The free food at work problem :/

MrsMizart

Ignore it. My clients are used to me not having anything. If on the odd occasion I do want some, I'll work it into my day's calories. I've also started taking in healthy stuff to share with them. Everything is left on a table and people can help themselves.

dopeysmelly

I decided to just say no to it all. It's always store-bought stuff at my office which isn't very nice anyway, and certainly isn't worth the calories to me. Once I decided to say no, it became MUCH easier with practice to say no every time, and after a few months it didn't enter my head to have any. People stop offering eventually if you just keep saying "no thank you". They aren't really offended generally, they just care about you and want you to enjoy what's there.

I found it helped to think about the "value" of the food in terms of calories, nutrients and what extra activity I'd have to do to compensate, rather than the monetary price of the food (which is usually ridiculously low in the US). And proactively deciding to skip it all honestly takes away that choice from me, which means I'm not sitting there agonizing over whether I should have some, if I have some how big a piece etc. etc. I've made my choice already, so I don't mind if it just sits there.

If having it close by (within reach) bothers you, I honestly would ask colleagues really politely if they wouldn't mind moving it so it's not so close to me. I don't think people would mind. When I was losing, I would just have said something like "the smell is really tempting and I'm trying very hard to lose weight/get healthy". Now that I'm maintaining, I would probably say something like "it took a lot of effort to lose the weight, and I don't want to undo all that hard work, and having donuts/cakes right next to me, doesn't seem very fair"

kommodevaran

dopeysmelly wrote: »

I decided to just say no to it all. It's always store-bought stuff at my office which isn't very nice anyway, and certainly isn't worth the calories to me. Once I decided to say no, it became MUCH easier with practice to say no every time, and after a few months it didn't enter my head to have any. People stop offering eventually if you just keep saying "no thank you". They aren't really offended generally, they just care about you and want you to enjoy what's there. I found it helped to think about the "value" of the food in terms of calories, nutrients and what extra activity I'd have to do to compensate, rather than the monetary price of the food (which is usually ridiculously low in the US).

I use that strategy too

And proactively deciding to skip it all honestly takes away that choice from me, which means I'm not sitting there agonizing over whether I should have some, if I have some how big a piece etc. etc. I've made my choice already, so I don't mind if it just sits there.

You are utilizing what is known by the fancy name of "pre-commitment". I think that's clever

If having it close by (within reach) bothers you, I honestly would ask colleagues really politely if they wouldn't mind moving it so it's not so close to me. I don't think people would mind. When I was losing, I would just have said something like "the smell is really tempting and I'm trying very hard to lose weight/get healthy". Now that I'm maintaining, I would probably say something like "it took a lot of effort to lose the weight, and I don't want to undo all that hard work, and having donuts/cakes right next to me, doesn't seem very fair"

That's something many people would find difficult to do. Power to you!

acpgee

My old desk location was like this. We had cake and doughnuts in the office to mark almost any occasion. Birthdays, birthdays of offspring, going on vacation, returning from leave, promotion, work anniversary, good weather, project completed on time, even resignations.

Moving the treats so that they are out of your direct line of sight helps. In instances where I did succumb, my strategy was to break off a tiny bite size serving. This would force me to think whether it was really worth having that second or third bite.

Having a high protein savory snack such as jerky on hand also helped me keep away from the sweets.

KingoftheLilies

I go out for lunch, if possible, to eat my own food. Even just to sit outside the building. Removes the temptation completely, and if you're not there to offer it to, nobody is going to be perpetually offended you don't want cake every day of the week.

ScrAgnX

For me the first few months were the hardest to resist the siren call of free sweets at work.

Eventually, as others have said, it became more important for me to be healthy and I stopped feeling the draw of the ever present sugar.

harpsdesire

I work in a place that is constantly stocked with soda, chips, cookies, pretzels, candy, dried fruit, etc. We have a gumball machine in the kitchen that doesn't require quarters.

I just pack my lunch and try not to think about it!