Need some tips for avoiding the office treats

jessielil

One of my coworkers loves to bake and brings in goodies multiple times a week. I have previously asked her decrease how often she was baking and she did for a few weeks.
What is your advice for not picking up that fork? Make sure I'm not hungry? That I have enough food here to have some alternative healthy thing? Thanks!

cjsacto

So hard! I'm dreading all the treats people will start bringing in over the fall. All I can do is a hard no, if I have "just a little" it turns into a lot. I know some people can have a taste and that's it, but I can't open that door. Good luck!

vivelajackie

I had a co-worker bring in treats today. They looked delicious. I told her so, but since I'd gone to the gym just 20 minutes before I had even less temptation. Compliment the baked good but politely decline. Some people like to bake. Unless she's threatening to stab you with the fork you're debating picking up just say no.

NoraFoley

I do turkey and cheese roll ups.... or chick peas... cottage cheese and fruit... Greek yogurt with PB2 powder..... u can make ur own sweets too. Halo top ice cream --- breyers just also came out with one less than 300 calories a pint

jemhh

Make a conscious choice not to eat the treats. You know she will make more in the future and today's treats are not the last treats in your lifetime.

ziggy2006

I am probably not going to explain this well, but I will give it a go anyway.

What seems to work best for me is telling myself, "That is not my food."

Have a plan for what you are going to consume that day. Make sure it is a satisfying plan that meets your needs.
Whatever treat she brings in is not a part of your plan. It is not your food.

MichelleSilverleaf

Just curious why you feel you have to say no? Is it possible to budget in an occassional treat?

apullum

If you really want it, budget it into your calories for the day. You can ask someone to split a cupcake or whatever it is with you if you don't want an entire serving.

sonhodourado

I've found literally just flat out declining things I'm offered (politely, of course) is the only way I can manage. I have a sneaking suspicion that if I had accepted one of the three cakes I was offered last week, the other two would soon have followed. Strict control is important for me - but it could be different for you.

kimtober

This might be ridiculous, but it's what works for me. First, I love sweets. I really needed to stop eating them every day so I started allowing them every other day. It's amazing what setting those boundaries does. I have absolutely no problem resisting them on my no sweets days. In fact, it's kind of liberating. And if there's something I desperately want, I can usually save it for the next day. Of course, I can't totally binge on my sweets days. I usually just allow myself one for the day which works out just fine. I'm not sure this would actually be helpful to anyone else, but it's really helped me say no, especially to a lot of sweet that are just mediocre and not worth the calories!

naomi8888

I got into a really bad habit of eating office treats every day. I find it hard to stop eating sweets once I have a little taste so I made a conscious decision to stop eating them entirely and I signed up for the I Quit Sugar program. That was almost a year ago and I haven't had one since.

RedSierra

That's the biggest problem in offices. I was strongly tempted to quit a job once because of all the food everywhere.

It's good if you can convince people to limit the treats to a breakroom or some other specific place where you can't see them unless you walk in there. I said I had health problems, which seemed to work the best (and it was true).

I've tried to gross myself out (imagine hair in the food, etc.), but it didn't work more than once.

You can also motivate yourself every day not to eat them. Remind yourself of your fitness and health goals. Put an inspiring photo or saying in a frame on your desk.

MossiO

I've decided that for me to indulge in a free work treat like that, it has to hit a high standard for being worth the calories.

I personally don't really care for donuts. I mean, sure it's sugar and flour, but they just don't do it for me. The old me would have eaten one or two anyway. Since the new me doesn't want to waste calories on something I don't find utterly delicious, it's easy to decline.

Today someone brought in donuts and among them was a strawberry cake donut--much more delicious. I took about a one inch section and ate it. Within the hour I wanted to eat anything with sugar, and I kind of wasted ~100 calories from my budget. That feeling of losing control to sugar urges also makes me stop and reevaluate.

TeethOfTheHydra

I sneer at the food and remind myself how happy it makes me to be fit and lean (or losing) and flex my willpower, and that's way better than whatever the treats taste like. I agree, one could budget calories for such things, but its hard for some of us to restrict once the flood gates open.

kayeroze

You have three options:
1. Eat the treat and work it off the rest of the week (not day)
2. Eat a few bites of the treat and savor the sweetness to the point that is sickens you a bit, then drink water till it goes away or something bland
3. Don't eat the treat, and politely refuse. Drink a cup of sweetend coffee or tea instead.

lorrpb

Don't let someone else make decisions about your eating! Turn around. Walk away.

Orphia

Think of the office tearoom as like the supermarket.

You can't eat all the food available on the shelves in the supermarket - you have to pay for it.

You have to pay for the office food out of your calorie budget.

