I am someone who loves spending time with my friends. I enjoy all kinds of people, and can hang out with just about anyone … unless you are dieting. Sorry, I’ve been there, done that. 

I know it is so important to eat healthy and exercise, but I just can’t bring myself to throw my support behind a friend who is dieting. Maybe if I had a friend who was extremely obese and truly needed support, but to my friends, who like me, can stand to shed a few pounds... I’m sorry, I just can’t handle the inevitable guilt that goes along with hanging out with a “dieter.” 

You know, the one who comes to your home and goes through your kitchen, checking all your labels… giving you that judgmental look as if you have crossed some kind of ethical line by having a box of ring dings in the cabinet.  The one who orders a salad with no dressing after you’ve ordered a bacon double cheeseburger with fries. No thank you, I have enough on my plate (pardon the pun), to deal with.

I decided to write about this topic because recently several women in my office have joined Weight Watchers. Having a “dieter” in your inner circle, when you are not one, can be a big downer. Especially for someone like me who loves to eat. 

If you have never been around a dieter” you may wonder how and why this would (or should) even affect me.  Anyone reading this article, who knows, has known, or is themselves dieting, is well aware of the fact that dieting always becomes a team effort. For whatever reason, the dieter needs to share their experience with all those around them. There is no “suffering in silence” here. Like it or not, when someone close to you is dieting, you are subjected to hearing about every morsel that passes their lips… and your own.

When the ladies in the office were discussing the “do’s and don’ts” of the diet, my heart sank as I realized there were several on lookers who were being sucked in.  Several committed themselves to joining the group. They saw it as a fun way to lose weight. Not me.  I don’t associate the word fun with diet. 

While I could certainly stand to drop a few pounds, I prefer a less harsh approach.  Baby step. Parking a little further away from an entrance so I get some exercise. Cutting back on my portion size or using a low fat whipped cream on my ice-cream. I admit that this approach hasn’t been hugely successful, but I am not one who can count calories, track what I eat, or eat a vegetable without dipping it into ranch dressing. I am weak, I am the mother who drains her kid’s water bottle while watching them from the sidelines… it really can get hot sitting in the hot sun for such a long period of time, and I have very little self control. 

In addition to being freakishly aware of what they (the dieter) is eating, it is inevitable that the tables be turned and suddenly anything you decide to eat becomes fair game. 

The other day at the office I was minding my own business, eating a small bag of Doritos, and one of “them”  came over and grabbed the bag out of my hands and said, “Let figure out how many points this bag is worth.”  Do I look like I want to know how many point are in the bag!?  Seriously, ignorance
can be bliss, and in this case I prefer to remain oblivious.  

Weight Watchers has some sort of calculator that you use to figure out how many points are in everything you eat. I sat there in horror as everyone became obsessed with the calculator and figuring out points for all the food in the room. It was like a game for them, for me it was a scary, horrible game. How could this be happening? Just last week we were all sharing French fries and pizza for lunch!  Things were good, I really felt like I was fitting in, and now this!!  One of the women has said she will make several of the “official” recipes and bring them to the office. 

Oh happy day!