Surviving Social Eating

I was at a family party last weekend and it struck me that I’d stayed on plan without a single comment from anyone.
This happens time and time again and not just at parties but any social interaction even work (mostly) I feel this is because I’ve developed a few strategies that I thought I’d share.

Firstly let me state that I’m not suggesting you should never let loose, in fact I often tell people to enjoy their birthday etc (calories count as half on your birthday)
If you add up the few birthday parties, anniversaries and holiday over the whole year it’s maybe 10-14 days at most. If you enjoyed these but were good the rest of the year, you’ve still got 50 weeks of good eating.
If however you choose to stay on plan then try one or all of these.

Don’t Mention It
This is the primary one and the one that I now use all the time. It’s as simple as it sounds. Just don’t mention that your on a diet. Just choose the foods that suit your plan and eat them.
Don’t utter the words “oh I can’t because I’m on a diet” the very second you do everyone in the room will have an opinion and it’s usually be along the lines of “one cake won’t hurt you”, “everything in moderation” or “that diets utter rubbish, you should try this one”
If anyone mentions what your eating just say “oh I just fancied this for a change” or “I don’t feel like having that”

I’ll Take One For Later
If someone brings cakes or chocolates around and you don’t want to seem rude then just take one and say you’ll have it later, on your break or something similar. Then simply leave it there or give it to an often grateful friend.

Disguise
No you don’t need to get dressed up. This is more for buffets etc. If you don’t want to eat from it then just take a small plate with the foods you can eat and add a couple of non plan foods (a plate of carrot sticks draws attention and you’ll having the same comments as above) take your plate to your table. Now no body has time to pay attention to you munching your healthier treats because they are to busy filling their own faces.

Obviously these things are a little easier for me as I’m the “health guy” in fact I get comments the other way if I decide to let loose once in a while, or more commonly I get “I thought you was healthy, how can you be eating that” this is usually from the low fat, calorie counting crew. I try to explain that this is healthy bacon but they rarely listen so I just say I’m taking a day off now as it’s easier.
You will rarely win any discussion about diet with people as they already know the “truth” so I find it easier to avoid it and just do my own thing. If people want my help they generally come to me in private and I will happily talk thier ears off about nutrition