Dieting and Social obligations

Our bosses are all coming in from Australia next week so they’ve organised a ‘TEAM’ lunch for Monday.
I’m refusing to go which seems to have put people’s noses out of joint a little.

I am refusing to go because I made a very firm decision to begin a particular diet on Monday and I’m bloody well sticking to it. I’ve given DH a rev up and insisted that he helps me out with it which he’s happy to do so I’m not about to make exceptions on my first day. We’ve just had a month long holiday which involved a lot of eating and a LOT of drinking, morning, noon, night and then back into the morning.

I’ve been told at work to ‘do as I’m told’ and that it’s a team function and I need to stop being difficult. I’m really not trying to be, I’m trying to do something for myself. I’m usually the one dragging everyone else out for lunch but I’m really excited about this three week challenge so I guess this is my first obstacle.

It’s like they’re trying to bully me into going to lunch. I know I could probably take my own lunch along but for the next three weeks I’ve decided that it’s in my best interests to do my own thing which also includes avoiding my family, friends and social lunches and dinners.

Am I being an idiot for thinking they should understand and except why this is so important to me or are they being idiots for making such a big deal about one lunch? It just seems like such a silly non-important thing.

Sorry for the whinge but they’re really getting on my nerves. And FYI, the weight I want to lose isn’t holiday weight, I miraculously put on just 0.5kgs while away, but it’s the weight that I’ve wanted to lose for ages and have kept putting off. And the diet I am test driving is the Womans Weekly 21 day one.

Ummmm...personally...I would suck it up and go. What are you supposed to be having for lunch that day? Would you be able to order a salad while out?

I know its hard, I find it difficult to stick to it when I have lunch meetings etc.

But think of how good you will feel if you stick to it while they eat fattening other things.

This is all IMO only. Ultimately its up to you.

Paws wrote: To be honest I would suck it up and go also. I would find out where you are going for lunch and ask the place for a copy of the menu. You can then plan what you will order and see what fits in with the diet. This is exactly what I do all the time. It is awesome that you are sticking to your guns on the diet but you do also need to be able to apply it to the real world. To be honest also if there are bosses coming, I don't think a diet is a good enough reason to skip a team function that sounds like it could be important in terms of networking. Just my opinion. Good luck with your decision.

Agreed. Good on you, though, I know how hard it is to diet with work etc.

Trouble is I always suck it up and go and that's always been part of my downfall when it comes to starting diets. If I go to this lunch then why not go to the function I've been invited to a couple of days after, or the dinner that a family member wanted to arrange for that weekend? So I've made a commitment to myself and I'm definitely sticking to it. I'm definitely a stubborn person but I'm also very conscious of letting people down.

The lunch is just lunch, it's the closest place to work possible, they're pre-ordering, we were told that we could have an entree or a main but not both because it takes too long (not that I would obviously) and they're allowing an hour so it's definitely not a networking thing. It really is just lunch otherwise I would certainly consider it. It's actually more the people that I work with here that have an issue with it. My own boss was fine, she just said she would like progress reports. The ones that are pushing my buttons are actually the same people that don't come to lunches and things themselves a lot of the time.

Thanks for your thoughts. I love opinions and all my email agony aunts seem to be away or on holiday this week. It's just too trivial for my first week back at work.   

From your first post i thought, suck it up, fromt he more detail in the second, I say let them eat cake - and you eat whatever you want back in your office.

If it is only the 1 hour standard lunch break then they won't even have time to miss you.

Bizzy wrote: i would go too and i would also go to the family dinner and the other function. You dont have to eat fattening junk at them either. a "diet" will not work if you can not apply it to every day life. go, have a good time and eat a healthy meal and have water with a splash of lime... good luck with losing the weight!

I agree

I will go to the lunch as well. You most probably will find the first day that you do have a lot of willpower compare to a week later and then craving that sort of food.

Just eat a salad or something. Or a soup or a ask for a plate full of veggies ect.

Seeing that you told them as well why you dont want to go will also give you extra motivation not to indulge too much ect.

This is only a 3 week plan to get me going. It's not for the rest of my life or even the rest of the year. It's three weeks where I have decided to put myself and how I feel about myself first. I eat out a lot, social occasions, with hubby or anyone really so I'm very aware of the fact that you can't just disconnect yourself from your normal life. This is a diet that's got specific recipes and quantities etc so I'm going to stick to it. I reckon it'll help me to get rid of those stubborn bits I've been wanting to for ages.

I reckon losing weight takes willpower and it takes support and this is the kind of diet I have been looking for for ages so I'm thrilled that someone told me about it.

I did a boot camp a couple of years ago and stuck to a strict exercise and food plan. I've maintained that weight so I know I can lose weight and keep it off and I am well used to social occasions and have applied a lot of what I learnt since. But I haven't really lost any weight since. During that 6 weeks the people that I worked with were so supportive (different workplace) and really really encouraging so I guess I didn't think it would be such a big deal to not attend one lunch. The bosses do come over fairly regularly and to be honest I'm quite often the one that will accompany them to lunch when no one else will. Sorry miss I should've explained that it's not the bosses but the people that I work with every day.

And I am kind of wondering why should I go to a lunch that they've organised when they almost never come to the ones that I've organised? Not in a vindictive way but just this time I am putting myself first.

And my family and friends are all great, the get together has been changed to after the three weeks and a few of us are meeting at the park for a walk and a run around with the kids instead. Obviously you wouldn't do that with work but we do have heaps of other things coming up that I'm more than happy to attend.