Who has a brutal temptation enviroment?
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I generally don't eat work treats. It has to be something really special for me to be tempted. It's usually not worth the calories and I end up disappointed in the treat. They generally look better than they taste. I'd rather save my calories for the gelato I have at home.
I usually will wish someone a happy birthday (or whatever the treat/event is for) and then stick around and chat. No one really cares that you aren't eating if you're friendly and participating.0 -
I offered the suggestion that one should not view their fellow employees eating habits as "sabotage" and that in a work environment everyone's considerations should be taken into account. If you don't want a donut, then don't eat a donut, but why should the ladies that want to bring in said food feel like they are saboteurs?
You brought up food addiction, and I challenged you on that assertion as current research does not indicate that food addiction is real; however, there are some studies that suggest food addiction may be similar to narcotic addiction, but they contain the caveat that more study is needed and that there is no final designation as to food addiction.
Its 50/50 coworkers bringing in and salesman, reps, etc. FOR THE third and final time we have established that I am not viewing your group of girls as saboteurs. Not sure why your not grasping that. I think it's courtesy, if I knew of a smoker trying to quit I wouldn't light up a stogie and blow it in their face. The reality is treats will always be brought in, as we have both stated ultimately we make the decision to have the doughnut or not. My home is not filled with treats, why? basically because we are all humans, different will powers. To me its out of sight out of mind. The same people who bring in this crap start a fad diet every other month and complain when they gain.
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I'm a nurse, and an ER nurse so for some reason all ERs have this food environment where there's constant treats being brought in, ordering out, etc. It's HARD. Yesterday was the delicious company holiday dinner (successfully navigated through that - had about 450 cals) but then there was the 2 boxes of donuts, someone made homemade chocolate toffee, someone else brought in chocolate covered popcorn, another yummy homemade coconut chocolate walnut dessert thing, oh and then when I'm starving at end of shift, cupcakes appear. Yea, it's hard
I usually have a small taste of one or two things (log it) and have to talk myself out of eating the rest. 0 -
mommarnurse wrote: »I'm a nurse, and an ER nurse so for some reason all ERs have this food environment where there's constant treats being brought in, ordering out, etc. It's HARD. Yesterday was the delicious company holiday dinner (successfully navigated through that - had about 450 cals) but then there was the 2 boxes of donuts, someone made homemade chocolate toffee, someone else brought in chocolate covered popcorn, another yummy homemade coconut chocolate walnut dessert thing, oh and then when I'm starving at end of shift, cupcakes appear. Yea, it's hard I usually have a small taste of one or two things (log it) and have to talk myself out of eating the rest.
Momma Nurse, I applaud your willpower!
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I always say its not my work environment that sabotages me. Its ME, my state of mind. There are always tempting food around, when I am at my peak strength and motivation I can easily resist, I don't even resist, I am just not tempted while other days I could eat it all.0
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kshama2001 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »I have a "no work food" rule. Which pretty much eliminates all temptations. If I don't buy it and bring it in, I can't eat it. I always make sure I have approved snacks available.
Overall I think this is a great strategy, but how do you deal with birthdays?
I dealt with birthdays in my office by becoming the official birthday baker. No more supermarket cake!
I have to really want cake to even bother with the "birthday" cake's provided by my work. They aren't that good...LOL I had noticed that I was eating things because they were there, and I was packing on the pounds. So, a way to not eat "anything". Say no to Everything! Problem solved.
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I always say its not my work environment that sabotages me. Its ME, my state of mind. There are always tempting food around, when I am at my peak strength and motivation I can easily resist, I don't even resist, I am just not tempted while other days I could eat it all.
I'm curious, if it wasn't around would you be able to resist easier?
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SingRunTing wrote: »I generally don't eat work treats. It has to be something really special for me to be tempted. It's usually not worth the calories and I end up disappointed in the treat. They generally look better than they taste. I'd rather save my calories for the gelato I have at home.
I usually will wish someone a happy birthday (or whatever the treat/event is for) and then stick around and chat. No one really cares that you aren't eating if you're friendly and participating.
