Week 23 Weigh-in: Food Pushers

What or who are food pushers? We encounter them daily during our weight loss journey and instead of avoiding them I think we can be polite. This post is based on some facts about food pushers and as I had personally encountered them and the few reasons why they push food at you.

They can be categorized into 3.

1. People who are just trying to be nice but don't care whether or not you eat what they offer. They are innocently and sincerely concerned about your well being, they offer some advice that may not go well with you like, "if you are down, you could make do with some sugar in your system" (DH tells me that always). They are never adamant about taking their choices.

2. People who genuinely want you to eat something and are offended if you turn them down. These apply more to our family members, they feel they have put some effort into bringing their offers to your door and refusing might spark some negative reactions, "I hope you realized it took me hours to make that food that you are messing with, so who eats the remaining". They believe you are wasteful and could vow never to offer a help in the future

3. People who are deliberately trying to get you to eat something they know isn't on your diet. (Fear those), I call these people saboteurs. They are really determined to undo what you have done, they could even stand in the place of a food police, "you know you are not supposed to eat that", "are you sure [ingredient] will turn you obese overnight?". By being sarcastic, they expect you to cut some slack and a little compromise because it will make them feel better about their own wrong choices.

Having highlighted the above, it is good to know that it's the nature of some people to be pushy and they really want to always have their way (domineering) and if you come across such people with an unhealthy food, then you have to really be polite in refusing their offers. 

I have personally overcome most of these pushers over the years because I intentionally delay eating anything that I did not purposefully buy or prepare. So it is either I dash it out to someone else who can accommodate it or find space in my calorie range for the following day.

I am not sure I have met anyone who wants to deliberately sabotage my healthy way of living (why would anyone want to do that???). The reason I had not met one could be my disposition to this weight loss as a marathon and not a sprint, also maybe my weight loss is not as drastic enough to make anyone want to pull me back. The only thing I have noticed is to have positively influenced those who are careless with their weight around me and I feel I am doing a good job encouraging them to live right.

But on behalf of those who are not be as stable or find it hard defending their choices, these are some ways out according to Beck Solution:

Thank them nicely: "Oh, thanks very much, but no thanks."

 If appropriate, if the food won't be too tempting, and if you want to, you can ask if you can take it with you: "That looks good. Would you mind if I took it home and had it later?" Then add it to your food plan for tomorrow or for some other day. 

If they insist, you can give a simple explanation if you want: "Thanks, but I have to watch what I'm eating these days" Or you can just say more firmly, but still politely, "No, thanks. I'm going to pass." 

Don't let their reaction impact your decision. 

It's okay to disappoint people: I'm entitled to do what I have to do to lose weight, as long as I am nicely assertive. 

Say NO to extra food: Get rid of extra food. It'll be wasted in the trash can or in my body. Either way it is wasted! 

What do you lose by sympathizing with food pushers
- go off your scheduled meal

- eat more than you really want 

- feel subservient to others (I hate that)

- feel out of control (I hate that too)

- stop losing or even gain weight 

- overeat or develop a craving 

- feel bad about yourself 

My major concern however is this, when I AM the food pusher, how do I control it, hehe.

I felt like that brown cat the past week.

This past week I had my kid sister around on vacation who is passionate about losing weight and taking some drastic steps but I felt those decisions are too rigid and she needs to cut some slack. I only realized today that I had a few episodes of overeating myself and for reasons I cannot explain. In fact, the last intermittent fasting I had ended in a disaster as I ate everything in sight. I had been eating breakfast too, the implication of being a food pusher is that you will be overeating, that is really bad news.

Kiddo and Myself 

I know there is hope for a better tomorrow (that is my way out), the new week starting today will speak better things and I have the right to get back on track! I will stop pushing food on others so that I can help myself too.

Lesson Learned: Stop encouraging others to make bad food choices and you will be on your way to being healthy.

Some NSVs (Non-Scale Victories) to encourage a better performance both on diet and exercise in the coming week:

1. The ring on my finger had been too lose to keep still.

2. My kid sister lost 2 inches on her waist in a week (portion control)

3. My clothes are more fits better.

4. I realize some of my clothes are baggy

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Bad weigh today at 168lbs (+2lbs), whatever is happening I don't like it at all and I am determined to make this work for me. It is actually strange though that clothes are not snugly or tight.

after and before pics