Does anyone work in an office that sabotages them?

2

Replies

  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    Only sabotaged if you were told it's good for you, ate it and then later found out it was a lie. Buck up.

    QFT
  • kliermann
    kliermann Posts: 514
    Im pretty new to this office and it seems like every other day people are bringing in terrible food for us. Granted its delicious its sooooo hard to keep a good diet with this happening plus i dont wanna seem like an *kitten* to my new office u know?

    You aren't an *kitten* if you say no. All you say is "No thanks." and go about your day. It's not like they are trying to shove it down your throat. People for the most part are just sharing goodies so that they won't have to eat them all or, in the case of one place I worked at, they were ordering the cheapest food to feed us. But it's not intentional sabotage on their part and most people are understanding if you don't want any. Only once has someone tried to cajol me into eating something I didn't want and I just walked away. next time they do that, I'm bringing pickled anchovies to work and bugging them to eat them.


    haha nice and yea if they were just store bought i wouldnt feel bad but since they made it for us i do u know
  • kliermann
    kliermann Posts: 514
    Totally. Every week there is a donut day. Every week there is some sort of potluck. Everybody puts candy on their desks and Halloween? OMG

    hahaim glad its not just me :P
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,993 Member
    I'll usually grab something and then say I have to eat it at my cubicle.... I'm very busy, etc. Then I'll throw it away and later on tell whoever made it that it was DEEELISH!

    And who cares if it's wasting food. Peach cobbler sucks and I rescued a few hundred calories from someone.
    Poor starving people care if others waste food. Just sayin'

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • MissLuana
    MissLuana Posts: 356
    I work in an office with 5 other guys.

    They all eat incredibly unhealthy lunches every day.

    Today, the 5 of them got this:

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSx-zXYcGKGdyFNvDPcb7P3n2Dx2SxerD9tA5i7K3f5lo3RMH9Z

    A deep fried chicken/veal sandwich smothered in sugary tomato sauce and cheese.

    Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa it gets pretty hard sometimes.

    I am gonna go buy a salad and some chicken :D


    OMG...I had no idea such a thing existed!!! I would fall off the "lifestyle change" wagon everytime one of these appeared!!!
  • KoRnKraZy
    KoRnKraZy Posts: 69 Member
    I get offered beer at my office... Probably because I work with a bunch of dudes lol
  • LadyEforReal
    LadyEforReal Posts: 6 Member
    Right Here!!! At the office now..Shhh! They have a potluck when someone gets hired and fired! They have potlucks for holiday that they created! I struggled for a year in this office of the good smelling food and everybody clammering. But I am soo laser focused now. I still participate but I bring a clean healthy dish that I can eat as well, and they ask me for the recipes. You can do this. The key is to stop thinking about dieting, and start thinking about lifestyle change. Omit or substitute one bad food or habit with a good one. Take it one day at a time.
  • ginadaye
    ginadaye Posts: 39 Member
    I'm retired now, a few short months, but this is what I got to the point of doing when something "kept calling" me. Say they bring in a box of donuts and none call my name except for a chocolate one. I pick it up, wrap it in a napkin, walk to the kitchen and shove it into the bottom of the trashcan. Wasteful. Yes, but not on my waist. My hardest thing to pass up was Asiago bagels from Panera's. Sometimes I was lucky and there wouldn't be Asiago . . . then it was easy! But if there was one . . . I'd have half one day and half the next. The other thing that helped me was knowing and hating the fact that all the other women were skinnier (and younger) than me. I'd tell myself that they would be thinking, "Yeah, just want you need . . . " if they saw me into the food. LOL Whatever it takes!
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    I understand that it's upsetting when someone does something that makes it harder for you to meet your goals.

    But you have to understand that they are *your* goals, and they are under no obligation to alter their behavior to help you meet them. They aren't trying to sabotage you, and frankly I doubt that you even entered their head when they decided to do it. And nor should you. They were bringing in sweet treats for their co-workers, and expecting everyone to exercise their own judgement as to whether they'd eat it.

