Happy Anniversary. Happy Birthday. Happy Retirement.  Happy My-Kid-Is-Off-To-College. Happy Monday. Happy Friday.  Happy I’m Getting Married! Happy I’m Single! Happy I’m Going On Vacation Tomorrow. Happy Haircut. Happy Valentine’s Day. Happy You’re a Great Co-Worker. Happy Here is my Leftover Halloween Candy.  Happy We Met Our Goal-Let’s Celebrate!  Happy New Baby! Happy Here are my Leftovers from a Party.  Happy I Love Working With You.  Happy Weight Loss Challenge.

We love celebrating don’t we?  Many of us show people we love and appreciate them through the giving of you guessed it – treats. It seems there is always a pan of bars, bowl of treats, or tin of something sweet somewhere in the office.  Treats are not taboo in and of themselves but why do treats always seem to appear when we are trying to avoid them?

Here are some tips on how to stay on track and defend your diet when those yummy treats show up unannounced at work:

• Ask yourself, how worthy is this treat?  Is it a crummy 5-day old cookie that will be thrown out tomorrow or is it something amazing that you may never see again in your lifetime.
• Focus on what you will do instead of eating that treat, such as drinking a glass of water or going for a quick walk down the hall.
• Put up your own defense and pack your own snacks.  Keep a healthier version on hand so if you do feel tempted, retreat to your hidden healthy stash.
• If it is something you can split with a few co-workers, portion it up into bite sized pieces and share the love.  Just take one little bite.
• If you get word of treats in the break room, set your limit in advance: exactly how much will you allow yourself to have?
• If you keep a food journal, remember that you will need to enter that item in-which is fine-as long as you don’t feel guilty later.
• Remember that what treat you eat is your responsibility.  Make the choice and own it! 🙂