It's not yours; it's not free, unless you can afford it. Some days you can afford it, but you have to think it's not a big deal if you can't afford it.

sheryllromero

This what works for me, this maybe funny for others, I accept any office treats but I take them home I dont eat them instantly coz I cant enter them into my diary I dont know how much they weigh.
Then I take them home so I can share them with my family, I get what I want then weigh and incorporate them in my daily budget calories.
By the way, I always have a sandwich bag in my office drawer, in case someone offers me a treat

tinkerbellang83

I sometimes have them, I sometimes don't. If I do have some I will have a small portion, for example if someone brings scones in, I will have quarter, if there is cake I will take a tiny sliver. I normally have my own snacks so it tends to be rare that I want some.

ugofatcat

Ideas:
1. Drink tea or water instead.
2. Chew gum or mints.
3. Wait until the end of the day and then cut a treat in half and take half with you. Then you can't go back for seconds.
4. Increase exercise on days with treats.
5. Work it into you calories.

scarlett_k

Step 1. Don't eat the stuff.
Step 2. If you must eat it then work it into your calories.

That's literally all you have to do. Asking someone to stop bringing in home made treats to the office is daft - it isn't theirs or anyone else's problem if you eat something and later regret it.

Old_Cat_Lady

People bringing food to work to share should be banned. It's never healthy. Co-workers just want to make you fat so they can look better.

caammph

I struggle with this as well. We have a lot of meetings and there are always treats. I have three different ways of handling these meeting snacks. Sometimes I just bring the snacks and ensure there are healthier, lower calorie treats; sometimes i budget for it in my day; and sometimes I just politely decline.

jacquih2981

We have a cake table at work, known as the 'fat table' we have cakes, sweets, fruit and nuts. Occasionally it is all cakes and sometimes it is all fruit - it has taken a while for people to get used to there being fruit there and starting to bring fruit in instead of cakes. We even have fruit for the Macmillan coffee mornings

MaddMaestro

TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »

People bringing food to work to share should be banned. It's never healthy. Co-workers just want to make you fat so they can look better.

LOL, well good thing this thread is about how NOT to partake in the tasty treats

My deterrent it to log it in my diary as best as I can if I take a SMALL piece. Like, if someone brought brownies and they're already precut, I just half of a piece for myself. OR, if I already had planned meals for the day and have them logged at my calorie limit, I keep looking at the diary as a reminder not to go over my calories.

rybo

I just say "no thanks"

skymningen

jessielil wrote: »

. I have previously asked her decrease how often she was baking and she did for a few weeks.

Decide how often you want to have a treat or which of the stuff you would definitely not want to miss out on. She seemed to be understanding before, so just explain to her, that you think her stuff is delicious but that it is too much of a temptation for you as you are trying to limit your calorie intake. Ask her to only offer you something as often as you decided you would want it (like once a week, twice a month, whatever), and maybe preferably on your favorite stuff (so you would not miss out on that). She hopefully will be happy that there is some of her stuff so awesome even a weight conscious person does not want to pass on and that she can help. And she hopefully will remember to not tempt you too often.

Fitnessgirl0913

RedSierra wrote: »

That's the biggest problem in offices. I was strongly tempted to quit a job once because of all the food everywhere.

It's good if you can convince people to limit the treats to a breakroom or some other specific place where you can't see them unless you walk in there. I said I had health problems, which seemed to work the best (and it was true).

I've tried to gross myself out (imagine hair in the food, etc.), but it didn't work more than once.

You can also motivate yourself every day not to eat them. Remind yourself of your fitness and health goals. Put an inspiring photo or saying in a frame on your desk.

I do this as well only, as I am a bit of a germophobe. I ask myself "how many people have touched these and put them back? How many people have sneezed around or spit around them while talking" That usually does it for me. I with the crew that I cannot just have a little and walk away. if I have say half a donut that leads to many more and the whole day is shot so I just avoid them. I tell myself "if you have one you know you won't stop and is it really worth it?" I call it "opening the flood gates" when I say I will just have one lol because I know many more will follow. I also tend to feel groos, bloated, and sluggish after I over indulge so every time I want to I remind myself of how awful I felt the last time.

TavistockToad

eat what fits your calories and macros, or say 'no thanks'.

dancoon7469

We have cake Friday at my work which was a nightmare at first, but I just stuck to my guns and after a few weeks of declining it they started buying a bit of fruit for me, now about quarter of us have fruit instead of cake.

TavistockToad

skymningen wrote: »

jessielil wrote: »

. I have previously asked her decrease how often she was baking and she did for a few weeks.

Decide how often you want to have a treat or which of the stuff you would definitely not want to miss out on. She seemed to be understanding before, so just explain to her, that you think her stuff is delicious but that it is too much of a temptation for you as you are trying to limit your calorie intake. Ask her to only offer you something as often as you decided you would want it (like once a week, twice a month, whatever), and maybe preferably on your favorite stuff (so you would not miss out on that). She hopefully will be happy that there is some of her stuff so awesome even a weight conscious person does not want to pass on and that she can help. And she hopefully will remember to not tempt you too often.

its not up to the person baking to stop OP from eating it...