    Exercise a little restraint - you can say no politely. If you don't want to be rude, and if you really want a cookie, then take one. Just make it one, log it in your diary, and adjust somewhere else to accommodate it. Keep practicing at it - it gets easier.

    Pursuing some mystical 'perfect' diet where you consume nothing that you perceive as being even the slightest bit bad for you is recipe for a spectacular crash and burn ending in sitting on the couch eating a gallon of ice cream directly from the container.

    QFT
  • kliermann
    kliermann Posts: 514
    I work in a large office that regularly entertains vendors and donors, so there is always food left over from a meeting or an event. GOOD food. TASTY food. Food you want to hide in your desk drawer so no one else can have it. This is why I try to avoid the break room.

    Ha we dont have a break room so its all put on a desk and im alright i mean they bring in popeys or pizza etc i crave it but i dont eat any but when they make it...i just cant...but i will find the urge to start
  • kliermann
    kliermann Posts: 514
    I get offered beer at my office... Probably because I work with a bunch of dudes lol
    awsome!!!!!! lol
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Does the grocery store sabotage you when you go shopping? I mean, all those offerings of such a wide variety of foods. How do you resist?
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    I just tell them I don't eat sugar. And then I don't eat it.
    If they bring something not sugary, then I already ate.
  • jenf330
    jenf330 Posts: 66 Member
    Haha! Just had this problem today. For birthdays we always have a variety of cupcakes brought in from a local bakery. In the past, I've actually gone as far as to pick up a cupcake, claim I had to get back to work so I'd eat it at my desk, then toss it in the trash in my office. Yeah, I know that's pathetic. But the one time I tried to explain that I was trying to cut back on sweets, they laughed at me and said it was a "special occasion". Today I got suckered into standing there so I just ate the stupid cupcake and now I feel awful. Like literally, the cupcake has irritated my stomach. Awesome.
  • earvizu92
    earvizu92 Posts: 320 Member
    Look away, look away!!!
  • kliermann
    kliermann Posts: 514
    Does the grocery store sabotage you when you go shopping? I mean, all those offerings of such a wide variety of foods. How do you resist?

    if the store offered only bad food for free i would say yes
  • themelmac
    themelmac Posts: 59 Member
    I used to have a co-worker who would not eat sweets of any kind - candy, cakes, pie, etc. - nothing, zip, zilch, nada.

    She was the same co-worker who would just whip up a batch of brownies or cookie bars and bring them into the office for a "special treat".

    We swore she was trying to fatten us all up to make herself look better :laugh:
  • _Liz_M_
    _Liz_M_ Posts: 39
    When offered 'bad' food, would be a good time to do an exercise. Try clenching your lips and shaking the head vigorously from side to side. :laugh: Sabotage buddies are a pest. I live with one. He is called "hubby". :grumble:
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    I'll usually grab something and then say I have to eat it at my cubicle.... I'm very busy, etc. Then I'll throw it away and later on tell whoever made it that it was DEEELISH!

    And who cares if it's wasting food. Peach cobbler sucks and I rescued a few hundred calories from someone.

    I do this when people actually bring me something individually. It's easier than flat out rejecting what the other person made or bought for you.

    But fortunately, most of our office will just put stuff in the break room, and it's kind of an "eat it if you want" thing, which makes it easier to avoid. No one's going to know I didn't eat any unless they come and ask me.
  • kliermann
    kliermann Posts: 514
    Haha! Just had this problem today. For birthdays we always have a variety of cupcakes brought in from a local bakery. In the past, I've actually gone as far as to pick up a cupcake, claim I had to get back to work so I'd eat it at my desk, then toss it in the trash in my office. Yeah, I know that's pathetic. But the one time I tried to explain that I was trying to cut back on sweets, they laughed at me and said it was a "special occasion". Today I got suckered into standing there so I just ate the stupid cupcake and now I feel awful. Like literally, the cupcake has irritated my stomach. Awesome.

