Office Potluck! Help!

dpirvine
dpirvine Posts: 4 Member
edited November 16 in Motivation and Support
Today my office is having a "potluck" lunch. I feel motivated to resist, but when faced with fat, sugar & salt-laden food I'm afraid my resolve will crumble. I need some positive reinforcement!

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Only eat the really tasty good stuff, leave the rest behind. Take small portions, don't go back for seconds.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    I take small portions - make sure you have some "white" space left on your plate;
  • dpirvine
    dpirvine Posts: 4 Member
    Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate them. Keep them coming!
  • DanyellMcGinnis
    DanyellMcGinnis Posts: 315 Member
    I just stopped participating in office potlucks years ago. I am a vegetarian and literally the only thing I could eat was what I had brought myself. Never mind that so many of the dishes would've been easy to make in a vegetarian version (green beans without the bacon, vegetable broth instead of chicken broth in the stuffing, butter instead of lard in the biscuits, etc.). People just didn't care. (I made macaroni and cheese. I even made it gluten free for our celiac employee. So at least I wasn't being a jerk in return.) If I was feeling like being sociable, I would bring my own food and eat only that and sit with the group. If I wasn't feeling sociable, I would stay in my office.

    If it helps, don't bring any food to contribute to the group. Then there is a bit of guilt associated with taking the food others contributed.

    The other thing I find that helps, when free food is offered (not necessarily potluck, but say Chipotle or Maggiano's catering) is to watch everyone else being gluttonous. My appetite is markedly decreased when I see people with easily 1000 calories on their plates. (I am also the only person in the office who has successfully lost weight as long as I've been working here.)
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    I can't tell you how many of these things I simply skip and go home to eat my usual lunch instead. People will bring in food in the mornings, put it on slow cook, and the magic aroma will fill the office all day until lunch. By then I'm ready to get away from it because if not I'm going to eat it all lol. Usually I'll go home, eat my usual, then make sure when I get back I have very little time left of my lunch. That way I'll pop in, maybe take a small portion of a desert, thank them for bringing it and be done with it. Sometimes though, they'll bring good stuff that isn't so fatty/high calorie and I will eat it in smaller portions. If I do stay I simply make it my biggest meal of the day and eat a lighter dinner later that night instead of my usual lighter lunch and larger dinner. Simply flip the two and enjoy yourself. Lots of options. Another favorite in my office is for people to bring veggie trays and cheese trays, those are just fine and I log what I eat but I enjoy it. So it's not all bad.
  • SalinitySally
    SalinitySally Posts: 258 Member
    Drink a huge glass of water before it starts. Keep drinking.
  • SalinitySally
    SalinitySally Posts: 258 Member
    DanyellMcGinnis wrote: »
    I just stopped participating in office potlucks years ago. I am a vegetarian and literally the only thing I could eat was what I had brought myself. Never mind that so many of the dishes would've been easy to make in a vegetarian version (green beans without the bacon, vegetable broth instead of chicken broth in the stuffing, butter instead of lard in the biscuits, etc.). People just didn't care. (I made macaroni and cheese. I even made it gluten free for our celiac employee. So at least I wasn't being a jerk in return.) If I was feeling like being sociable, I would bring my own food and eat only that and sit with the group. If I wasn't feeling sociable, I would stay in my office.

    If it helps, don't bring any food to contribute to the group. Then there is a bit of guilt associated with taking the food others contributed.

    The other thing I find that helps, when free food is offered (not necessarily potluck, but say Chipotle or Maggiano's catering) is to watch everyone else being gluttonous. My appetite is markedly decreased when I see people with easily 1000 calories on their plates. (I am also the only person in the office who has successfully lost weight as long as I've been working here.)

    Where do you live that anyone cooks with lard?
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    utahjulia wrote: »
    DanyellMcGinnis wrote: »
    I just stopped participating in office potlucks years ago. I am a vegetarian and literally the only thing I could eat was what I had brought myself. Never mind that so many of the dishes would've been easy to make in a vegetarian version (green beans without the bacon, vegetable broth instead of chicken broth in the stuffing, butter instead of lard in the biscuits, etc.). People just didn't care. (I made macaroni and cheese. I even made it gluten free for our celiac employee. So at least I wasn't being a jerk in return.) If I was feeling like being sociable, I would bring my own food and eat only that and sit with the group. If I wasn't feeling sociable, I would stay in my office.

    If it helps, don't bring any food to contribute to the group. Then there is a bit of guilt associated with taking the food others contributed.

    The other thing I find that helps, when free food is offered (not necessarily potluck, but say Chipotle or Maggiano's catering) is to watch everyone else being gluttonous. My appetite is markedly decreased when I see people with easily 1000 calories on their plates. (I am also the only person in the office who has successfully lost weight as long as I've been working here.)

