Free food at work

I pretty much work in an office alone now, so it's not a problem, but there are still occasional events where the company provides lunch for everyone. Thankfully those are rare! When I worked in the main office with everyone else it was much worse. Cake at least monthly, and random other treats. I'll admit I've been guilty of baking tasty treats and then bringing them in to work so they aren't sitting around my house, haha. I think one of the biggest issues is the social pressure! People almost seem offended if you say you don't want to eat junk constantly. Just stick to your guns, and do what's best for you!

I also struggle with "Free food" at the workplace! LOL actually just yesterday, our department put together a rodeo themed lunch with Bricsket and ALL the sides you could imagine. Not only that, but we also celebrated all of the March birthdays and they brought cake and icecream.

For the Rodeo lunch, i went ahead and entered my MFP brisket calories prior to eating so that i knew how much to take. I wanted to try the sides without missing out so i took a regular small spoon and scooped rice, macaroni salad, and baked beans. I DID mark them in my food diary on MFP. But having literally a "bite" worth of something doesnt add up to much calories.

I also knew we were having a bbq lunch so i brought some wheat bread from home so that i wouldnt be tempted to eat the white bread it came with! success!!!

When it came down to the cake and icecream. I participated in the celebration by singing happy birthday, but i did NOT eat. I went ahead and sat back down at my desk so that i wouldnt be tempted.

Also, My co-workers know im eating healthy so they don't try to shove food in my face.

Good luck!

I never turn free food down at work or any place for that matter. My boss was nice enough to bring me lunch from a meeting he had today. I ate about half of it and put the rest away for tomorrow.

At work we have a cake every other week, the kitchen is stacked with all sorts of junk from hard candy to chips & pork rinds , and the fridge is always full of soda. I bring my snacks to work with me and plenty of them although i only eat 2 snacks, and make sure I go to the kitchen area when I'm full. it helps but it's still very hard not to grab some dried fruit or a cupcake

Welcome Zylah!

If it tastes good, it won't kill your diet to take a tiny sampling of those foods you like.

But typically work food is warehouse store sheet cake. Gross! With sweet "lard" for icing which makes it worse.

In my office we are all great bakers and make birthday cakes 10 times a year. I take the smallest piece and log it here. And kept going.

Alternately, brush and floss your teeth with minty or cinnamony tooth paste. You won't want to eat after that.

I have problems with both free food, and fast then binge habits. So, as a result I have recently moved to a form of portion control. I like to eat because I like the taste, and man does free cake at work taste delicious (it's laced with not working and sweets, so hard to resist!). So instead of straight out telling myself I can't have the cake, I have been actively choosing to have ONE SMALL piece. And then I savor that sucker because I know it's all I get. chew each morsel thoroughly, and I find if I chew each piece well by the time I'm done with a tiny slice, my need is sated and I can go back to work.

Ugh yes, I hate this. Several times a week my office will have free donuts/bagels/sandwich buffet/cookies etc...I just avoid. It's annoying because in addition to looking delicious it's FREE and I could use the saved $, but I just can't do moderation when it comes to free food...Once I ate a bagel and 4 cookies in about 5 minutes from a work platter lol.

We have bagels in our office almost every day. They are the New York style ones that weigh 16oz. I know this bc I purposely weighed one to account for it. If I do(which is on most days) eat one it's only half and only once that day. I'm so addicted to them and it's very hard when they show up fresh and hot.

We also have free lunch every Friday. It's either pizza or sandwiches with a tray of grilled chicken and a tray of salad. The chicken is palatable some days and the salad is basic iceberg lettuce tomatoes and cukes. I really don't like iceberg lettuce so Fridays are also very hard no matter what plan I try to stick to.

The only advice I have is to try and picture gross things on the bad for you food. It's childish I know but it is the only thing that helps. Lol

Yeah there's always free donuts or pastries here in the mornings. You have to just have the willpower to lay off or before you know it you've gained 50 pounds in a year.

I used to work at a grocery store - temptation at its finest. Right now, at some of the offices I stop at, there's some free food hanging out, but it's always small stuff. So long as you don't overdo it, I think it's ok to grab a timbit every once in a while.