The Guilt of Saying No

OK Dad just called, invited me to their house for dinner.  Steak and shrimp cocktail.  I DECLINED!  And yes, I "feel" guilty and stressed.  But what would I have felt like if I allowed that guilt to persuade me to go even though I don't want to for nutrition reasons?  I had 5 extravagant meals this week (birthday with friends and family, CE meeting, BAH Party), and although I exercised regularly, I am UP on the scale.  So for ME I can't keep eating like that even though...

• it's a holiday and
  
• my folks invited me.

I'm not Italian, I'm not Jewish, I'm not Catholic, but I guess I was raised that that was family bonding behavior and there's a certain amount of GUILT associated with not conforming.  Since I've confronted my own obesity, I am forced to rethink it.  Maybe my parents are scared that we won't have anything to bond us, if we aren't belly-up to the table.  I mean, we're not smoking pot together.  We don't drink together, not like some hillbilly family from the back-woods huddled around a keg of beer or a bottle of whiskey, which is also behavior that's no good for you.  We just eat too darn much when we get together, have done so for years (oh, 46yrs that I am aware of) and today I had the courage to say no.  It's stressful!!!!

I guess I'll find out how supportive of ME they are even though I declined their dinner invite.  Isn't it pathetic that I think they'll be mad at me because I didn't want to eat their food?  Weird family dynamics.  I probably need to see a shrink. 

I could, just maybe, be over-analyzing... or something good might come of it, like they realize people related to them have had to re-prioritize, and this IS the new me.  And maybe they look at their own situation!  (Or, they've stopped thinking about it the moment the phone hung up!!!)