HELP Office Party Coming Up! What would you do?

I bank calories for things like that. Shave 100-150 off each day leading up to it so I have more to "spend" when I get there.

If it is too late for that hit the crudités platter or vegetable courses first so you dampen your hunger. Be really picky and only eat things you believe are worth the calories. If you have alcohol drink plenty of water too.

I believe as long as I have a plan with some rules in it there is no reason why I can't enjoy myself on occasion. I want some rules because I understand that I gained weight because there were none and I do not want to return to that. A little discipline doesn't have to interfere with the fun.

I will say that I have no problem being "that guy" either if I do not feel like indulging or I do not like the food I see/taste.

ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »

Never let anyone make you feel bad for choosing not to eat or drink anything. Choose to eat or drink what you want at your own pace and only explain your reasoning if you feel like it.

I was just at an office party yesterday. One of my favorite people ever retired. I was offered some of her beautiful custom cake. I declined. The cake was beautiful, and incredibly thoughtful with several inside jokes played out in the icing, but I hate chocolate cake. I'm not a particularly big fan of cake in the first place. Her feelings weren't hurt, because the point of the party was that we were happy for her. We're not 12 and eating cake is not a worthwhile dare anyway.

I don't know if it's my personality or the nature of my friends but I have never felt obliged to make excuses for not eating what they were eating. I think the new culture of allergy awareness helps a lot. I *do* often explain when asked, "Oh, I'm so sorry, do you have an allergy?" "Nah. I just don't like that."

Exactly, don't let peer pressure determine what you eat. Remember if you are in the US statistically 40% of your peers are obese and many more are overweight. Is that where you want to get food consumption advice from?

Now, if you choose to eat/drink a bit more than a typical day at the party there are several suggestions above to help mitigate.

Have fun and good luck.

skinnytacular wrote: »

I am going to amend my comment from " Remind you are at the party primarily to socialize, not to eat" to, decide beforehand what your primary reason to attend the party is. If indeed your primary reason to attend, say, Thanksgiving dinner at aunt betty's house every year it to get to have a serving of her amazing 7-up salad that has been your favorite since childhood, by all means, make sure you get some 7-up salad. Plan for it! If you're on WW bank "points" for it, etc. Don't deprive yourself if some kind of special food is your actual reason for attend. Just plan and allow for it in a deliberate, careful and mindful way and truly enjoy it

No offense but if the prime reason I was wanted to attend a family event was for some item of food, I would personally decline, find the recipe and make it myself.

Why put yourself and others through the pain and suffering?

Lots of great ideas here. Pick the ones that work for you. Ex. I know I would want to eat, so I plan for that but also don't go into it hungry. I agree that one day isn't going blow everything...just don't let it blow everything! ha. Have fun, keep moving, and have a couple of beers, and you will be fine. I started leaving parties a bit earlier and that helps too.

i would eat a little of the fattening foods, realizing I usually just want a taste. I would mingle with the people and socialize and not do all that overeating. I would eat something before I left home also so I wouldnt be too hungry.

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

skinnytacular wrote: »

I am going to amend my comment from " Remind you are at the party primarily to socialize, not to eat" to, decide beforehand what your primary reason to attend the party is. If indeed your primary reason to attend, say, Thanksgiving dinner at aunt betty's house every year it to get to have a serving of her amazing 7-up salad that has been your favorite since childhood, by all means, make sure you get some 7-up salad. Plan for it! If you're on WW bank "points" for it, etc. Don't deprive yourself if some kind of special food is your actual reason for attend. Just plan and allow for it in a deliberate, careful and mindful way and truly enjoy it

No offense but if the prime reason I was wanted to attend a family event was for some item of food, I would personally decline, find the recipe and make it myself.

Why put yourself and others through the pain and suffering?

Well, my comment was a bit tongue in cheek. Food might not be THE primary reason to attend any kind of gathering, family or otherwise, but a special seasonal or favorite food or meal might be one of the top reasons to attend for many people.

And I will say, I have an aunt who is the only person who has my grandmother's beloved fudge recipe (my aunt won't share it, which is a real sore point with me, long story to that). If I knew my aunt was serving fudge at one of her gatherings, I might go out of my way to attend when I might otherwise be busy. And you bet I'll have some fudge while I'm there. And maybe wrangle some to go. And of course I would enjoy everyone's company while I'm there, but it will have been the promise of fudge that got me there.

