How not to seem rude at a family gathering?

Do the same. eat till you are satisfied and not till the feeling of stuffed. If asked, tell them you are full, it was delicious. and leave it at that.

Maybe they are the ones being rude if they are offended that you are trying to be healthy and support your wife!? I just don't see where it's hurtful to take smaller portions and politely decline more. Family is tough though....

I feel your pain, my family is the same way. If I'm asked if I'm hungry and I say no my mom says, "its ok, I just make you a snack..." and procedes to make me a 1000 calories snack. I just save extra calories before family functions and plan on doing an extra calorie burner the next day. You can also plan to bring something to the house that you can eat a ton of, like salad, if it's not insulting.

what you should do is bring out your phone, if you have the appt, and punch in what you would of eaten and what you are eating now and how by doing this you will lose so much in a week or month.

No offense intended toward anyone, but eating more to please other people is just plain stupid...most people are overweight because they ate for all the wrong reasons, so this is the time to take control of yourself and what goes into your body.

First you could find something you CAN eat more of. ie veggies, or try to eat much slower so it's not noticable. Or grin and say with humor 'yeah I think my stomache is shrinking, cuz I feel full now!"

This is a great question with thanks giving around the corner for canadians anyway!

lol i would suggest politely saying no 'thank you'. With holidays I know lots of different foods will be passed around and I agree it can seem rude to refuse someone's cooking so have SMALL samples of the different foods, and than thank the provider, but you don't need to have tons to enjoy someone's cooking. If asked, mention you are watching your weight and leave it at that. As long as your polite and cheerful and nice for the rest of the time, your family should be ok with that.

I would also suggest not eating prepared foods being served (ex: chips). This will likely not offend as many because no one actually cooked/prepared the food so its less touchy. One caveat to this is if its mentioned that the food was bought particularly for you... (i.e. oh, but I bought that type of chips, because I know it's your favorite!) Than I can understand feeling guilty about not eating it, but there's no need to. Politely mentioning your trying to eat healthier should cover it. Than the key will be to move on. Just because your working towards a healthier life style doesn't mean you need to become a wall flower, so taste the home cooking, thank ppl and than be the regular happy polite and cheerful person you would be anyway! Good luck!

Hope this doesn't sound rude but by your picture you appear spanish. I am from Florida and I am familiar with the spanish culture. As with many other latin cultures they love food. Food is central to all family gatherings. It is the way mothers show their love to the family. I understand where you are coming from. Spanish food is by its very nature fattening. I don't know if you like to cook but maybe you could experiment with a dish to make it more healthy and share that with the family but not tell them that it is healthy. Providing some veggies that you can fill up on is always benenficial as well. Saving calories during the day to use that night and maybe an extra walk will help also.

Hope this helps.

My trainer gave me great advice he said if it really gets bothersome like if people are bringing you food or putting things on your plate or taunting you with desserts, you can pull people individually aside and confront them and say something like "it upsets me that you don't want me to succeed." That usually shuts them up and makes them stop.

My thoughts are why blame it on your wife? That must make her feel great. If YOU need to lose weight, own it and either explain or don't to family/friends but don't pass the buck.

I struggled with this for awhile, my family wouldn't say anything but everyone puts the focus on me and it makes me uncomfortable.
Well, after adding up the calories from one meal, I threw my hands up in the air and said enough. Since then, I've been bringing my own food to the grillouts. I pack a couple of black bean burgers and a couple of sandwich thin buns, and offer to share what I have in anyway wants some. I bring a bag of baked chips and veggies. I need to be able to enjoy myself with my extended family, instead of being sooo hungry and not having any decent food options available.
Yeah, I get some *kitten* for it, teasing and the like. But I know its in good fun, and have found that if I just straight up say "I'm watching my calories, would you mind grilling these for me instead?" the issue is dropped and we move on.

I'd just eat what you want to eat from what's available, and if someone offers you something you like but don't want to eat (ie, cake, pie, a fourth hot dog, jagerbombs, whatever), say, "Not yet" or "I'm getting to it..." Postpone it, then be "too full" when they offer again later. And always bring along a side dish of something you will want to eat.

I don't want to burden my friends or family members with what might seem to them to be strange dietary requirements, or bring down the atmosphere of a party bringing diet and health talk into it. I made a personal vow to never discuss calories or macros at social events.

Family is tough. Maybe you're more self-concious about it and they really don't see it as a big deal - simply commenting. Be honest and tell them it's for YOUR health not just to support your wife. It's hard for me too because everything in my family revolves around food. And NOBODY brings anything healthy EVER! LOL Very hard, but learning to limit myself around them and insist there are healthier choices.