Wow. You look like *kitten*....

I think you look great and not at all sickly. I would suggest learning to tune out the negative comments. They sound like jealous haters. Focus on building a good support system and spending time with positive people. Don't let these people get you down. You are making positive changes, so keep it up. They are not your friends and you don't have to live your life to make them happy. They sound like they would find something to complain about even if it wasn't your weight.

Yes, you are being bullied. You co-workers are clearly in the wrong. It's not fair. Yes, it would be great if your HR and/or lawyer could make it stop. But I have *never* heard of either approach actually working to change the work environment into a welcoming and safe-feeling one. I would be interested in hearing about examples in which it did. Because usually, people wind up either quitting, or getting involved in a legislative process that is *just as consuming and painful as the bullying*, and then leaving (one way or another).

IMO, the best ways -- best as in, costs the average person the least amount of stress, and at least have a hope of leading to a quick(ish) resolution of the stress -- to handle bullying are:

- Find an ally at work. A confidante, to help blow off steam, or someone who has a bit of power and is not also attacked who can back you up.

- If you have the skills for this (which, sadly, I am thinking, may be unlikely if things have gotten this far, and your confidence has already taken a beating), defuse bullying with humour whenever possible. It can be a very effective way of standing up for yourself. If phrases like 'corpse' are being used, I am guessing the environment may be casual enough for you to potentially get away with some zingers.

To be able to do this, though, requires being able to mentally step outside of the victim position in which they have framed you. Feeling attacked freezes your thinking & constrains your reactions. Like, you have to believe that what they're saying is ridiculous, that they themselves are not a threat. Takes reframing, for sure. As far as that goes, I would work hard at taking in what everyone here is saying: you obviously are NOT sick-looking; these women probably ARE jealous (man it annoys me how often that happens), etc. Find supportive people in your life outside of work to reinforce these (true!) beliefs. Maybe some therapy would help with some of this.

Trouble with this one is, I guess you also have to be kind of funny, or at least have some stock comebacks ready to hand. And it's true that getting the right tone can be a tricky thing.. defensive humour like "well at least I"m not a xyz" probably won't work that well, but absurd or self-deprecating humour might ("yeah, i'm out of embalming fluid, who's in pathology today?"). Nurses often have a pretty dark take on things, idk.

- Find a new job asap. Just change the environment. Worst case scenario and not always possible, I know.

In an ideal world, HR would be useful, and suing people would lead to healthy relationships, but I have not seen evidence that this happens.

The hell? So let me get this straight. Your 'superior' who is threatened by your ability to keep to a strict regime to be better than them, is saying you look sh**?

Humans are fickle and never happy. They feel threatened by you and because they cant do what you've done, they will do everything they can to pull you down!!! Rise above the crap, threaten them with legal advice for harassment and don't listen to the nay-sayers.

You look great and don't let anybody tell you otherwise!

These comments come from my director of nursing, her assistant, my immediate supervisor, and a few fellow co-workers. I even told my supervisor I felt like everyone was ganging up on me, and although I appreciated their "concern," that I was pretty sure telling someone they look awful wasn't the right way to go about anything. I realize no one has ever seen me at this weight. I didn't even weigh this when I first started 8 years ago. I just want to be happy. And I want people to support me. I feel like I have no one except the amazing people I have met on here.

After reading this, I don't need to read any further. Follow the advice of @neandermagnon: get a doctor's note and meet with HR AND your boss at the same time and TELL them that the harrassment WILL stop!
Nursing has a reputation for having a high rate of obesity (irony much), so this sounds like the jealous cackling of a bunch of evil hens! You might want to start keeping a personal diary to document any further harrassment or retaliatory actions, as well as keep copies of your last couple of performance evaluations handy (I assume that you're a good-to-great worker)! Haters might try to turn you into the bad guy so keep your guard up and document ANYTHING that you think might be spun around to be used against you (e.g. you giving health advice upon request ---> you're pushing your healthy dogma onto others).

