How to handle co-worker sabotage?

RoadsterGirlie

Sportyredhead, I love your attitude!

I do something similar during my workout too. It feels great!

AuddAlise

Just say no, FORCEFULLY! The whole "if I eat one you have to also" logic is crap. So by their logic if I jump off a cliff they have to also? H@!! NO! We're not lemmings. :grumble:

4_Lisa

I have told all of mine "I can't" they look at me funny and I explain that I am changing the way I eat and if I start I may not stop. Most of them have actually started brining in healthier options for those of us that don't want the crap. Or they are at least mindful of the calories and fat in what they are brining.

Rachelle1016

"No thanks, I brought my own snacks today!"

Amber82479

"No thank you. Nothing tastes as good as looking good feels, so I'll pass."

penrbrown

People cannot take no for an answer and sometimes they get offended if you refuse to eat.

I have freaking allergies. Eating most of these snacks is like putting my life at risk (literally). And yet they STILL get their noses out of joint when I refuse to partake.

You just have to stick to your guns and they just have to learn that food is NOT what this season is all about.

Rachelle1016

But I don't keep crap food in my house, so why should I be subjected to it constantly in the workplace let alone be goaded into eating it? It's annoying.

Because in your home it's just you.

In the rest of the world, there's this thing called "other people." They exist. Lots of them. Around 7 billion, last I heard.

Right - and in the real world where we all live and work you obviously don't, there are also things called called "work place rules and employment laws" - Of the 7 billion people you refer to there are also a large number of them who smoke too - so by your logic they should be able to smoke and blow their smoke into your workplace every day and offering you the chance to smoke with them whether you want you want to or not? There is absolutely no difference at all with the exception that junk food is seen as something harmless and "yummy" while cigarettes are not.. Yet obesity and diabetes are as big (if not bigger) health problems than lung cancer is today. People simply need to leave their crappy junk food at home or keep it to themselves, it's no different.

I am nice to people at work, but I do not feel I should need to be in a position where I have to constantly turn down food and have to explain why or come up with bull**** to not offend some fat-*kitten* who knows better. It's ridiculous and intrusive.

Wow, the holier than though attitude and the generalization here is hard to take.

I work in an office with 90 or so other people who bring treats every single day. Every. single. day. Guess what, all but one of us even push the overweight category. The people who bring the most food (brownies, sweet breads, croissants, chocolate, chocolate bread, chocolate criossants, gateaux, cookies, more chocolate ...) are actually some of the healthiest of us all and the furthest thing from fat. They run half marathons or even full marathons, ski from dawn to dusk, organize ice hockey matches, snowshoeing expeditions, lunch time runs, mountain hikes and even parachuting outings for everyone in the office. Every single one of us has chocolate and cookies (and fruit!) in our offices. Heck even the christmas decorations in the office are made of chocolate.

However, none of us accuse each other of sabotage or ambush or whatever have yous because we operate on the notion that everyone in the office is an adult. We can eat as much or as little as we want, our health and weight is up to us. If I overeat, it's my own damn fault. My co-workers don't owe me a thing when it comes to whether they bring treats to the office or not.

Huh??? Holier than thou attitude?? Great for you, you are the perfect human in the perfect office in the perfect world - it''s not really like that everywhere.

Talk about generalizations, look in your own mirror... I like my co-workers and get a long with them very well. However, unlike your perfect office full of perfect people, many of my co-workers are obese and do not eat properly - as you said they are adults - its their choice. Many of them constantly bring crap food in and leave it out in shared eating areas - again, not a big deal - I just walk by it.

No one is saying they are not nice and I am not mean or nasty about them sharing junk food. Point is, my office is small enough, they know me well enough and I have turned down their pushy food offerings on more than one occasion - so it's not a news flash. Continually badgering co-workers to share in junk food when they have already, repeatedly, politely said "no" is at a minimum an annoyance and at the worst a hostile work environment - it is.

