Thanks everyone for the great suggestions!!

I REALLY appreciate it!!!!

I've decided to make either a LC brownie or LC cheesecake for my birthday. For my anti-LC folks, we'll still have a small cake or cupcakes. You guys are right!! It's my birthday. They can have pizza, but I'll make a yummy protein with a vegetable side dish. I'll ask them to buy the smallest cake. No leftovers in my house!!

Thanks for the birthday wishes. It was also great to hear how everyone celebrates their birthday.

I don't celebrate birthdays any more. Partly because I'm old, partly because our family celebration food has long been lemon meringue pie. I do miss it. I tried lemon fat bombs once, but they were way too more-ish for me.

Now when I celebrate with food, it's ribeye or or another nice steak, or salmon. With butter.

Thanks for this post.

I have never been big on cake, so it's not odd for me to refuse, but a new dilemma for me is I have new staff and asked them what they like to do for birthdays. They said, bring a treat.

As an aside, I began this program recently after being inspired by maybe a twenty pound weight loss of one of them in a few months, and she is also still low carb. I haven't told her or others yet that I started it, but will. I want to show a little more progress first to silence the naysayers.

There are birthdays coming up in this group, so I am pondering how to accommodate all. In everyone's experience, is a low carb treat generally palatable to those used to higher carb treats? We haven't discussed it yet, but usually the last birthday person brings for the next or something similar, so that complicates things further.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sorry, I didn't answer your question, but asked my own instead! Well, what was in my mind is you should ask for something all can enjoy that suits you, which is what I am hoping is also the consensus in my own question.

I just had a birthday on the 3rd, and because it was my day, I chose the menu. We put a pork roast in the crockpot and had pulled-pork "sandwiches" with lettuce wraps instead of buns. And homemade slaw. Dessert was strawberries with whipped cream ... with a candle stuck in the top. It was a great day with none of the guilt. I loved it!

It's smart of you to plan ahead. It shows your dedication to this WOE. Good job :-) Have a very happy birthday!

I decided on a low carb diet due to different health issues I was having (candida overgrowth for one). So, instead of saying I am on a diet to lose weight, I tell people that I can't eat starch or sugar due to this "problem". It is amazing how supportive and "empathetic" people are, compared to if they just thought you were on a diet, then they always try to convince you to have "just a bit".

You could also play the gluten free card, say you are trying it for 6 months to see how your body reacts.

After six months I figure it is easy to just say "I felt so good and healthy and strong eating this way, that I don't want to go back" and people will respect that.

It makes life easier and more enjoyable if people respect your decisions about how you eat but remember that unless they hold you down and force feed you, you are in control of what you put in your mouth. No one can derail your low carb eating other than you. Just say "no" to cake and pizza, which it sounds like you have decided to do. Great decision!

Happy Birthday!

Jean

Management ended the 'cake' part of the birthday celebrations at my office about a year after I changed how I eat to low carb. The big boss actually announced as his reasoning that it "wasn't fair to Ken", even though I had no issue with it. I attended the get together. I just didn't partake in the cake. Anyway, there are some people in my office still ticked off at me about that. They miss their cake.

Over the past few years I've tried several LC "goodie" recipes and many of them are quite good. My family likes them as well - even though most of the time they are not eating low carb. Things like LC cheesecake taste just as good as the sugary/graham cracker crust versions. But they are quite calorie dense and easy to overeat. I don't have the 'need' for such things anymore, so I don't have them often. But for birthday celebrations and holidays a LC treat is becoming the new normal for me.

You might consider bringing regular carby treats and a veggie tray. Perhaps a meat & cheese tray would work. I'm sure many would appreciate the option to eat healthy. I know I would.

Another idea is a flax muffin. I make a chocolate flax muffin that everyone enjoys. I have the recipe posted on THIS page of my journal. A few posts down is a photo. I can't seem to make enough of them for my family. I made a dozen last night. These would be a good option, too. You could have regular muffins and LC muffins. After they taste these, maybe everybody will want the LC version.

I love it when someone is too busy to cook for a pot luck & brings a meat & cheese tray from the store. And sometimes it's me.

For birthdays, maybe cupcakes or birthday cookies added in for those who indulge.

In everyone's experience, is a low carb treat generally palatable to those used to higher carb treats?

I've made some things that have faked out my sugar eating brother, at least as far as taste goes, but real sugar eaters will notice they don't get the "hit" to the brain.

I recommend just about anything on All Day I Dream About Food, especially desserts. I always know if I follow directions carefully Carolyn's recipes will turn out.

For the sugar eaters, I think a recipe with something like peanut butter and chocolate can fake out a lot of people. I made this cake for instance and it came out perfectly and was great:

http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/20...-dirt-cake.html

I made this this past week, plain cheesecake for me and strawberry rhubarb sauce sweetened with sugar for the sugar eaters. Everybody happy. It was easy and I think I liked it better than baked cheesecake as it was lighter.

http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/20...secake-pie.html

For Husband's birthday (he is NOT LCHF, except for what I cook) he asked for a sugar free flourless chocolate torte. Now that's a good guy, right?

There are so many awesome recipes for low carb treats. I actually avoid them, 99% of the time, though because I don't want Carbie to wake up roaring for sweets.

One of the first I ever made, and still one of my favorites, is the peanut butter cookies from one of the Wheatbelly cookbooks. I served them on the 4th of July, two years ago, to my family of sweets lovers. My nephew ended up eating three. As he's an overweight doctor, I just silently cheered!

But, unless you live in the southern hemisphere, you have a summer birthday. Maybe switch from pizza to grilled meat? Google the Cornell University barbecue sauce for chicken. It's pretty much carb-free (non sweet) and is drop dead delicious on grilled chicken pieces.

What great ideas! Thanks!

Today, I attended a bridal shower for my sister's soon to be daughter in law. I asked, in front of my mother and sisters, about food, because I am not eating bread and such. They asked why and I said it is helping me lose weight. My mother mentioned pasta and quickly realized that was not included either.

I ended up scraping breading off chicken French, eating salad and a shrimp dish, plus a few berries. It worked.

But, I am happiest that my mother and sisters didn't freak out. I didn't say low carb, they saw I was eating and that was it. I skipped sweets, but they are used to that. Happy ending.

Well done! It is great for your family to be supportive.

After 13 years of my Atkineering my family members always plan for my "weird" way of eating so I am able to navigate family meals without undue attention from anyone.