Pushy co workers who give out food

Jbarbo01
Jbarbo01 Posts: 240 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I cant stand this! I have a few coworkers who literally shove donuts or baked goods in my face. I will try to politely decline and theyll be like just have some, and plop it on my desk and walk away. Sometimes I just put it the trash but other times its hard to toss gourmet donuts and food in general in the garbage. Does anyone else have co workers like this that set out to ruin peoples healthy eating? How do you deal with it even if they dont accept a polite decline?
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Replies

  • Rubie81
    Rubie81 Posts: 720 Member
    hahaha! Yes! Usually I say no and they respect. Other times they do actually leave it on my desk. Some times I give it away, other times I'll check the calorie count beforehand. I never trash it, I always just give it away or tell them to take it back.
  • Glasgow_Vegan
    Glasgow_Vegan Posts: 209 Member
    When I'm at a relative's house and they offer food (and ask a few times) I always just say "I'm on a diet" and leave it at that. Then I accept a glass of water or diet coke etc.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    Weird. I had pushy co-workers, but never anyone plopping food on my desk! Keep an empty container at your desk. If they plop something down, put it in there. Eat it if you want to. If not, take it home and give it to someone else. They can't force you to eat anything...ever!
  • smiley245
    smiley245 Posts: 420 Member
    haha I have this guy who insists on feeding me, brings in personal sized pies, baked goods, chinese treats he finds, chips, chocolate, you name it. I do say no, but he tells me it because I'm shy and he knows I really want it....So he brings it to my desk and leaves.
    Frustrating to say the least.
    I now say thank you, chuck it, bring it home....or taste it
  • NewChristina
    NewChristina Posts: 250 Member
    I think I would give them the look. Eyebrows up, mouth pursed. Then say something like, "Seriously, do me a favor and stop bringing me food." And turn away, dismissing her/him. They'll think you're PMSing. But so what. They'll get over it.
  • Apresner
    Apresner Posts: 32
    People don't want others to lose weight for 2 reasons: 1. They will be jealous 2. That might mean they have to change too.
  • andrea9873
    andrea9873 Posts: 171 Member
    Yes I just had this happen last week. it's SO annoying. I literally told her 5 times no thank you, i finally called her a pusher and she seemed to take offense, but that's where it finally got. Someone else in the office also said something to her. For me it was ICE CREAM....she was trying to push ice cream at work for the office ice cream social.
  • amcdonald0208
    amcdonald0208 Posts: 1 Member
    wow...I think we might work in the same place. Yes, there is one person at my work who does that. It's always my favorite candy, you know, right when I'm doing really good & haven't had any in a while. It's so frustrating. I never know what to do about it, b/c I am at work & really not allowed to be mean. I don't understand what would make someone be like that.
  • jeddy3mcc
    jeddy3mcc Posts: 177 Member
    At my old job, it was a very small office so they would just leave Krispy Kremes on our desk, so u walked in to a donut and coffe on your desk. Already screwed and it was not even 8 am.

    Thanksfully i dont work there anymore!!!!!
  • Crystal_Pistol
    Crystal_Pistol Posts: 750 Member
    I'd let my inner ***** out for a second, and they'd never do it again. Embrace your inner *****. When I say no to anything, people know I mean no and typically cease the behavior.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    If it happened often enough, I might ask them if they would ever consider trying to convince an alcoholic that they should just have a beer.

    maybe that seems extreme, but, for many who have been chronic over-eaters, it's quite the same. People who haven't struggled with food don't get that, and people who ignore their issues with food like for everyone around them to do the same. They need a reality check that this is your life, it's not just a doughnut.
  • jpipes17
    jpipes17 Posts: 41 Member
    About once a week we have a guy that buys McDonald's!!! If I haven't eaten breakfast I will usually eat it and then cut back the rest of the day. I've told him not to worry about getting me anything b/c for 1 I'm trying to loss weight and 2 I can't afford to pay him for breakfast once a week.
  • JeffTCole
    JeffTCole Posts: 140 Member
    Happens here too. I say no. I started bringing in healthy snacks to share, and it stopped.
  • Lyerin
    Lyerin Posts: 818 Member
    Thankfully, at my current workplace people are usually only pushing their veggies (too many tomatoes is a common problem here). LOL You could walk away at lunch to find a pile of zucchini on your desk. ;)
  • doin_it
    doin_it Posts: 414 Member
    Yes I have co-workers like this and it seems to get worse when they know you are trying to lose weight. I will usually take it and either toss in in the trash or bring it home to my fiancee. It actually feels good to beable to take something you know you shouldnt have and as good as it looks to toss it in the trash and walk away. It makes me feel more in control!
  • Thad81
    Thad81 Posts: 138 Member
    Yes I have coworkers like this. I try to explain why I dont want it, and they are like "you are going to get to skinny" or "you look good". I appreciate the concern, and the compliment, but it doesn't change anything. I unlike apparently a lot of people, lack the switch that says you have had enough. That oh a doughnut sounds good to me means oh a box of doughnuts sounds good. I can with a considerable amount of effort have a doughnut or some other confection and then stop, but I am unsatisfied the rest of the day and want to eat everything I can see. I hate this feeling, and it makes me want to hate people that are constantly trying to feed me, regardless of their intentions.

    This is one thing in particular that makes working with a bunch of nurses hard, because not many of them eat well, and are constantly snacking. Its amazing how many of the nurses that I work with resign themselves to back knees, backs and hearts as they think they have no control of how they eat, and thus will do nothing differently. This all has been particularly frustrating lately.