There's ways to be nice about it. I'm proud of your food choices, but I hope your coworkers don't think of you as "that jerk who won't even eat a cookie once in a while".

bsix3

Why do we always have to put it on us by saying "I don't want to be rude..." You're not being rude, they are. Now it might not be their intent to be rude but If they had an ounce of respect for you and the decision you've made to change your lifestyle they wouldn't have a problem with you telling them no.

We need to stop making excuses and blaming it on the pressures of friends or co workers. It's up to us!

iplayoutside19

I just tell them it's not on the "plan" that day, and if they're offended that's their problem not mine. After a while though you get the people around you trained so to speak. My co-workers know if I'm going out to lunch or participating in "snack days" I need a few days lead time so I can get it into the plan.

Like tomorrow is a planned Nutritional Disaster. It's "Snack Day", my boss is buying Pizza, and we're going out after work. I've known about this stuff for a week and am planning accordingly.

skinnyinnotime

How about "No thanks".

Derpes

"Just say no", lol.

martha1485

Here is what I do, and i hope it helps. i keep a ziploc bag in my desk drawer and when offered a temptation I gladly take it and mention that I will have it later as a snack or dessert or at my desk with some coffee. then i go to my desk stuff anything i got into my ziploc bag and at the end of the day i take it home with me and give it to either the security personnell or to someone on the street ... then you do a good deed, and don't hurt anyone's feelings.

Acg67

"No thank you. Nothing tastes as good as looking good feels, so I'll pass."

Lol, can't look good if you eat a cookie lololololol

ctooch99

But I don't keep crap food in my house, so why should I be subjected to it constantly in the workplace let alone be goaded into eating it? It's annoying.

Because in your home it's just you.

In the rest of the world, there's this thing called "other people." They exist. Lots of them. Around 7 billion, last I heard.

Right - and in the real world where we all live and work you obviously don't, there are also things called called "work place rules and employment laws" - Of the 7 billion people you refer to there are also a large number of them who smoke too - so by your logic they should be able to smoke and blow their smoke into your workplace every day and offering you the chance to smoke with them whether you want you want to or not? There is absolutely no difference at all with the exception that junk food is seen as something harmless and "yummy" while cigarettes are not.. Yet obesity and diabetes are as big (if not bigger) health problems than lung cancer is today. People simply need to leave their crappy junk food at home or keep it to themselves, it's no different.

I am nice to people at work, but I do not feel I should need to be in a position where I have to constantly turn down food and have to explain why or come up with bull**** to not offend some fat-*kitten* who knows better. It's ridiculous and intrusive.

Wow, the holier than though attitude and the generalization here is hard to take.

I work in an office with 90 or so other people who bring treats every single day. Every. single. day. Guess what, all but one of us even push the overweight category. The people who bring the most food (brownies, sweet breads, croissants, chocolate, chocolate bread, chocolate criossants, gateaux, cookies, more chocolate ...) are actually some of the healthiest of us all and the furthest thing from fat. They run half marathons or even full marathons, ski from dawn to dusk, organize ice hockey matches, snowshoeing expeditions, lunch time runs, mountain hikes and even parachuting outings for everyone in the office. Every single one of us has chocolate and cookies (and fruit!) in our offices. Heck even the christmas decorations in the office are made of chocolate.

However, none of us accuse each other of sabotage or ambush or whatever have yous because we operate on the notion that everyone in the office is an adult. We can eat as much or as little as we want, our health and weight is up to us. If I overeat, it's my own damn fault. My co-workers don't owe me a thing when it comes to whether they bring treats to the office or not.

Huh??? Holier than thou attitude?? Great for you, you are the perfect human in the perfect office in the perfect world - it''s not really like that everywhere.

Talk about generalizations, look in your own mirror... I like my co-workers and get a long with them very well. However, unlike your perfect office full of perfect people, many of my co-workers are obese and do not eat properly - as you said they are adults - its their choice. Many of them constantly bring crap food in and leave it out in shared eating areas - again, not a big deal - I just walk by it.

No one is saying they are not nice and I am not mean or nasty about them sharing junk food. Point is, my office is small enough, they know me well enough and I have turned down their pushy food offerings on more than one occasion - so it's not a news flash. Continually badgering co-workers to share in junk food when they have already, repeatedly, politely said "no" is at a minimum an annoyance and at the worst a hostile work environment - it is.

