Food Day at Work

cindyangotti
cindyangotti Posts: 294 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Tomorrow (Friday) my boss is grilling burgers for everyone at lunchtime. I added up everything that I might eat and it's way over my normal lunch calories. He spends a lot of time and money preparing these occasional lunches for us and it would be very rude of me to not participate especially after seeing he bought turkey patties especially for me! So the burger would be 180 calories. The bun would be 140. He bought many bags of chips which isn't a problem for me. I can do without chips but he bought a huge watermelon so there is at least another 50 calories and worse yet my most favorite bakery macadamia white chocolate cookies (180 calories) UGH. I typically spend no more than 200 calories at lunch. To make everything even worse is we are having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

Any advice on how to handle this?
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Replies

  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    How much over your calories would you be for the day? It's possible you'd just be at your maintenance level.

    You could halve your portions.
    You could have the day over your calories, "a maintenance day", you're still going to be in deficit for the week.
    You could get some exercise in that morning or afternoon and bank some extra calories.

    Lots of options. It's good to be engaged with your co-workers, though.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I suggest participating but using portion control. Eat less before and after lunch so you have those extra calories available.

    Also, if you decide to go over tomorrow, remember it's only one day and will not hamper your weight loss unless you start doing it often.
  • RBracken34
    RBracken34 Posts: 90 Member
    My boss took our team to lunch at his favorite restaurant the same week I started my MFP tracking two months ago. I simply told him, "I love that you want to do this for me and I'm touched that you thought of a place that might accommodate what you think I might want to eat given my new healthy eating plan, but I would feel very uncomfortable eating food outside of what I normally do and I would prefer eating my own meal."

    Maybe it's part of being in my forties, but I've finally learned it's okay to say no, even if it might hurt someone's feelings. It's my body and I won't be guilted into mistreating it any more. Taking care of other people's feelings before taking care of myself is part of what got me here in the first place.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Eat a very light breakfast (less than 150 calories, such as Greek yogurt and a small banana - or just skip it altogether) and eat a turkey burger; your boss won't even notice if you don't eat chips. That is very sweet of him to do that, which tells me he respects that you are on a program to lose weight. Watermelon isn't that many calories. Skip the cookies. Eat a small portion of spaghetti and meatballs and when you add it all up, you will find you are well within your calorie deficit.

    But if you want to pig out, then do so, and make up for it the next couple of days.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Eat the sandwich and the watermelon. What's the big deal? Eat the cookie too if you want. You know you have the whole week to be in a deficit, of some sort. It's doesn't all boil down to one day.
  • Dawn410
    Dawn410 Posts: 120 Member
    If you usually only eat 200 calories for lunch then then you aren't eating much. Can you eat half your burger and half your cookie?? It wouldn't put you under 200, but it would be much closer than if you ate whole portions of everything, and would be closer in volume to your normal lunch.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    cindyangotti wrote: »
    Tomorrow (Friday) my boss is grilling burgers for everyone at lunchtime. I added up everything that I might eat and it's way over my normal lunch calories. He spends a lot of time and money preparing these occasional lunches for us and it would be very rude of me to not participate especially after seeing he bought turkey patties especially for me! So the burger would be 180 calories. The bun would be 140. He bought many bags of chips which isn't a problem for me. I can do without chips but he bought a huge watermelon so there is at least another 50 calories and worse yet my most favorite bakery macadamia white chocolate cookies (180 calories) UGH. I typically spend no more than 200 calories at lunch. To make everything even worse is we are having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

    Any advice on how to handle this?

    Eat a smaller breakfast.
    Eat a smaller portion at dinner.
    Exercise more.
    Change your dinner plan to something lower calorie.
    You could skip the bun and just eat the turkey patty. Take a salad to have with it. Skip everything else. (Take a cookie and save it for the next day.)
    Eat the turkey patty and a cookie.
    Eat the turkey patty, watermelon and a cookie. Have a maintenance calorie day.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    cindyangotti wrote: »
    Tomorrow (Friday) my boss is grilling burgers for everyone at lunchtime. I added up everything that I might eat and it's way over my normal lunch calories. He spends a lot of time and money preparing these occasional lunches for us and it would be very rude of me to not participate especially after seeing he bought turkey patties especially for me! So the burger would be 180 calories. The bun would be 140. He bought many bags of chips which isn't a problem for me. I can do without chips but he bought a huge watermelon so there is at least another 50 calories and worse yet my most favorite bakery macadamia white chocolate cookies (180 calories) UGH. I typically spend no more than 200 calories at lunch. To make everything even worse is we are having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

    Any advice on how to handle this?

