I work in a small office (4 people), but we work for big companies. We have been receiving gift basket after gift basket of treats and it's driving me and my willpower crazy. I keep looking at things and thinking one little treat won't kill me but I know better.

Tommorrow is the companies christmas party at my boss's house and she says it's an 8 course meal. I can imagine all the carb laden foods she has planned for tomorrow. She hired a chef for fu#$'s sake. (sorry about the language but I'm really frustrated right now!). Whenever she spots what I eat for lunch, she always comments. She even told me that she did lc'ing once and it was great, but the minute you start eating 'normal' you'll gain back all the weight. It's almost like they are taunting me.

Can anyone relate?

I just talked myself out of eating a truffle and came straight to my computer to vent to all of you and distract my mind. I feel much better now and I will not eat any of those treats!! (i'll go home and have heavy whipping cream and splenda and strawberries instead!)

What you are doing is exactly what I do when I am away from home and surrounded with the wrong foods. I tell myself that when I get home I will have a legal (and wonderful) treat.

If it helps any, I am finding that some of my old favorites no longer are. At Thanksgiving I had a chance to have just a taste of caramel. Way tooooo sweet; it was disgusting. And, I used to love the stuff. Same thing with stuffing. At least for some foods, staying away from them helps them lose their appeal.

You rock. Keep up the good work.

Be sure to fix up some good, LC, treats for yourself so that you are not left out and feeling deprived.

My fave is the New York style cheese cake, with chocolate marbling. But coconut macaroons are great and very low carb, and my wife makes some dynamite sugar free truffles with Splenda, unsweetened chocolate and macadamia nuts.

Fresh berries with real whipping cream are always a hit, whether you are low carbing or not.

And freshly poppedd microwave pork rinds, with any variety of hot or creamy LC dips are great for the party grazing. Be sure to take plenty, because they become quite popular!

i with you, d. we just have to keep reminding ourselves what is REALLY important too us.

i'm having such a hard day today, and part of my wants to give in to the sweets that are all over this place today. (i dont want to tempt any of you so i wont even list all the sin that's here!!!) but i told myself, you know what? i love myself too much to do that me. it would kill me to give in in a weak moment and then feel soooo bad about it afterward. why would i do that to myself?

you can do it girl!

I'm finding almost the opposite, after 18 months of low carbing -- there are so many low carb-friendly treats on the tables at holiday parties!! Things I've enjoyed this year: Cheeses, dips, celery, cauliflower, and pepper strips, chicken liver pate', mushroom pate', chicken, beef, or pork on a stick, shrimp (use the savory dips instead of the cocktail sauce), baked artichoke dip (eat it with a fork, not crackers) and so on. About that eight course meal -- you are so lucky. You have a great reason to eat very lightly and pickily from the start, so that you will enjoy each course. The people who fill up on the breaded things and the carbs will be miserable before course four. A great book that complements any low carb way of eating is Will Clower's The Fat Fallacy. Not for the specific things he suggests eating, but for the advice about how to eat as the French do, for pleasure, in small amounts, over a long period (because of the courses), with lots of great talk and connection among people. Your eight course meal is the perfect opportunity to see if that can work. Savor each small bite, plan never to get full. I tried this during a five course meal at Thanksgiving this year, with five friends. Our lovely meal and conversation lasted seven hours (including a walk in the middle). I felt great during, after, and the next day, yet it was truly celebratory.

All the best -- it's a hard time of year when you're new at this, but it gets easier and easier, and before long you'll be feeling just slightly more sane and cocky than other people around you, who are letting food get inside their heads in ways that make them miserable. The science and experience of low carbing will soon take over for you and help you out!

That has always been the "good stuff". The stuff the rich people get to eat. Tiny Tim and his family had to eat starchy foods, dried biscuits and potatoes and the like.


I agree savor every bite of the good stuff now that sugar doesn't mask all the wonderful flavors of the good stuff!

How do you make low carb coconut macaroons?

I was more worried about the microwave pork rinds... I made them once and even teh CAT ran away! The kids held their noses and threatened to move to Grandma's.... I swear the FISH tried to swim upstream and escape!

i totally know what ya'll mean, though, about the treats. i have set one day aside-when mom and i are making our gifts--we're making blankets this year-anyway, there are certain things i find i HAVE to have around christmas...and instead of munching through the whole month, i'm just setting a day aside to eat all the goodies. but then raises another question--WHY, oh WHY, do people have to associate christmas with FOOD??? why must they bring cookies and sugar?? chriastmas isn't about FOOD!! arrgh(this i remind myself of as i dream of hommeade cookies and chicken and dumplings. sigh.).

OMG... I got to my desk this morning only to find that our "fun committee" gave us chocolate teddy bears, fudge and other candy... just piles and piles of sugar!

I'm so glad I ran past the supermarket this morning and picked up a little LC candy of my own... I knew to expect a lot of treats today (office party and everything), I'm now SO glad I brought my own!!!! PHEW!!

Being a buisness owner we tend to get WAY too many gift baskets. I like my DH's idea, so we are giving them to the local shelter this year..Maybe it will make a few smiles

At our business meeting yesterday they brought lasagna and cheesecake (with fat free cream cheese and a ton of sugar). It was awful. My boyfriend also had me make oatmeal cookies for him so they have been sitting on our kitchen table for 3 days now and it's killing me. i decided to go off for christmas eve only, so i've been doing induction carb levels all month and every thing i see is driving me up a wall. the department christmas party is today and i doubt i'll even go because it's a lot of chinese food and cookies. i hate being antisocial, but i've been stalled for 3 weeks now and the sugar is getting just too tempting.

wow, it's good to know I'm not alone.

Thanks for all the helpful hints, and you're right, when i'm not so "new" at this lifestyle it won't be as frustrating. I figure, if I do cheat, it will be a nibble here and a nibble there (which can add up of course but it's better than diving in). I'm going to try my best not to, I've been a soldier so far.

The marble cheesecake sounds fantastic. I'll have to make yet another trip to the grocery store. It will definately be worth it though.

Someone in the office asked me today "are you still lowcarbing" and I said yes, and she says "wow, I'm impressed!" So at least I'm making impressions and reaping all the benefits of it. Also, the popular saying that's going through my office right now is "i'm going to have to go on a strict diet after the holidays"

I said that last year and the though hasn't even crossed my mind this year. I love this WOL.

thanks everyone
Tasha

Christmas is about Christ.
So how does that explain the rest? In addition to the gifts and decorations, the social part of a traditional Christmas for most Americans IS in the food, baking in particular. People who don't bake any other time of the year dust off their cutters and make cookies and candy. I can't expect them to stop for me just because I choose to eat differently. It sure is hard to resist them tho!

My sweetie's mother sent us a huge tin full of homemade fudge and cookies and peanut brittle, etc. It went straight to the office with him. I didn't even open it. Of course today I had to have a piece of peanut brittle sitting out in the hallway at my office! I have bad hormones right now which make my will power a LOT less powerful. That's the FIRST sugar I've had in MONTHS. Christmas. Bah Humbug.