Good luck and congrats!

(Just to add though, if they are truly and consistently brutal [sounds like yes ] and you are feeling so bad you've developed mental health issues, to the point where you can't put energy into other solutions or looking for other work, then sue away; document just in case.)

Wow. This is unbelievable. I would contact HR & a lawyer. This is harassment, plain & simple.

That being said, they are insecure & jealous. You’ve changed your shape as they have either stayed the same or got worse. I’m pretty sure all of us encounter these type of people every day. Thankfully, not to this degree.

Nursing has a reputation for having a high rate of obesity (irony much),

Yes, it's something that's quite well researched in both the UK and US. The stats are very similar at around 55% I believe.

I work in public health and I believe some of the reasons cited in much of the research centered around coping with stress, issues around shift working (meal planning, sleeping patterns etc), lack of available healthy foods in staff canteens etc etc.

If I recall correctly there was some research not that long ago (last couple of years) that suggested that obese nurses are just as likely to recognise obesity in patients but are 75% less likely to address it by raising the subject with the patient.

There is a huge debate in health care whether medical staff should be seen to be setting a good example or "practice what they preach" so they don't lose credibility with patients.

Interesting subject.

fitandgeeky, I have to agree with you.

Weight is a personal issue...period. Yes, obesity costs the insurance world money. However, until an individual makes up their mind to take control of their health, there is nothing anyone else can say to control it for them. Yes, they can tell them they're too fat or, too skinny and make them feel bad about themselves and tell themselves that they must do something. But, until that little mechanism in their brain goes "click", very little will happen.

Nursing has a reputation for having a high rate of obesity (irony much),

Yes, it's something that's quite well researched in both the UK and US. The stats are very similar at around 55% I believe.

I work in public health and I believe some of the reasons cited in much of the research centered around coping with stress, issues around shift working (meal planning, sleeping patterns etc), lack of available healthy foods in staff canteens etc etc.

If I recall correctly there was some research not that long ago (last couple of years) that suggested that obese nurses are just as likely to recognise obesity in patients but are 75% less likely to address it by raising the subject with the patient.

There is a huge debate in health care whether medical staff should be seen to be setting a good example or "practice what they preach" so they don't lose credibility with patients.

Interesting subject.

Funny.

I work for a very large health care center and there is a HUGE push for all employees to improve their health and well-being. Everything from making rules to encourage us to actually take our earned vacation time, to fitness events, to nutritional education and meal planning seminars, to having quarterly weigh-ins (private and voluntary) with rewards for maintaining or decreasing weight. It's pretty clear that this is mostly coming from a place of reducing health insurance costs for the system, but it should have some nice side effects IF it works the way the administration hopes. We'll see.

To the OP - you need to be documenting every event that has happened starting today. Be sure to record the events that happened in the past to the best your memory will allow, in as much detail as you can. Then you need to have a meeting with your supervisor's supervisor (this is the route we would follow in our system before going to HR - your system may be different, check your employee manual). Lay out the incidences and be clear that you feel this is harassment and that you need it to stop. Document the meeting and see what happens. Often, this step is enough, but if the harassment continues, THEN you go to HR and complain. At this point it is obvious that you have made an attempt to work within the system and the escalation is necessary. Here, if we skipped the intermediate step, HR would just help set up that meeting and tell you to try that first.

The previous poster is right in that it will not make the environment friendly for you, but frankly, it isn't friendly now, is it? If the supervisor's supervisor or HR does their job, it should at least stop the overt harassment.

The previous poster is right in that it will not make the environment friendly for you, but frankly, it isn't friendly now, is it? If the supervisor's supervisor or HR does their job, it should at least stop the overt harassment.

yeah, but there's no getting rid of vibe & any number of covert ways of punishing OP for action.

i now think, get what you can from them & plan an exit strategy asap.