    Eat a smaller breakfast.
    Eat a smaller portion at dinner.
    Exercise more.
    Change your dinner plan to something lower calorie.
    You could skip the bun and just eat the turkey patty. Take a salad to have with it. Skip everything else. (Take a cookie and save it for the next day.)
    Eat the turkey patty and a cookie.
    Eat the turkey patty, watermelon and a cookie. Have a maintenance calorie day.

    Right. You have a lot of choices.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    edited June 2015
    You only eat 200 calories for lunch? What is your total calorie goal? Even when I was doing 1200 calories, I eat about 350 of them at lunch. As others have said, working in a hamburger, watermelon and a cookie is totally doable.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    SherryTeach wrote: »
    You only eat 200 calories for lunch? What is your total calorie goal? Even when I was doing 1200 calories, I eat about 350 of them at lunch. As others have said, working in a hamburger, watermelon and a cookie is totally doable, though I'm going to say that the hamburger will probably be more than 180 calories. Where did that number come from?

    I think it's a turkey burger or something.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    edited June 2015
    I'm sorry. I just noticed that I didn't read very well. I amended my post, but not quite quickly enough!
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    I notice that the OP typically eats about 600 calories for dinner. So it looks like a good option would be to just switch up lunch and dinner and eat the lighter meal for dinner that day. I could eat a nice lunch with my boss for that number!
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    cindyangotti wrote: »
    Tomorrow (Friday) my boss is grilling burgers for everyone at lunchtime. I added up everything that I might eat and it's way over my normal lunch calories. He spends a lot of time and money preparing these occasional lunches for us and it would be very rude of me to not participate especially after seeing he bought turkey patties especially for me! So the burger would be 180 calories. The bun would be 140. He bought many bags of chips which isn't a problem for me. I can do without chips but he bought a huge watermelon so there is at least another 50 calories and worse yet my most favorite bakery macadamia white chocolate cookies (180 calories) UGH. I typically spend no more than 200 calories at lunch. To make everything even worse is we are having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

    Any advice on how to handle this?

    Eat a smaller breakfast.
    Eat a smaller portion at dinner.
    Exercise more.
    Change your dinner plan to something lower calorie.
    You could skip the bun and just eat the turkey patty. Take a salad to have with it. Skip everything else. (Take a cookie and save it for the next day.)
    Eat the turkey patty and a cookie.
    Eat the turkey patty, watermelon and a cookie. Have a maintenance calorie day.

    all of that.

    people make this so much harder than it has to be....
  • Jenfromtheblock84
    Jenfromtheblock84 Posts: 140 Member
    Just don't let yourself stress out too much about it. Food is not the enemy, you have a lot of options to switch around your day to accommodate your new lunch plan if it is something that is important to you. Like the posters stated above a great option would be the burger without the bun, watermelon, and half the cookie. Or just eat it all and try for a lighter dinner that day. You can do this! Just don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Think of it as a real world test, because after all we are in the real world and we are not always going to be super strict about calories for the day. Relax and enjoy your meal and step up the exercise for the day and you'll be fine.
  • Noelv1976
    Noelv1976 Posts: 18,948 Member
    Enjoy the lunch. Losing weight and staying in shape should be fun and enjoyable. It shouldn't cause you to NOT enjoy your life while doing it. One day of hanging out enjoying a burger, cookie and watermelon will not ruin your goal. I always tell people losing weight is not a sprint to the finish line, its a lifelong event. So enjoy that delicious lunch!
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
    All good suggestions here. Just allow yourself to take one day or one meal and enjoy it. Don't worry about it. Use portion control and call it a wash. One meal over your target isn't going to ruin your nutrition plan and it isn't going to make you gain weight back. Skip the bun, have watermelon for a sweet instead of a cookie. Just say "no thanks". If you don't want to appear rude, take a cookie and say you'll eat it later... As others have said there are a lot of choices.
  • ohmscheeks
    ohmscheeks Posts: 840 Member
    You don't have to eat every single thing to be polite. Burger no bun and cookie at lunch. Just meatballs (no spaghetti) and the vegetable at dinner? Everything on the agenda might take you over, but the agenda can be tweaked...
  • isulo_kura
    isulo_kura Posts: 818 Member
    cindyangotti wrote: »
    Tomorrow (Friday) my boss is grilling burgers for everyone at lunchtime. I added up everything that I might eat and it's way over my normal lunch calories. He spends a lot of time and money preparing these occasional lunches for us and it would be very rude of me to not participate especially after seeing he bought turkey patties especially for me!

