Dealing with Co-Workers Concerns

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  • Thatsmywrapgirl
    Thatsmywrapgirl Posts: 60
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    Ouch. In general, deflection with a turn is how I would deal with that.

    To the boss - a light laugh followed by "You are so silly, I lost weight so I don't get sick. Oh Hey, I was looking at the employee handbook the other day! There's a hilarious typo in the Harrassment section, you should go read it!"

    To co-worker #1 - "I feel you, salad and apple for lunch is hard for most people. I figure if I keep going long enough I'll turn into an actual rabbit and I won't have to come to work anymore."

    To co-worker #2 - "Oh, that's unfortunate. I really prefer ugly guys with personality and tattoos that say 'I love satan' do you know any of those? "

    I deal with a lot of things with Rough humor.

    This is fantastic!
  • Josalinn
    Josalinn Posts: 1,066 Member
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    To get through to jerks you often need to be a jerk right back to them. Redirect the comment and say something that makes them feel uncomfortable in return. I find something simple like "do you always enjoy making inappropriate comments, or are you just feeling particularly insecure today?" Ultimately their comments reflect their own insecurities and judgement and don't indicate there's anything wrong with you.

    I like this a lot.

    Also, you need to talk to the person who gave out your number. Something along the lines of "I understand that you thought you were being nice, but please do not hand out my number in the future." If they press about how harmless it was, just say you'll take it up with HR if it happens again.

    Unfortunately for most cases you have to try talking to the person bothering you before going to HR.

    I'm not as much as a smart a** as some of the ladies in here. I wish I was! I would probably say something like "I'm eating healthy and losing weight and gaining muscle under the guidance of my physician/personal trainer (whatever), so I appreciate your concern but there is really no need. Since you are so interested though, I can refer you, if you'd like."
  • nineteentwenty
    nineteentwenty Posts: 469 Member
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    I HATE this stuff, and have convinced everyone I know that I am obsessed with food to avoid it. I am constantly snacking so that everyone always sees me eating something. It's all healthy stuff, but now the comments I get are more like, "Wow, do you have a drawer of snacks in your desk?" (I do).
  • AmandaAnne307
    AmandaAnne307 Posts: 113 Member
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    Put down the gavel Judge Judy, I didn't ask for your opinion.
  • tabbyblack13
    tabbyblack13 Posts: 299 Member
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    Unless your weight loss prevents you from working your boss has jack squat to say. I also don't give out my phone number to coworkers, that is what a work phone is for. Plus anyone giving out your number without your permission is extreamly rude. People are going to judge you no matter what, it's human nature. They are trying to bring you down so they feel better about themselves.

    It's sad to see your coworkers treating you that way. Mine here are really cool about me trying to lose weight. Of course, I just started so I'm at a different stage of losing weight and getting healthy then you.
  • spickard34
    spickard34 Posts: 303 Member
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    I think that it comes down to jealousy or envy that you can do this. At first it was probably good job because maybe they thought it was a fad. Now that they are noticing you are committed for the long term and are maybe jealous they do not have your commitment and want to derail you with these comments. I maybe thinking the worst of them but I have had people do the same thing to me. Usually they have tried losing weight and gain it back. It is sad really they can not just be happy for your life style change.
  • MissLeelooDallas
    MissLeelooDallas Posts: 145 Member
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    What is it about co-workers and the lack of filters? Honestly, I'm most conservative with the things I say to people when I'm at work or addressing co-workers. It's just crazy to me that people think it's acceptable in the work place (or quite frankly at all) to make comments on peoples bodies. The fact that the comments are negative is the strangest part...

    I've had several of my co-workers make comments about my weight loss and it's almost entirely been wildly inappropriate. A couple of them were nice and mentioned that they'd noticed or asked for advice. The majority have been negative 'jokes' like "You're going to disappear soon", "you're done losing weight right?", etc. Others have been downright insulting. I had one co-worker eyeball me when I got my greek yogurt snack from the breakroom and say "Oh, I'm glad to see you are actually eating" with a straight face. Another confronted me last week and asked me why I decided to go on a 'diet' and go on about when I'm stopping (despite this person having already said things to me multiple times and I had already told him that I was no longer losing weight but maintaining).

    People can be incredibly rude and petty. While they won't tell people to stop gaining weight, they'll go on for hours teasing/insulting those who have successfully lost weight. I try not to let it bother me, but it certainly doesn't feel good to have to deal with people like that.

    *edited for typos
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    It never ceases to amaze me how rude people can be. :frown:
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,065 Member
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    I would tell them to f@ck off.
  • tmm_0127
    tmm_0127 Posts: 545 Member
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    What they're doing and saying is incredibly inappropriate for the work place.
  • BaldheadSlick
    BaldheadSlick Posts: 51 Member
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    I think that it comes down to jealousy or envy that you can do this. At first it was probably good job because maybe they thought it was a fad. Now that they are noticing you are committed for the long term and are maybe jealous they do not have your commitment and want to derail you with these comments. I maybe thinking the worst of them but I have had people do the same thing to me. Usually they have tried losing weight and gain it back. It is sad really they can not just be happy for your life style change.

    I agree with the above comments as well.

    People are jealous and just trying to bring you down now that they see you haven't failed.

    I've dealt with this as well and if it's from women, I usually return with a comment on how my wife is proud and receives all the benefits from being with a man that looks the way she want's him to look.

    If it's another guy, I may laugh it off and tell them I feel great knowing I can do anything I did at 20, only better (as I've never had a guy make remarks to me that could do that same) or I invite them to workout with me, show me their blood test results to prove their "healthy diet" is working, etc.

    The more intense their comment, the more intensity I give back I guess...but I've learned to have fun with it because it never fails, that the same folks are coming up weeks later saying, "Do you think you can write me up a diet plan or workout?"
  • Flossiesdoll
    Flossiesdoll Posts: 48
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    "Thanks for your interest."
    "Thanks for your concern."
    "Is there a reason you're so interested in what I'm eating?"
    "Oh, wow, you must be so embarrassed that you said something so inappropriate, you poor thing. Never mind, let's just forget it."

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