday and then tell them you have to go meet friends for lunch and you'll have some when you get back.

I was going to suggesting baking your own cake, but don't add things that aren't good. I took a class in high school about nutrition and one assignment was to make an alternative cake. Instead of sugar, we used splenda or natural honey. Instead of oil, we used apple sauce. and etc, etc. Maybe you could bake your own cake and find ways to alter the cake so it won't be so bad. Always find good recipes online.

I also suggest making your own cake, but make an alternate cake. In high school I took this nutrition class and one assignment was to make an alternate cake. Subsitute things that isn't good for you for something that's less fattening. Instead of sugar use splenda. Instead of oil use applesauce. Alternate your icing also. There's plenty of recipes online for things like this

Yeah Me!
I did it. I made it through my birthday by avoiding the birthday cake. This is not to say that I will never eat cake but since I have only been back doing this for a short time I needed to prove it to myself that I could have the will power to not give in to the temptation. It was a great feeling.
Thanks so much for all your suggestions.

Woo-hoo!!! You are awesome for making it through that difficult temptation!! :bravo:

See this is one thing I don't understand. It's one small piece of cake on your birthday. Eating ONE thing will do nothing to your diet, nothing. This idea of denying oneself things for teh sake of dieting usually ends up disasterous. Do you plan to give up cake for your entire life?

Take a piece with the least amount of frosting, or scrape it off saying you don't like frosting and enjoy and then move on for the rest of your 364 days.

Now, if you really don't want it, just say you aren't int he mood for cake, but don't let food rule your life. It's not healthy.

berryblondeboys -- You're absolutely right that one piece of cake isn't a problem. Sometimes I can just have a piece, or even a few bites, and be fine.

But at other times one piece of cake is suddenly six (!) and then I'm eating a bunch of crap I don't want at night too! Sometimes, it can take me several days to get back on track!

So, in many situations it's much easier for me not to eat any cake in the first place, especially if for some reason I don't really want it. Because it looks like one piece, and ends up being more like a whole cake!

Other people can just have one piece and have no reaction, so it's an individual thing.

She said in a prevous post that no...she woudln't be giving it up for the rest of her life...but since she just started she didn't want to indulge in things like that yet. She's not letting food rule her life...she's taking control back.

Thanks mmel3283. That's exactly what I meant. I only wanted to prove to myself that I could have enough self control to say no. For me eating sweets often triggers the urge to overeat in general. I have learned that from losing in the past. I in no way deprive myself. I eat a very healthy, balanced diet and I exercise 6 days a week.
I will one day enjoy a small piece of cake in moderation. It's all about self control for me right now.

Thanks!!

I'm not trying to poke on anyone or even say that the OP's intentions are bad. I just worry about needing to control food. Maybe because when I used to feel that way, I lost weight and it came back on. Because eventually, you lose control - stress is usually the root.

While it's been a long time since I lost a lot of weight (and I'm just restarting), but been slowly losing weight the last 5 years (not with any effort on my part). My highest weight was 275. When I started this with more intention (adding exercise and eliminating simple carbs), I was at 255.

I'm at peace with food now and it doesn't hold any power over me. I can walk by my son's chocolate chip cookies and not want them. I bake bread for the family and can't eat it, and it's OK. It doesn't hold power over me any more. So, I feel that I'll be more successful with this true life change this time because I'm not having a power struggle within me.

So, it just struck a bit of a chord with me when the OP said she was getting anxious thinking about this birthday thing at work. Just more of a discussion point for me I guess.

So Leec37...How did you avoid the cake? What was your excuse? Did you tell them you were on a "diet" or did you fake an illness?

Sorry, I'm just curious...;)

They actually pass it out to everyone. I went ahead and let them put it on my desk and when no one was looking I threw it in my garbage at my desk. Luckily my shift was over 15 minutes after that. No one ever questioned it.
Thanks for asking.

Awesome! Sounds like it turned out well.

I totally understand not wanting to start down the slippery slope of sugary carbs. I personally feel they are more addictive than..well, just about any substance on earth. There are probably more sugar addicts than alcoholics or junkies combined.

Good job.

I was just mentioning to my husband how now that I haven't eaten a simple/sugary carb in about 3 weeks, that natural sugars taste amazing! I had a handful of blueberries the other day and they were so sweet and so amazing. Just a few minutes ago I was enjoying an apple with peanut butter and again, just relishing the sweetness of it. BEFORE, sure, I would say they were sweet fruits, but they didn't have that sweetness I was after or they didn't satisfy the sweet tooth, but now? Who needs cake and desserts and candy? Blueberries please!

I like this idea, and the edible arrangements one.

No need to not participate in the birthday fun, but you can make your own rules :)