Coworker's "weight loss" journey gone too far (aka "Don't force your lifestyle change on others")

Sugarbeat

xShreddx wrote: »

I've learned that people love to wear the badge of a healthy lifestyle, bragging about exercise and eating smart yet you see no results. I have a co-worker like this. She refuses to weigh herself and only judges her success by how she "feels". Yet, since last May, I've lost 52 pounds and she looks the same. She says she runs so much and so intensely and eats like a rabbit but I don't see any results. Makes no difference to me....I'm the better person for actually working hard and getting results. Talk is cheap.

I have an idea.....start a Biggest Loser challenge and see how this guy puts up or shuts up!

They did this last year at my job. I never saw so many people crash dieting or taking pills all at one time. When its a contest it becomes about winning rather than getting healthier.

Josalinn

Mr_Knight wrote: »

Wow. This deserves to be a screenplay.

At some point - and I say this as a boss - it's really your bosses job to deal with this crap. Maybe one private conversation with the imbecile, and that's that. Literally shoving food in people's faces is not cool anywhere other than at grandma's table, and that's only because there's two generations of wombing connecting you....

Grandmothers. They make the best food and always put more on your plate. Love them to death and have to eat up.

I dunno, guy is jerk. HR is a great thing. I have never had to deal with food harassment. I have had to deal with sexual harassment, which a combo of telling the person that their actions were unappreciated and a trip to HR (when it didn't stop) fixed the problem. (Story goes that manager was telling me to unbutton my shirt to get clients to sign up for accounts. She was also trying to force a guy I worked with to do similar behavior to entice women to sign up.)

sajero2

I have a coworker who is constantly jumping from fad to fad, and talks about it INCESSANTLY. It is so. annoying. First she was doing a juice cleanse, and whining about it non-stop. The next week she was back to eating junk food. The following week she's on the 21-day Fix, and we had to hear all about her workouts and her stupid portion-controlled food. Guess how long that lasted? Not 21 days, I can tell you that. It annoys me to no end.

sofaking6

PeachyPlum wrote: »

In fairness, I already hate this guy with a passion.

He has zero boundaries, and before he started "trying" to lose weight he used to eat a bunch of junk food in the office and would try to forcibly share, even though nobody else here eats much junk.

He would literally unwrap a mini peanut butter cup for you and hold it on his outstretched palm in front of your nose, like feeding a sugar cube to a pony.

He's been written up twice for harassing me (in non food related ways), and I try to ignore him as much as possible. But this? Makes it almost impossible.

Thermostat has been fixed, and I explained that if it's adjusted again, HR will have to mediate on an appropriate temperature. Headphones are in. Deep breaths are being taken.

Well yeah I was gonna say, being on a diet is NOT this guy's problem. Being a complete d-bag is his problem. Sadly, I don't work in that office and therefore cannot white knight him into submission

zamphir66

Do you work at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company?

andympanda

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

I have had someone put appetizers on my plate after I said I didn't want any. They also complained about the wasted food when it was still there uneaten when the waitress came to remove the plates for the next course. I just smiled and said I hadn't touched the plate or food so please help yourself.

I would tell the guy (or gal) it was their own fault for ordering it. Take responsibility for your own actions. Either plan ahead and find someone to split it with, eat it all, or live with having some thrown away.

KylaDenay

Is there no one in the office blunt and direct?? I would have been said something to this guy.

atypicalsmith

Since it's obvious that nobody in HR is going to do anything about it, I would sweetly pester him to death. Very sweetly. "Hi, there, how many calories did you eat for breakfast? I ate 135!" "Hi there, did you have any snacks after breakfast? I had one, and it was a Halo for 55 calories" "Hi there, how many calories do you suppose there are in a mini-Snickers? My sister gave me one today, but I'm scared to eat it." "Hi there, is it true that coffee without cream or sugar puts on weight?" "Hi there, I just ate 39 grams of pistachios, and I really feel full now. Is that normal?" "Hi there, how many calories do 25 jumping jacks burn?" etc. etc. ad nauseum. I've actually done this before but in different scenarios and it works like a charm.

donjtomasco

One of the best rant's/vent's ever!!!!!

MKEgal

PeachyPlum wrote:

He would literally unwrap a mini peanut butter cup for you and hold it on his outstretched palm in front of your nose, like feeding a sugar cube to a pony.

Ew.
WHY would he think that anyone would want food he's put his icky dirty hands on?
At least if I unwrap it myself, I know where my germs come from.

ThickMcRunFast

10 bucks says this guy starts a thread later about how his coworkers sabotage his efforts, and at least 4 people come in and say "they are just jealous, you do you, boo"

Tubbs216

herrspoons wrote: »

I'd probably have Clarksoned they guy by now.

Is that a verb now? That didn't take long.

PeachyPlum

ThickMcRunFast wrote: »

10 bucks says this guy starts a thread later about how his coworkers sabotage his efforts, and at least 4 people come in and say "they are just jealous, you do you, boo"

This made my day!! Too funny.

urloved33

I wonder if most offices battle the same things. In my office they talk about food all day and only stop to order take out and then share it with each other...its a daily junk food fest I never participate. The office smells of food from 8:30 am to 3:30 (then its snacks and talk about dinner to be) in the afternoon even though we are prohibited from eating meals at our desk...they all do. There is on man...that is not handicapped but parks in the handicap parking everyday w a fraudelant handicapped sticker and jokes about it...he is perfectly healthy. This stuff just goes on day in and day out...and the verbal ugh...its the same. No one exercises...everyone is basically completely out of shape and unhealthy...its pathetic.

crazyjerseygirl

PeachyPlum wrote: »

This dude? Has been driving me nuts. I'm all about somebody trying to get healthy. I am. If you tell me you want to eat right and exercise more, I will be the first one to cheer you on. For real.

