Many of us find that it’s very difficult to be on a diet during the holidays. It seems everyone and their brother are bringing treats into the office. (I’ve had to look at a bottomless bowl of candy corn for the last 3 weeks.) So how about a solution to that problem?
The Treat Blocker will be an inexpensive item sold through most office supply catalogs & stores. It is a large plexiglas box with a combination lock on it. It can be set wherever people tend to leave treats around the office. When a person brings in a treat, such as cookies or doughnuts or something, they put it into the plexiglass box and set the combination. There will be a list of those who don’t want to know the combination and those who do. The treat bringer will then send the combination out to those who do want to eat the treats.
In this way, by being on the "non-inform" list, you won’t have access to the combination and thus the treats and so won’t be tempted to eat them. An added feature is that each person who brings treats will use a different combination, so that even if you somehow loose your willpower and get the combination once, it won’t work when the next batch comes in.
Not only is this good for the office, but it could also be used at home. Have your spouse or roommate put their treats in the box to keep you from midnight munching. The home version would be larger to accommodate grocery day acquisitions.-- Aurora, Oct 24 2002 I know what you mean, but I have an awful feeling the scenerio that would follow would be: bliss feels strong and purposeful today. Place on the no treat list.
Around noon, bliss gets a bit cranky from inhaling the stanky perfume of co-worker all morn. She has a slight carb/sugar craving. She has fruit.
3pm rolls around, bliss is in a full blown snit. (pms). Spots office sugar box full of lovely desireable treats, retreats to hallway, gathers huge firemens ax from call box, runs to sugar box and begins whacking it with all her might. Ugly, the rest is very ugly.-- blissmiss, Oct 24 2002 Easier to just ban open snack food in the workplace. (A suggestion I have made in several places where people constantly complain about weight, yet every day leave candies, cookies and cakes on the side for people to pick at. For some reason, the suggestion always falls on deaf ears.)-- DrCurry, Oct 24 2002 I watched three mechanics organize a "raid" on a candy bar vending machine while waiting at the auto shop yesterday. They had a system of tilting and shaking violently until sugary goodies rained down- no money required.-- Mr Burns, Oct 24 2002 Notice that no one ever seems to bring in a bowl of carrot sticks for their treat. That probably wouldn't need a box to get ignored...
Bliss - maybe if we made the box opaque? Would that help?
DrCurry - yeah, I suggested that too. Not only did they bring daily treats, they did monthly potlucks too... Yeesh! The hard part is being the receptionist... guess where the candy jar goes? On MY desk! AAAAAaaaa!!!-- Aurora, Oct 24 2002 This idea merely transfers the temptation from the treats themselves to changinging one's list status, a degree of abstraction that I don't see doing much. It is a fun idea, though -- I can see it being a kind of S & M distraction from the tedium of office work. I especially like the notion of an opaque box. If you didn't know what the treats were, or even if there were any at all, would you still crave them?
Have a Schroedinger's doughnut for the anno!-- snarfyguy, Oct 24 2002 Lets eat them and say we didn't.
And to speed it up...pneumatic tube treat delivery direct to your office!-- BinaryCookies, Oct 24 2002 Banning seems a bit harsh.-- bristolz, Oct 25 2002 It's a tricky truth, but your body really is your personality's avatar. It is your fault.
[nondenominational 'you'.]-- General Washington, Oct 25 2002 bris: they ban smoking, don't they, and the smell of popcorn (say) is just as lethal to someone trying to stick to a diet. Of course, having said all that, I am known to bring cookies and candy that people give me into the office to get rid of them. (Hey, as long as *I* don't eat them...)-- DrCurry, Oct 25 2002 Nonetheless, it points at a trend that I find despicable: the banning of neighborliness and civility and good-natured sharing. Certainly not a particularly objective point of view. Just mine.-- bristolz, Oct 25 2002 Or develop some self-control.-- horripilation, Nov 07 2002 random, halfbakery