Surviving The Potluck

We've probably all been in that situation. 

Some kind of gathering.

With cake….

Today there was a potluck at my office. Lots of delicious looking food and not one but two different home made cakes! Both of them looked absolutely delicious. Most of the day I heard "This cake is amazing! Who made it?!" or "Wow, this is so good! I can't believe you made this!" and so on. But I stood fast and resisted!

I thought about what made the difference today (I don't think I've ever been able to avoid potluck cake before) and here are some tips that might help:

Think ahead - I knew ahead of time what everyone was bringing. I thought about packing my own lunch so that I wouldn't have to worry about it, but then decided I could make it work with the items that would be available. I ended up eating 2 crispy tacos and just skipped out on some of the toppings; such as cheese and sour cream.

Tell your coworkers you're on a diet - In the past, I've never shared being on a diet with my coworkers. I would feel embarrassed to share the idea of being on a diet thinking they would later "judge" every single thing I ate. This time around I decided I would tell them, just to help me by keeping myself accountable. Previously I would have my coworkers offering me a piece of cake about a million times and then looking at me strangely if I said "No, thanks." Now, because everyone is aware that I'm trying to lose weight, I had no such offers. Instead I'm surrounded by people that want me to succeed, feel comfortable sharing their own struggles with food, and offer encouragement. Letting them know has really made such a huge difference.

Keep healthy snacks close by - If there aren't many healthy or low calorie options available, eat your own snack! I think it's important to have snacks you know work with your diet available all the time. If you ever feel hungry or have a craving, it's a lot easier to resist if you have a healthy substitute near by.

Stay focused - All right, lets face it… I wanted cake. I really really really wanted some cake. It looked good, it smelled good, and from the comments I heard I'm sure it also tasted good. But I kept reminding myself, if I eat that piece of cake, I would ultimately only be disappointing myself. My desire to meet my goals is definitely stronger than my desire for cake. Now I don't think that one single piece of cake would completely demolish my weight loss journey. However, I know that I'm not a one-piece-of-cake-and-done kind of gal. I recognize that one piece of cake will only make me crave another. So, I stayed away from the cake!

These are just some tips that have been helping me and especially helped me today. I think I can continue to beat the potluck cravings!!

Esli 1 Potluck 0!!!!