As I was shopping for Whole30 compliant food at our local grocery store, which basically means buying an entire shopping cart of vegetables that I don't really want to eat, my mind drifted toward earlier in the day when I was presented with free sushi and wraps. When offered by one of my co-workers, I grumpily replied that it wasn't on my diet. He politely chuckled and said "oh right your back on the diet again."

Paula's Donuts are absolutely NOT on my diet.

I'm well aware of the fact that my dietary habits are openly discussed at work, and often overly/annoyingly so. What I can and can't eat changes as frequently as the wind, and I am aware that it can come across as extremely picky, tedious, and a boring mundane topic to discuss day-in-day-out. I'm a pretty open person once I get to know someone, probably too much so.

It occurred to me tonight that it's probably time to rein in my vocalness about dieting. There are ways of keeping my food in check without making everyone else around me aware of it. Instead of saying, "no it's not on my diet", I should simply politely decline and say, "I'm good thanks!".  I want to feel confident in my food choices and not feel the need to point to an arbitrary system of limitations. I need to be able to stand firm when pressured to take a handful of candy, but not come across as a holier-than-thou crunchy granola hipster bro that hates Big Sugar (which I do and am). 

Whole30 is difficult, and really unnecessarily strict, but it also really does do a good job of resetting my cravings for bad food. However, by constantly blaming a diet for what I can and can't eat, I'm not doing myself a favor. It makes it seem like when the 30 days are over, the evil source of all blame is lifted and everything is fair game again. Instead, I need to pass on items because I truly believe I'm OKAY by not eating it.