    The bold is the important bit. It's not everyday. Don't over think just go for moderate portions and if you go over your calories it's one day. You'll be in situations like this for the rest of your life so just use some common sense and enjoy it. One day does not destroy months of work,
    You don't have to eat every single thing to be polite. Burger no bun and cookie at lunch. Just meatballs (no spaghetti) and the vegetable at dinner? Everything on the agenda might take you over, but the agenda can be tweaked...
    That just sounds miserable she may as well not bother. Just because you are trying to lose weight does not mean meals should be some form of torture and a lesson in how to be miserable
  • slideaway1
    slideaway1 Posts: 1,006 Member
    Eat every thing you want at lunch and enjoy it. Limit yourself for your evening dinner so that you fit in with your daily calorie goal. If you have a large lunch you might not be as hungry at dinner time anyway. Failing that, exercise that day if you wish to create a larger calorie burn. Don't be scared of eating food you want though.
  • Unknown
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  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
    Eat it, log it, mostly though enjoy it. Nothing wrong with the occasional maintaince day.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    Eat it, log it, move on. It's only one meal.

    When I know I'm going to have a meal that is outside of my normal range, I try to plan for it by going easy on the other two meals. Ands if I still end up going over for that day, meh, it's no biggie.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    You don't have to eat the bun. Lettuce can make a fine substitute.
  • dizzieblondeuk
    dizzieblondeuk Posts: 286 Member
    As others have said, switch your 'main meal' to lunch, and either change or reduce your evening meal. You sounded very fixed on 'we're having spaghetti and meatballs'. I'd skip the spaghetti, or just have a small portion - but really, being a little bit flexible, especially when you know beforehand that your lunch is going to be larger, is probably the best thing. As for the lunch itself, my personal preference would be the burger and bun, and skip the chips. If you've adjusted your expectations for your evening meal, that cookie may well be easily doable within your limits. I'd go for the watermelon whatever your count for lunch - very few calories really for a decent portion IMO, plus great vitamin content!

    I have to say, the idea of cutting my breakfast calories fills me with horror, no matter what else will be going on during a working day. Not having those 300 calories to get me through a tough morning of work just isn't doable right now! My flexibility is entirely around the other two meals of the day.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    It looks like you normally eat ~200 for lunch but about ~300 for snacks. Don't eat your snacks that day, or make the cookie your snack.

    OR average out your calories for the week. One day won't end the world. Life always comes up with these sorts of impromptu eating events.

  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    200 calories for lunch? I sure hope you snack between meals. If you do snack and really want to stay within your goals today, take out a snack (or two) to make room for a larger lunch. If you don't snack, ouch, but you could have the burger without a bun and the watermelon for 230 calories. Surely you can shave 30 calories off of the rest of your day.

    From looking at your diary, you eat two snacks per day. If you don't snack and eat the burger with the bun, watermelon, and cookie like you logged, you can have 760 calories at dinner. I don't see the problem here...make the sacrifice or don't eat so much at lunch.
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
    K now I want a turkey burger and a bucket of watermelon :love:
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    isulo_kura wrote: »
    You don't have to eat every single thing to be polite. Burger no bun and cookie at lunch. Just meatballs (no spaghetti) and the vegetable at dinner? Everything on the agenda might take you over, but the agenda can be tweaked...
    That just sounds miserable she may as well not bother. Just because you are trying to lose weight does not mean meals should be some form of torture and a lesson in how to be miserable

    None of that sounds miserable to me. The only thing I'd change would be to eat a lot of watermelon rather than a cookie at lunch. But that's because I love watermelon and think that white chocolate is an abomination.

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Honestly, I'd skip breakfast and enjoy the lunch, then immediately go back to my normal plan, including eating a normal dinner. Those 200-300 extra calories on one meal aren't going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    That only adds up to 550 calories. Not exactly something to freak out over. Skip your snacks, done and done.
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