sabotage at christmas - just me?

I don't see it as sabotage. My decisions about what I put in my mouth aren't any one else's problems. What they choose to eat isn't my problem, either.

I get that meals are a lovely way to socialize with friends. I get that a lot of holiday celebrating happens with food in the room. I eat before I go to either. I have been to restaurants and ordered tea at a buffet place, or sometimes a salad or possibly a vegetable side dish with no butter. Everyone I'm with knows what I'm doing and my friends are supportive and want me to hang out with them and don't care what I order. There have been people who find it odd and that's fine with me. I can tell you it's never the servers in restaurants. They've seen people with odd food needs before.

A few weeks ago I was at an art opening with some friends, it was a wine and beer evening with lots of hors d'oerves. I ate dinner before I went, drank water while I was there and I had a great time. It was even more great the next morning when I got on the scale.

You can do this.

Some people give me attitude when they realise i'm not eating something/ doing something because of a diet and it drives me CRAZY, espeically when it's from people who complain about their own bodies, atleast I'm doing something about it!
I'm not banning myself from anything and if i want to go out for dinner etc, I'll try and make good choices and work off the bad choices!
Otherwise I take the high road and cop it on the chin.
I make my own choices if people don't like them they can deal with it

Sabotage? I don't know... to be honest, it sounds a little paranoid to think that everyone around me is busy thinking about how much I'm eating, and my weight goals, and intentionally trying to make me fail or gain weight. I'm not saying you're paranoid, but I just don't personally see it as sabotage. People have other priorities than you and in most cultures, food is an important part of social interaction. Add to that the hype we receive at this time of year from companies trying to make us buy their food, and yeah... people can go a little crazy with the over-indulgence.

The people around you are either not thinking about you and your weight loss goals, or maybe they're looking at you, seeing how well you've done, and think that you might want to loosen up on the weight loss a bit for Christmas. That's not a totally outrageous idea, but it's something that's up to you. If you want to stick 100% to your goals, then that's fine. I know it's hard but in the end, if you go out to a buffet, it's up to you what you choose to eat or drink. No one is (I presume) holding you down, forcing food into your mouth. Sometimes people are jealous of someone losing weight, but in most cases, they're just trying to be nice.

I plan to indulge a bit this Christmas. I'm not intending to gain any weight, so I will still have to practise some degree of self-control. For me, though, celebrating Christmas is part of life, and eating indulgent food and drink is part of Christmas. That's my choice though, and if I end up gaining any weight, it's my fault, not anyone else who may have offered that food to me.

unfortunately most people associate food with interaction and don't know of any other way to "hang out" without it involving food or alcohol. My friends stopped asking me to go out with them when I would try to get them to do something other than eat. WHy not get the kids together and hang out in a park? My friends always wanted to meet up in a kid friendly restaurant. I would suggest the park or some playground but they didn't want to do that. Meanwhile their kids are all obese and ours are all thin and healthy. Now I try to get them to go with me for walks but they can never seem to find the time or when I am ready to go they're too busy with something else. I still go to their homes and we sit and talk over coffee but I won't do the buffet thing.

They are all just jealous.

Build your diet around your life, not your life around your diet.

Social interaction *does* focus around food in many ways. That's just kind of how socializing works. For me, the key has been figuring out how to keep social eating in my life without getting out of control. Eat a small amount, make healthier choices, or come up with reasons not to go out as often.

People aren't trying to sabatoge you, they are trying to share with you.

Only YOU can make the choice as to what you put in your mouth. There will be temptations every where especially at christmas. People only sabotage themselves. I am looking forward to christmas because I love food and I love choice. I can choose to eat what's on offer or leave it alone. I will have 2 weeks off work in that time and I plan to do between 20 and 60 minutes of exercies every day. I can run or do weights at home as my Tae Kwon Do school will be closed.

Before you get to christmas make plans for what you are going to do to stay on track and if you stay on track or not it's totally down to you. Enjoy chistmas it is the most wonderful time of the year to eat, drink and be merry with family and true friends.:drinker:

I keep my before and current picture (one of those comparison ones) on my phone, people get pushy, I whip out my phone and show them why I don't overeat or overdrink (only if they don't know me well, my friends have been on this page since last Christmas). That tends to end the discussion with a smile and a congratulations.

Learning to deal with that kind of thing is all part of the journey.
The most important thing I have learned is to not involve anyone else in what I eat, and to not argue and give reasons. If you argue, people will argue back. So I just say "No thank you" and change the topic. If they persist, I say "No thank you " again. Or I take whatever they are offering and don't eat it. People never notice that part, only that you took it.

OR, I try to be a sport and take a bite if we are talking about something that is the topic of conversation. Like it or not, food is a very big part of social interaction. People aren't trying to sabotage you, they are trying to be nice and include you. Try to remember that and it may make things easier.

I keep my before and current picture (one of those comparison ones) on my phone, people get pushy, I whip out my phone and show them why I don't overeat or overdrink (only if they don't know me well, my friends have been on this page since last Christmas). That tends to end the discussion with a smile and a congratulations.

And people don't persist and tell you "One little cookie isn't going to make a difference!"?

I learned that this happens more often than not.

I will go on a 36 hour fast if I over indulge for a holiday meal.

I too am getting sick of hearing "oh it's the holidays, it's okay!!" When I was complaining about the weight I gained over Thanksgiving (I indulged a little too much), one of my coworkers was like "It's okay, you live in the South you're supposed to eat like that!" Um.. what?!

She was trying to be polite and make you feel better. Did you want her to say "You are right you shouldn't have eaten so much."