Office treats :(

I can completely relate - my office if full of two types of people - overweight women and women who can resist - but I am still one of the first, not of the latter.

I don't know that I will ever have the willpower to completely deny myself some things. Me & Krispy Kreme go way back. But,
Knowing how many calories are in ONE has definitely stopped me from eating 2-3 a day when I walk past the counter.

I have spent the last 20 minutes thinking of what I would do if it was a 5 person unit, and I didn't feel comfortable just saying keep the treats away from me please. The klutz thing could backfire - it really isn't fair to deny your co-workers to accomodate your eating habits. But you said something that keeps coming back to me - she bakes these items (or purchases) and brings them in - but she doesn't eat them. So, maybe she has some of the same issues. Perhaps she brings them in because if she left them at home she would eat them all. Most of us know that buying/making something we can only have a small piece of is a recipe for disaster - removing the temptation is the best option. Maybe that is what she is doing by bringing them in. So, maybe she would understand if you had a discreet discussion about the issue and asked her to find somewhere else to keep them & remove them from your space. Maybe she is bringing them in to curry favor - and telling her she is losing points wtih you might be an incentive to either bring in healthier options or quit.

I made a change that has apparently affected the whole office. We have a communtiy ledge in front of the secretarys desk where treats from vendor, baked goods from co-workers,etc are placed. Everytime I go to the reception area to call a client back to my desk I have to walk by them. So I started looking up the calories on the items on the counter & printing out calories per serving sheets of paper and placing one under each item left on the counter. At first there were some rude comments made - (it's not crack, just don't take one, etc) but eventually everyone realized that not only was I not taking the items anymore, they had to be aware of how many calories they were eating because there it was smacking them in the face when they loaded up their dessert plates. Gradually the treats ended.

Everyone still brings cheese, sugar, carb loaded food to the food days, etc., but the everyday snacks have tapered off. Even more interesting - a couple of the smaller, health conscious women have started bringing healthier snacks. Last week someone had pumpkin bread on the counter - along with an ingredient list & calorie count per slice (and they used egg beaters, whole wheat bread, light margarine!) No one mentions that I have lost almost 80 lbs in 9 months, but they aren't blind so I am sure they can tell. Hopefully they are supporting me by simply keeping the crap away from me.

Finally, if all else fails, do the listing the calories thing when she brings in an item. When everyone sees you are serious about being responsible for what you consurme, they will hopefully respect that and be a little less obvious about their intake. Good luck and happy counting.