    Where do you live that anyone cooks with lard?

    Lard makes good pie crust :)
  • SalinitySally
    SalinitySally Posts: 258 Member
    Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »
    utahjulia wrote: »
    DanyellMcGinnis wrote: »
    I just stopped participating in office potlucks years ago. I am a vegetarian and literally the only thing I could eat was what I had brought myself. Never mind that so many of the dishes would've been easy to make in a vegetarian version (green beans without the bacon, vegetable broth instead of chicken broth in the stuffing, butter instead of lard in the biscuits, etc.). People just didn't care. (I made macaroni and cheese. I even made it gluten free for our celiac employee. So at least I wasn't being a jerk in return.) If I was feeling like being sociable, I would bring my own food and eat only that and sit with the group. If I wasn't feeling sociable, I would stay in my office.

    If it helps, don't bring any food to contribute to the group. Then there is a bit of guilt associated with taking the food others contributed.

    The other thing I find that helps, when free food is offered (not necessarily potluck, but say Chipotle or Maggiano's catering) is to watch everyone else being gluttonous. My appetite is markedly decreased when I see people with easily 1000 calories on their plates. (I am also the only person in the office who has successfully lost weight as long as I've been working here.)

    Where do you live that anyone cooks with lard?

    Lard makes good pie crust :)

    Language barrier :# Lard = shortening? Like Crisco? But Crisco is vegetable, not animal. Not sure I can even find animal lard in my grocery store.
  • buffinlovin
    buffinlovin Posts: 100 Member
    I'm currently in this predicament also. Huge potluck for Mardi Gras, donuts/fashnauts, coffee, baked goods...all of it. donuts are a weakness for me, and I ate 2 of them this morning. I allowed myself that, and I might take a spoonful of some of the potluck items, but I'm going to eat the lunch I brought today as the main meal. I'm also going to walk the stairwell for 10 minutes or so to get my heart pumping.

    When I get home I intend to either take the dogs for a walk or do Wii Fit for 30-45 minutes, depending on how cold/dark it is when I get home. I made a fairly low calorie dinner last night, and I have leftovers for tonight.

    I just tell myself that it's okay to taste, it's not okay to pig out. It's okay if I eat more than my calories today, but I will have to balance it out with more exercise or less calories later. Life is going to have times like these, so my theory is to roll with the punches and make the best of it :)

    Good luck with your potluck today!
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    All things in moderation! And count your calories. If you eat a thousand calories at the pot luck it's not the end of the world, just make sure you're subtracting those calories from your allotment later in the day.

    Social eating is one of the hardest parts of fixing your weight conditions, but you can power through it.
  • dpirvine
    dpirvine Posts: 4 Member
    OK, I did not come out totally unscathed, but I did manage to have small portions of the things I liked (including dessert). Still, I do not feel overstuffed & uncomfortable. This is a victory for me because I tend to binge, especially on sweets. Unfortunately the food table is right across from my desk, so I am still at risk for afternoon grazing. I'll check back in at the end of the day & let you know how I did. Really appreciate everybody's input.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Awesome job! You can do this!! No seconds for you(said with the soup nazi voice)!!
  • dpirvine
    dpirvine Posts: 4 Member
    "No seconds!!" I'll just keep chanting that to myself for the next 3 hours! YIKES! LOL
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    so I am still at risk for afternoon grazing.

    To put things in perspective, cows graze. Do you want to be a cow? Something to remind yourself if you feel the urge.
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    also, MAKE SURE YOU LOG EVERYTHING YOU ATE, and be honest about it, it's better to over count than under count!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Depends...I don't usually attend these unless it's a legit holiday like Christmas and in that case, I don't really care. If it's not a regular occurrence, I typically don't worry about these things.
  • GeorgesGirl65
    GeorgesGirl65 Posts: 9 Member
    Probably too late but... I have lots of food allergies and can literally not eat anything people bring. At my workplaces (because they know of this) they will always ask me if I can eat this or that. Let it be known that you are trying to watch what you eat and maybe your co-workers will think twice about what they bring.
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,868 Member
    Even if you went over, eat a smaller dinner and don't just give up the whole day because of one meal. We had a birthday party lunch. I took small portions, went back for seconds, had desert, and logged it. It was about a 900 calorie lunch and my daily allotment is 1200.

    I got home and was ready to eat some chips, figuring what the heck, the day was blown. Then I looked at my log again, and if I ate a small dinner, and ate all my exercise calories back (I usually eat half), I could still be under! So a yummy Thai lunch with desert and still under?? I realized that I am so often my worst enemy. Even being over a little is better than being over a lot! Conquering social eating is one of my current goals.
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