There's ways to be nice about it. I'm proud of your food choices, but I hope your coworkers don't think of you as "that jerk who won't even eat a cookie once in a while".

Nope, I am not like that at all - the discussion was in the context of this topic which is "co worker sabotage". My response was an honest one.

Plus it's my choice to eat a cookie or not, the same way it is their choice to eat a whole box of cookies. My not wanting to eat a cookie should not make me a "jerk", the same way that their eating a box of Oreos does not make them bad people to me - it's their choice and it does not fit with my own. Again it is a mutual respect thing. The lack of respect is not accepting that "no I really don't want any of your brownies, thanks" for the third time, so stop asking me is not a personal attack on them or me thinking I am better than anyone... It's cause I really don't want any of your brownies and by continually asking me you are totally disrespecting me.

ctooch99

For the most part, people in my office have been fairly supportive. However, there are one or two people here that push food on me, and it's more than annoying.

If somebody brings in cookies and they are in the breakroom, it doesn't bother me, and can walk by them no problem. If they were to put them on my desk, that would a different story!

Last night I did have an incident at a work function where an obese coworker called me out for not eating enough in front of a few of our clients. There was a huge italian buffet. I had one piece of pizza and a few fresh veggies on my plate. He told me that he hoped that wasn't all I was eating since all I eat are blueberries throughout the day (not true, but whatever). It would piss me off enough if this happened during a family gathering, but by a coworker that I barely know was beyond inappropriate.

I do count my blessings that majority of the folks in my office aren't like this, and have good heads on their shoulders.

Thank you for sharing this - this is EXACTLY what I am talking about. This is not being nicey, nicey co-worker guy and offering food - this is a plain and simple FAT *kitten* creating a hostile work environment because he has no self discipline, low self esteem and wants to empower himself by belittling your own self- discipline. EXACTLY what I am referring to...

ctooch99

Many people are comfortable referring to other's as fatasses.

It's mostly humorous - if not maddening - considering that most of us here on MFP are or were "fatasses" ourselves. It's all fun and games until someone mocks the very group of people you actually belong to.

Unless you're just on MFP for the lolz. Then you're obviously never been fat and of course have no need to realize that as you once might have been ridiculed for your weight, perhaps doing the same to others would not be so wise.

But hey - some people like self-loathing. Call someone a fatass. Realize you were (or are) a fatass. Heap that self-hate onto who you were or are. If that's what keeps ya ticking - *shrug*.

Yep, I was and I made a choice not to be anymore through hard work and discipline. I am no better or worse than anyone else - my posts are in the context of co-worker sabotage and I call it like I see it. It is a mutual respect thing. If I have repeatedly, politely said no and you persist on hassling me about not partaking in the work junk food, then in my mind you are a fat *kitten*. I never call these people this to their faces (nor would I ever to anyone), I generally like them and get along with them - but in my mind, that is my attitude especially when hassled about not joing in the junk food fests... sorry it is what it is, call it like I see it.

MinnieInMaine

When I first started out almost three years ago, my boss came into my cubicle with a giant platter of goodies, asked if I wanted one and I was like "OH HELL NO!". Thankfully she was cool about it but I actually felt bad afterwards and apologized to her. There really no reason, IMHO, to say anything besides "no, thank you". If they push, just keep saying "no, thank you" until they go away. That's just me...I just don't think there's every a good reason to sink to someone else's level. If they're rude, keep being polite and be the better person. Or better yet, if you have the time and energy, educate them. Eventually they'll get sick of hearing it and leave you alone. LOL! Yeah, I'm my own special kind of evil.

Nowadays I totally cave and I'm fine with it. The only time there's really temptations around is this time of year and really a couple pieces of fudge a day isn't going to kill me. Today was definitely an exception but this kind of gorging only happens once in a great while so, again, no biggee. I've come this far and don't want to backslide but I also know that special events and work functions and parties are part of life so what the hell - enjoy, have a good time and bust your *kitten* in the gym tomorrow.