    So yeah I agree lol
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    OHHHHHHH yeah...

    I work with 70+ women in one office. And about 75% have obesity-related issues. The junk food that comes through here is astronomically mind-baffling!

    The last potluck they did, I think I was the only person who brought in something healthy: a fresh vegetable platter, with a homemade dressing... enough to feed everyone... There was so much leftover from the event, I took it home and roasted them off.

    The next day, ONE PERSON asked whether or not there was anything left from it. I sadly told them 'because no one touched it, I had to bring it back home and roast it off for future meals'..

    The dressing was saved for baking up some chicken and turkey breasts as to not let it go to waste.

    The bread boule - I chucked it where I cant eat breads.

    But, the cookies, cakes, pastries, cupcakes, fried foods, pizza and junk alllllllll got eaten.... I even got sass from a fellow employee asking 'Why are you not participating?"... I told her "the food that everyone brought in will put me in the hospital with my allergies and sensitivities - there was nothing healthy on those tables except my vegetable platter!!!!!!!!!"

    The dirty looks I got from people but I didnt give two you-know-whats!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the truth and if they cant handle it, tough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    But, these are the same people who praise how wonderful my lunches look, so tasty looking, so healthy, blahhhh blahhh blahhhhh.... get the hell away from me! UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • MotorCityFemmeFatale
    MotorCityFemmeFatale Posts: 222 Member
    After a couple of "no thank yous", I very bluntly tell them that I am allergic to cr*p food. :bigsmile:
  • wildside79
    wildside79 Posts: 46
    I say thanks and take it home as a treat for my kids.
  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
    I cant stand this! I have a few coworkers who literally shove donuts or baked goods in my face. I will try to politely decline and theyll be like just have some, and plop it on my desk and walk away. Sometimes I just put it the trash but other times its hard to toss gourmet donuts and food in general in the garbage. Does anyone else have co workers like this that set out to ruin peoples healthy eating? How do you deal with it even if they dont accept a polite decline?

    Literally or figuratively? If they're literally shoving donuts in your face then that's assault.
  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
    Just tell them flat-out: I am going to throw it away. Do you want to put it directly in the garbage or shall I??
  • HurricaneElaine
    HurricaneElaine Posts: 984 Member
    Well, this isn't QUITE my problem at work - but co-workers do bring in food, put it in the break room with a sign "help yourself" and I walk by the door going to the ladies' and see it. And it's usually something sweet, which KILLS me - cake, donuts, pastries, cookies.. It is SO HARD to not eat it. Most of the time, I can make myself walk away. Yay me!
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
    My co-workers know I'm vegan, so they've stopped bringing treats to me that aren't fruit. In the rare case that someone gives it to me, I bring it home as a treat for my boyfriend or brother. If not, I'll put it in the fridge at work and "conveniently" forget about it.
  • tadpole242
    tadpole242 Posts: 507 Member
    I say thanks and take it home as a treat for my kids.
    this
    I'm offered maybe 3500cals + per week in cakes, snacks and Pizza.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    I cant stand this! I have a few coworkers who literally shove donuts or baked goods in my face. I will try to politely decline and theyll be like just have some, and plop it on my desk and walk away. Sometimes I just put it the trash but other times its hard to toss gourmet donuts and food in general in the garbage. Does anyone else have co workers like this that set out to ruin peoples healthy eating? How do you deal with it even if they dont accept a polite decline?

    I have had that happen. If they can't take no for an answer, then I just throw it away or give it to someone else. Sometimes I have taken it to the break room and marked it, "Please take" and it's gone in minutes.
  • knightreader
    knightreader Posts: 813 Member
    as a teacher, this happens all the time. either kids bring in food for their birthday or the class next door has left overs from their party or whatever. i usually just take whatever i am offered and say i will eat it later, "as i just had a snack." then i usually toss it. or i keep a healthier alternative on my desk, say an apple, then when someone offers me something i just tell them i already have a snack for later, but thanks anyway.

    something similar this weekend, but with booze. i went to a party, and i have been known to put away a few drinks. but didn't really like the drink menu this time, lots of different rums, and that doesn't work for me. so after being bugged about it for the first hour of, "what do you want, let me get you something, what do you want, why aren't you drinking, blah blah blah," i just grabbed a red plastic cup, the same style everyone else was drinking out of, and filled it with water and carried that around with me all night. i filled it like 4 times, so i got my water intake in and people stopped bothering me about what i wanted to drink. ironically, i was willing to drink, just didn't like the drink menu. but totally annoying.
  • MTBrob
    MTBrob Posts: 513 Member
    I have a few of those I shove carrots up their noses when they shove donuts in my face..
  • half_moon
    half_moon Posts: 807 Member
    I give it away! :)
  • hydelaa
    hydelaa Posts: 184
    People don't want others to lose weight for 2 reasons: 1. They will be jealous 2. That might mean they have to change too.

    I DO think this is a big one, it's like they want everyone around them to fail because they want to eat poorly, I see it with drinking a lot.."I don't want to drink alone, so you need to drink w me!" Instead of being an adult and enjoying what ever eat or drink it is in MODERATION and leave the rest of us alone!
  • scowil03xx
    scowil03xx Posts: 45 Member
    At work there is always "tons" of unhealthy food in the area. If someone offers me something and I decide I want it, I accept with a thank you. If I don't want it, I respond with "No thank you". If they do not have enough respect for that, I don't have enough respect for them to not see me trash it.

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