Personally I would bank some calories for the booze but not go to the party hungry. I'd then put some food on my plate that I don't like all that much and wander around with the plate without necessarily eating any or all of the food.

I'd steer clear of the beer (which I never drink now, anyway, as that was a huge culprit in my weight gain) and would drink something like gin and tonic or rum and coke. It's easy to alternate between alcoholic drinks and just Diet Coke/tonic so it looks like I'm drinking more than I might be.

That's because I don't actually adore work parties and wouldn't want to sabotage myself for the sake of one. If it was the party with friends that I am going to next week I would just have whatever I want and deal with the consequences afterwards. I find, now that I'm tracking and logging, that I am generally much more aware of what I'm eating/drinking and find I want less than I thought, even when I give myself free access to everything.

Have fun!

Great advice here! I struggle with the social events, too, especially if I’mseriously cutting back. Tonight we have a fire pit party so luckily, it will just be lighter fare after dinner. I’m hoping to take my favorite large cup that keeps everything cold and sip on diet 7 up. I’ve walked my two miles and I’m planning to just have my regular lunch today skipping breakfast and snack. We are going out to eat a nice dinner before. So I am having something different that I like, and I should be full. (These are close friends so I can bring munchies to contribute and just enjoy my drink and company.). If I were further along with my efforts, I would have a small amount of something, but I’m really on a roll, and I’m trying to keep motivated.

Glad you survived the party and not only that, enjoyed it.

I found the tips on this thread absolutely brilliant and shall be utilising them myself throughout the up and coming festive season.

I like the idea of always having a drink in hand (mine will be sparkling water with ice and a slice) so I can decline the offer of a drink politely, and using a small plate, and only putting on a couple of food items...again, people will see that I have food, and no-one is going to cajole me to go to the buffet.

Hopefully by the time the festive merry-go-round is underway, I will be a good few pounds lighter than I am today.

The thing about dieting that we are inclined to either deprive ourselves or overcompensate. I usually bank calories for events and just enjoy the things I like the most and don't touch the things I like less. I'm less inclined to overcompensate because I have been managing my calories for a long time now, but there was a time when I had that fear of overeating way more than I can manage to balance out.

Earlier in my weight loss, I needed to remind myself that it only feels like a big deal because I'm dieting, but it actually isn't. To give myself a better perspective of what to expect and what to do, I used to ask myself "how did I eat at similar events when I wasn't dieting?". Sometimes the answer was surprising because things were within my calories and I didn't need to change anything or maybe just a few small tweaks. For example, when I go out with friends for pizza, it's less than 700 callories, which is how many calories my main meal had when I was dieting and I discovered the reason it felt more stressful initially was just that it was in a differnt setting away from my comfortable routine, and that feeling that I "shouldn't be doing this while dieting". It was all in my head.

For bigger events, the first time I decided to "just live a little" I ate way more than I would have when I wasn't dieting. When I reflected back after the event, it was eye opening. No, this wasn't how I usually eat at similar events. I usually do eat a lot, but it takes less food to make me happy and content than it did that evening. I was clearly overcompensating. It's okay to say no to things I don't want. I didn't have a problem saying "no" when I wasn't dieting, so why did I feel compelled to eat everything I was offered? Was I trying to hide the fact that I was dieting? Was I being too strict with my diet that I rebelled? For the next similar event, I tried to remember as well as I could how I ate before dieting. Then I calculated the approximate calories, and thought of a few tweaks to reduce the calories without changing my party routine too much. Got a diet drink instead of juice (no advice for managing alcohol calories since I rarely drink it) and ate only the things I liked the most in the smallest amount that made me happy - if the smallest amount that made me happy is still high calorie, so be it. I got 95% of the food enjoyment for 60% of the calories with just these two simple tweaks and that was a very memorable day.

After a good while it becomes much easier, so you have that to look forward to. Eating out or going to a party is not a big deal for me now, just a part of life. I just enjoy my time without thinking too much about it, and I don't do it daily, so it can easily be balanced out without stress or deprivation.