    Yup the lumpia got me jacked up feel sick and got the itis it not a good combo
  • kliermann
    kliermann Posts: 514
    When offered 'bad' food, would be a good time to do an exercise. Try clenching your lips and shaking the head vigorously from side to side. :laugh: Sabotage buddies are a pest. I live with one. He is called "hubby". :grumble:

    ha yup im the saboture in my family my wife hates me for it haha
  • mjpush
    mjpush Posts: 1 Member
    Just say it looks great, wish you were hungry now, but may get some later. That way they don't get defensive about their own choices. Also, I like to think of my ability to say "no thanks" like it is a muscle I'm flexing. The more I do it the stronger it gets. So.. thank those co workers for giving you a great work out every day.
  • _Liz_M_
    _Liz_M_ Posts: 39
    When offered 'bad' food, would be a good time to do an exercise. Try clenching your lips and shaking the head vigorously from side to side. :laugh: Sabotage buddies are a pest. I live with one. He is called "hubby". :grumble:

    ha yup im the saboture in my family my wife hates me for it haha
    Willing to bet she has you tagged. :laugh:
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    Haha! Just had this problem today. For birthdays we always have a variety of cupcakes brought in from a local bakery. In the past, I've actually gone as far as to pick up a cupcake, claim I had to get back to work so I'd eat it at my desk, then toss it in the trash in my office. Yeah, I know that's pathetic. But the one time I tried to explain that I was trying to cut back on sweets, they laughed at me and said it was a "special occasion". Today I got suckered into standing there so I just ate the stupid cupcake and now I feel awful. Like literally, the cupcake has irritated my stomach. Awesome.

    You don't owe them any sort of explanation, you know that, right? You can just say "No, I don't want one, thanks. They look great though, enjoy." Don't leave space for rebuttal. "Awwww but it's a special occasion!" can also be rebutted with "And I'm really happy, I just don't want a cupcake/donut/big mac/gallon of ice cream between two desk sized poptarts right now".

    At most, these people are enabling you to sabotage yourself. Absolutely none of the blame for what you chose to put in your mouth belongs with them.
  • dawningr
    dawningr Posts: 387 Member
    Yes.. Cookies, cakes, cupcakes, team lunches, etc..

    Except for 10 weeks a year when there's a company health challenge, then suddenly everyone is health minded :indifferent:
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
    tumblr_inline_mfx5xv4qlT1qktx8r.gif
  • I think that 'sabotage' is the operative word when it comes to an office environment! lol I came in today to two trays of brownies and two trays of large cookies. It was very hard to walk away.

    I teamed up with a co-worker and we ensure we have healthy snacks that we can grab to help ourselves stay in control!!! Just starting my journey and I need all the help I can get!!
  • kliermann
    kliermann Posts: 514
    haha nice
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    I have a saying in my office - your poor time management is not my idea of urgent.

    I think I need a new one - your lack of willpower is not my idea of sabotage.

    Examples of real diet sabotage -

    Being given something and told that it has 25 calories, when it really has 250 calories.
    Being held down by two co-workers while another force feeds you cake.

    If the first has happened, I suggest you double check everything that person tells you in future. If the second happens, file an assault charge.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    Does the grocery store sabotage you when you go shopping? I mean, all those offerings of such a wide variety of foods. How do you resist?

    if the store offered only bad food for free i would say yes

    Not only that, but you go to the grocery store for the purpose of buying food (you don't go to work looking for food), you get to choose what you buy, and you don't have to worry about offending the store owner because you chose fruit over cookies. It's not the same thing at all.

    At some point though, you just have to stand up for yourself and say no. I feel bad even when I'm at a family function and have to turn down someone's beloved dessert. At Easter, my sister-in-law's mom made two different desserts (a cake and a cobbler), and she asked me to try them. I said no. She later asked me to take some home with me. I said no again. I think she felt insulted, but this is someone who KNOWS that I don't eat things like that, and I feel like people need to get it through their heads that at a pot-luck sort of meal, you bring your dish and you let people choose whether or not to eat it. You don't try to cram it down their throats and get mad when they don't want any.