But when you come in to work every day with a 1lb can of honey roasted peanuts which you proceed to eat for breakfast (by tossing them up into the air and catching them in your mouth like a Labrador), chewing with your mouth open and telling everyone how peanuts are high in protein so this is a really healthy breakfast? You go ahead and eat your 2500 calorie sugar coated breakfast. Imma just put my headphones in, mmmkay?

And when you show up wearing new sneakers and you tell us how these sneakers are going to help you lose weight because now you don't mind walking ALL THE WAY to the water cooler instead of the soda machine? You need to shut up with that.

And when the company treats us to lunch at a local chain restaurant and everyone *else* at the table says "No, I don't want an appetizer, I'm watching what I eat" and then you order the chicken tenders, fried cheese, and loaded nachos? YOU need to eat all of them. Don't start pushing the plates in people's faces (and in the case of the lady sitting beside me, actually scooping appetizers onto her plate as she repeatedly told him no) and then saying "You guys I am trying to lose weight, if you don't help me eat this you are sabotaging my diet." Don't. I can't exercise your self control for you. Grow up.

And when you come into the office and turn the heat down to 60 degrees because you read that being cold helps you burn more calories as your body tries to maintain temperature? Please don't be surprised when I lose my temper at you. Because I? Burn calories with my running shoes on. The guy who sits next to you? Is a competitive cyclist. The other lady? Is going through ****ing CHEMO and doesn't need to be any LESS comfortable than she already has to be.

I just... I can't even. Has anyone else dealt with someone like this? Because I'm normally really nice and can ignore just about anything, but I'm about to Hulk out on this guy.

You guys MUST be in a polite part of the country cause this guy would have had a verbal beat down AGES ago in NY!

PeachyPlum

crazyjerseygirl wrote: »

You guys MUST be in a polite part of the country cause this guy would have had a verbal beat down AGES ago in NY!

Yes, we are in the ever-polite South!

My husband is from Brooklyn (born and bred, not a hipster) and asked me why "nobody has told that fat fenook to go **** himself yet." Obviously, it's because we don't have a New Yorker in the office.

crazyjerseygirl

PeachyPlum wrote: »

crazyjerseygirl wrote: »

You guys MUST be in a polite part of the country cause this guy would have had a verbal beat down AGES ago in NY!

Yes, we are in the ever-polite South!

My husband is from Brooklyn (born and bred, not a hipster) and asked me why "nobody has told that fat fenook to go **** himself yet." Obviously, it's because we don't have a New Yorker in the office.

Ha!
I'm born/bred in ugly NJ (currently in NY) but yeah, if someone just put food in my plate without my permission, let's just say that would end fast!

Wave to your husband for me, my pop pop was born/bred Brooklyn, I know the type!

NikonPal

PeachyPlum wrote: »

This dude? Has been driving me nuts. I'm all about somebody trying to get healthy. I am. If you tell me you want to eat right and exercise more, I will be the first one to cheer you on. For real.

But when you come in to work every day with a 1lb can of honey roasted peanuts which you proceed to eat for breakfast (by tossing them up into the air and catching them in your mouth like a Labrador), chewing with your mouth open and telling everyone how peanuts are high in protein so this is a really healthy breakfast? You go ahead and eat your 2500 calorie sugar coated breakfast. Imma just put my headphones in, mmmkay?

And when you show up wearing new sneakers and you tell us how these sneakers are going to help you lose weight because now you don't mind walking ALL THE WAY to the water cooler instead of the soda machine? You need to shut up with that.

And when the company treats us to lunch at a local chain restaurant and everyone *else* at the table says "No, I don't want an appetizer, I'm watching what I eat" and then you order the chicken tenders, fried cheese, and loaded nachos? YOU need to eat all of them. Don't start pushing the plates in people's faces (and in the case of the lady sitting beside me, actually scooping appetizers onto her plate as she repeatedly told him no) and then saying "You guys I am trying to lose weight, if you don't help me eat this you are sabotaging my diet." Don't. I can't exercise your self control for you. Grow up.

And when you come into the office and turn the heat down to 60 degrees because you read that being cold helps you burn more calories as your body tries to maintain temperature? Please don't be surprised when I lose my temper at you. Because I? Burn calories with my running shoes on. The guy who sits next to you? Is a competitive cyclist. The other lady? Is going through ****ing CHEMO and doesn't need to be any LESS comfortable than she already has to be.

I just... I can't even. Has anyone else dealt with someone like this? Because I'm normally really nice and can ignore just about anything, but I'm about to Hulk out on this guy.

First – I must say I love your descriptive writing style. You had me at: “…tossing them up into the air and catching them in your mouth like a Labrador), chewing with your mouth open…”

Since losing my weight – I have never tried to “tell” anyone anything. I generally only answer direct “limited” questions or refer people to MFP so they can see for themselves what I have been doing. I often pre-select meals when going out to dinner, just so there is no drama about what I can or can’t eat. I give no unsolicited advice.

I will say, I have witnessed this behavior in the past and my sympathies go out to you. Sadly, these types of individuals seem to never change.

I’m not a big fan of running to HR – but in this case – an intervention delivered tactfully by someone other than a co-worker “might” help.

I’m fortunate – being a guy I was born somewhat oblivious (LOL) and could simply make it like listening to Charlie Brown's teacher: “Wa Wa, Wa Wa.”

Good luck....I'll pray for you.