Caution... birthday parties ahead!

Ok- new question.

In the month of October we have 4(!!) birthdays to celebrate in our family. At least 3 of them will involve my husband's father and step-mother's family. I am not particularly close to them and have not shared my surgery with them- I do not want to share it with them. His step-mother is the stereotypical over the top Italian who also happens to be (unrelated to being Italian) insanely nosy, indiscrete, and patronizing. Oops... sorry for the vent there...

anyway - how do I get through these encounters that are frequently dinners, cake, ice cream, etc.? One can only fake a stomach bug so many times.

Any ideas are appreciated!

Oh I just used to say, I'm eating high protein, low carb...then put some stuff on your plate that you can eat (meat, fish, etc...no pasta) and eat a bit, and you will be fine. I realized no one noticed or cared how much I ate. If someone made a comment, I would just say hey, I'm working on being the healthiest version of me I can be, and be firm about it. Don't let anyone push you into eating food. I mean, just typing that, it sounds insane, right? Why would anyone try to make you eat food (whether the person is obese or skinny, it makes zero sense to have an opinion on someone's caloric intake, right?). Be the person at the party who is busy flitting around, clearing plates, taking out the recycling. Please don't let anyone (not even a nosy, crazy MIL) derail the steps you are taking to be healthy!

You can also use the doctor excuse, something like "Yeah, I had the riot act read to me at the doctor's office - so I'm going to behave for the next six months and get my weight under control" When they respond with "But it's a BIRTHDAY!" you can come back with some version of "and I expect to be here for many more celebrations, but that won't happen if I don't fix it today, so I'm just going to stick to my plan for the next six months and see how I do"

I've found that the "six month" concept works because pushy people want to push back against "changing my life style" that's too threatening to them! You're changing up the status quo! But doing something for just a few months, that's not so scary.

I try to"call in sick" to as many in-law functions as possible.

I agree, but at some point, I have to make an appearance! :)

Push the food around with your fork. Chew chew chew so they think you are eating . Jump up first to offer to clean up grabbing your full plate first. DDump it quickly. OMG I am just too full to eat cake. Gosh sounds like I have done this :-)

Sounds like Expert, Experienced advice!! Love it!