Why do coworkers have to be so ....

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  • KokomoJoe
    KokomoJoe Posts: 435
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    For Christmas time our office has the 12 days of breakfast (I call it gluttony since I put on around 8 lbs over those 12 days last year. Everyone is expected to pick a day and bring in breakfast. Most of it is far from healthy and even if it is, the big guys like me are encourage not to leave anything left over. I refused to take part this year both the eating and making and have been accused of being a scrooge, a spoil sport and others. I received an e mail from the coordinator asking me to explain why I find it excessive.

    They are all over the place and sucky is a very mild word I would use for them.
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
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    I think if you've been skinny all your life its easy to say to people "oh you can eat something bad just this once" because I'm guessing for them when they have something "just that once" it actually IS just that once- hence why they've always been skinny, so they probably don't realise it'd be a problem for someone trying to lose weight.
    And people who also complain about wanting to lose weight and also try to derail you are probably trying to make themselves feel better by doing so, or on the odd occasion they genuinely are just trying to be nice by bringing in/offering food around.

    That's exactly right - for people who don't struggle with overeating it's easy to have one piece of chocolate and that's it. For me it's difficult, I find it hard to stop at one piece - it takes a lot of willpower and usually it causes me more anxiety to have bad food in my presence and resist than to just avoid it entirely.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    I'm confused as to why anyone would expect other people to do anything different because YOU have decided to change. If you don't want to eat something, don't eat it. If you feel like you need to accept something to be polite, then accept it and have a bite.

    Really, people aren't trying to hurt you. They are trying to share. I don't believe it is any more sinister than that, and truthfully, the onus is on you to have self-control. Temptation will be there for the resat of your life. You have to learn to cope with it.

    It might not be easy, but that's the challenge, isn't it? You can do it.
  • stevwil41
    stevwil41 Posts: 608 Member
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    Okay, I can understand being frustrated with a lot of excess sweets and such at work BUT do you honestly think it's fair to expect everyone else to change their life because you (or me or whoever) decides to get healthy? For me the whole point in this is learning how to eat better and deal with everyday life. Part of that involves holidays and special occasions. They happen. Sometimes I say yes when offered treats, sometimes I say no but ultimately I'm responsible for what goes in my mouth.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    Okay, I can understand being frustrated with a lot of excess sweets and such at work BUT do you honestly think it's fair to expect everyone else to change their life because you (or me or whoever) decides to get healthy?

    Wait a minute, are you trying to say that the world DOESN'T revolve around me? :sad:
  • stevwil41
    stevwil41 Posts: 608 Member
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    Okay, I can understand being frustrated with a lot of excess sweets and such at work BUT do you honestly think it's fair to expect everyone else to change their life because you (or me or whoever) decides to get healthy?

    Wait a minute, are you trying to say that the world DOESN'T revolve around me? :sad:

    It's a terrible realization isn't it?:wink:
  • piebird79
    piebird79 Posts: 201 Member
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    Bingo.
  • lor007
    lor007 Posts: 884 Member
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    The only solution is for you to quit your job and live in a bubble OR you could quit being hypersensitive. I would recommend the latter.
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
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    I'm confused as to why anyone would expect other people to do anything different because YOU have decided to change. If you don't want to eat something, don't eat it. If you feel like you need to accept something to be polite, then accept it and have a bite.

    Really, people aren't trying to hurt you. They are trying to share. I don't believe it is any more sinister than that, and truthfully, the onus is on you to have self-control. Temptation will be there for the resat of your life. You have to learn to cope with it.

    It might not be easy, but that's the challenge, isn't it? You can do it.

    Clearly you didn't see my post about my coworkers little gift. Trust me, they weren't doing it to be nice, they were doing it to annoy me :P
  • rlwinton
    rlwinton Posts: 101
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    I have coworkers who do the same; its like everyday its "heres this and heres that". It gets so annoying, so I understand! Just keep saying no!!!
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    sucky!
    It really sucks how my coworkers refuse to see how hard I'm trying to get my life straight, esp during this holiday season. They seem to be alll about doing as little as you can possible can to keep healthy..WHAT THE HE** I'AM TRYING TO STAY FOCUSED AND THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MY FRIENDS!!! What do you do?!

    Be strong.

    But remember, they have no obligation to be your friends, they are your co-workers. And they also have no responsibility to be your health coach, nutritionist, or self-control.

    That's all up to you.

    If you politely say that you are trying to lose weight and ask them, nicely, to stop offering you food, most people will. The rest are either ignorant or rude, and you're better off just remaining polite and continuing to refuse their offers of food.

    Keep the new you in mind, and remain strong.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    I think that reaction is usually from people who don't have to worry about their weight though. Most people get it when I tell them I'm trying to eat right and I don't want a cookie/donut/chocolate/etc.

    I'd edit that to "people who don't worry about their weight", whether they SHOULD or not is often up for debate.

    People bring in snacks all the time here at work. I have my breakfast and lunch planned out every day, and have an idea of how many calories I have left in the day before I arrive at work.

    I'll quite often have a little something as a treat, log it as honestly as I can, and make sure I adjust supper and/or my workout to accommodate - I eat my lunch over the course of the day and I'll just tend to move everything else I eat a little later so I'm not as hungry at supper and can eat a little less then. Or extend my workout a little to "earn" more supper. Or some combination thereof.
  • DRees10
    DRees10 Posts: 16
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    I like to sit with my coworkers when they are having high cal food and snacks. Snelling it = a total of 0 cals :). I just have my protein shake or salad and join in with the conversation. It didn't take them long to get used to it!
  • cazsyl
    cazsyl Posts: 89 Member
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    If people leave things on my desk I push it to one side or move it onto an empty desk with no fuss and leave it there. I didn't ask for it - it's not mine and I don't want it. If it's still there when the cleaner or caretaker comes round I ask them if they'd like it and if not I put it in the bin - again no fuss.

    On the extremely rare occasion I do agree to have some cake etc I cut a tiny piece of a slice and have that - I have a taste of it, then I have a sugar free gum immediately afterwards so that I don't get cravings by being able to still taste the sweetness in my mouth.

    Quite often I'll be told if you want some have a slice - and I'll say but I don't want a slice and I don't have time to do an extra hour and half exercise tonight to burn off the additional calories - but thanks for the offer.

    Eating out with colleagues - I tend to ask for a side salad with either dressing on the side or no dressing and a bread roll. They can eat what they want. One time I shocked them by asking for an omlette with salad only no chips but it came with chips as well as salad - so I passed my chips down the table and didn't have 1.

    You just have to get your head in the right place to be able to deal with these sort of events - and yes sometimes you have to feel quietly smug that you've succeeded, and not beat yourself up when you've not been as good as you'd wished.

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