Every single day this week one of my coworkers has asked to take me to lunch. It is hard to decline these offers since I will not be seeing these people anymore once I change jobs.

Today a few people and I went out to run some errands for our boss and everyone wanted to stop at Burger King.

Got a grilled chicken sandwich combo which for there I guess is decent but not happy with having to sabotage the diet. I am sure my weigh in tomorrow will reflect that, lol.

Oh well, my last day is March 7th.

what's next for you, rob?

Switching careers. I got hired as a Data Analyst for a healthcare company. My degree is in Marketing Communications.

As far as the diet goes, just plugging along making the best decisions I can.

next time proactively invite them to your own lunch at... I dunno, subway or something ;)

Well that would have been ideal but if they pay they pick, lol.

I think you done the best you could Rob considering the circumstances...you made a healthier choice...and I agree..it is kinda awkward to request a certain something for lunch especially when they're paying...

Mmmm subway........lol

Yea, it falls under my new policy.

"Do the best you can in the situation you are in"

As long as I am constantly making better decisions than I used to, I figure the weight is bound to start falling off.

That's all you can do, right? I think you did just fine. It's hard to go to Burger King and not demand your Whopper "RIGHT NOW!"

I've been known to get the grilled chicken and then throw the bun away. I figured out that was a whole lot easier than asking for a grilled chicken sandwich without the bun. The girl actually went to ask the manager if she could do that. With low-carb being so hot for a while, I was surprised they hadn't run into that. I'm not a low-carb dieter myself, but I do try to avoid the white bread.

I used to do that when I was on Atkins like 6 years ago.

I hated that diet, lol.

It was cool for like a day.

like everyone said, you did the best you could under the circumstances. that one meal is not going to make you gain weight unless you blew the rest of the week or are retaining water. move forward from here and you will be fine.

whoo! i have this problem - my interns and coworkers are about the same age as i so naturally we like to head out to eat in the middle of the day. i used to run out all the time with them, trying new eateries and delis around work - it was a good time to unwind and also talk about our days so far.

i have two solutions that work really well to satisfy the social eating situation:

1. pick out one eat-out-per-week day, and be the one in charge to choose. make sure the restaurant/deli/eatery serves food that resonates well with your diet preferences. usually, coworkers are so busy already that they don't mind if you do the hard work of picking a place. if they have a preference, just choose a place that's versatile. places nowdays understand the growing trend for healthy foods and they're responding well to it. in the end, you can always request dressings on the side, grilled instead of fried chicken, half portions, etc. i usually plan my meals the night before, so if i know im heading out to eat the next day, i'll also pack lighter snacks (fruits instead of crackers) to compensate for the extra calories i know restaurant food will be providing.

2. if eating food from a deli/eatery is a must, find a place that delivers and have your coworkers order in. a lot of places now have websites and delivery services. have them meet you in the conference room for lunch once the food is delivered - you can eat the yummy healthy lunch that you've prepared while your coworkers can enjoy what they want AND you'll still get to spend some time talking about your work day.

for me, social eating is the most difficult to address after 11:30pm when everyone wants to head out after rehearsal, a show, or a crazy night on one of the bar districts. what do i do when i still want to hang out, but would love to order more than a diet coke and pick at someone's artichoke dip or cheesesticks?

Every now and then I will lunch w/ the co-workers, but generally I bring my lunch and decline...

You're in a different situation in that there is an occasion - perhaps the best idea is to tell everyone to keep the 7th open to go out to lunch all together? Also, at BK or wendy's, eat the grilled chicken sans bun, and a chili.

Burger King has salads. They're pretty big too. I eat them all the time. Just get the Lite Italian dressing. I should still eat more carbs though. The crackers would probably do the trick, but I hate Saltines.

Between now and March 7th that's a lot of eating out potential... if you have a good friend at work, or are shameless about having events for yourself, just see if you can have one big farewell lunch out at a local restaurant, that'll take some of the pressure off your coworkers to constantly invite you out on an individual basis since most of them will know they've already got a goodbye lunch planned for you.

My experience has been that once that's set up, only your really close coworkers at work will nag you to eat out and they tend to be more receptive to eating healthy or, at least, giving you a chance to suggest a restaurant.

Haha, when I read this I thought you were going on some crazy diet that excluded a daily lunch.

March 7 isn't TOO far away. Congratulations on making the best choices given your difficult situation. You'll make it. At worst, tell your coworkers that you're on a diet, and you'd love to go out with them, but you'd like to go somewhere with healthy options. I'm certain they'll respect that.