This is very true. I do the same thing.0 -
I work with baking and cakes frosting buttercream aghhhhh.
N i have a major sweet tooth.
Its really hard. To cope with.0 -
niragorshia wrote: »I work with baking and cakes frosting buttercream aghhhhh.
N i have a major sweet tooth.
Its really hard. To cope with.
Wow! Don't know if I could do it, I'm pretty strong but buttercream!
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It would be nice if people buying office goodies would have some lower calorie tasty items along with the rest, but let's face it. Bulk buying often doesn't give you much opportunity for that (dozen doughnuts doesn't allow you to substitute non-doughnuts), at least not at the same low price. And have you seen the price for veggie and fruit platters lately? Yikes. Getting things at Starbucks or similar where you select individual items is different.
My previous office had fruits delivered daily. Just single fruit, a different one each day. If you can buy donuts I am pretty sure some apples, oranges, pears or whatever is in season wouldn't be that much more expensive? (I dunno the price of donuts though). Anyway the fruits were really the best part of the office with the excellent expresso machine!0 -
Employees eat lunch in our cafeteria for free. Yes. And no limits, as long as you eat what you take. I do all right when I go... there are always healthy options and they have an excellent salad bar, but you can also go crazy on the desserts and stuff if you've a mind to.0
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Heh...I am one that sends stuff with my husband to get rid of at work. Accidentally bought a thing of unsalted dry roasted peanuts which my family all exclaimed "gross, why would you do that!!". So I melted some chocolate and some peanut butter chips and covered the peanuts, and sent them to work with him. I love the stuff, had a couple and made it poof, cause that crap can not sit around the house w/o me walking into the kitchen to do something, and having a taste. If I make cupcakes, half goes into work with him. I am sure there are people at work that hate me as they eat the tasty goodies, but it is self preservation for me, cause I love to bake and cook up tasty treats, but I don't want them in the house after a day or so.0
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I think company owners and management really need to think about this in terms of employee health. A cake/box of donuts/whatever as an occasional treat is one thing, but fostering an environment of constant junk isn't good for employee health, and therefore isn't good for the company. Don't forget about productivity losses, sick days, and increased health insurance costs.0
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I always say its not my work environment that sabotages me. Its ME, my state of mind. There are always tempting food around, when I am at my peak strength and motivation I can easily resist, I don't even resist, I am just not tempted while other days I could eat it all.
I'm curious, if it wasn't around would you be able to resist easier?
Yes, studies have shown that if people don't see it or it is less accessible, it will get eaten less. Checkout Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, which was available in my library system, so maybe yours as well.
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I think company owners and management really need to think about this in terms of employee health. A cake/box of donuts/whatever as an occasional treat is one thing, but fostering an environment of constant junk isn't good for employee health, and therefore isn't good for the company. Don't forget about productivity losses, sick days, and increased health insurance costs.
Agreed. When we had Mandatory Saturdays, lunch would be provided, we would all overeat, and be in a food coma for the rest of the day. We were really only productive for the two hours before lunch.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I think company owners and management really need to think about this in terms of employee health. A cake/box of donuts/whatever as an occasional treat is one thing, but fostering an environment of constant junk isn't good for employee health, and therefore isn't good for the company. Don't forget about productivity losses, sick days, and increased health insurance costs.
Agreed. When we had Mandatory Saturdays, lunch would be provided, we would all overeat, and be in a food coma for the rest of the day. We were really only productive for the two hours before lunch.
Providing something does not equal forcing said people to eat it. When we have company lunches some people eat a lot and others eat little. I fail to see how it is the employers fault as to what volume of food people choose to eat.0 -
It would be nice if people buying office goodies would have some lower calorie tasty items along with the rest, but let's face it. Bulk buying often doesn't give you much opportunity for that (dozen doughnuts doesn't allow you to substitute non-doughnuts), at least not at the same low price. And have you seen the price for veggie and fruit platters lately? Yikes. Getting things at Starbucks or similar where you select individual items is different.
My previous office had fruits delivered daily. Just single fruit, a different one each day. If you can buy donuts I am pretty sure some apples, oranges, pears or whatever is in season wouldn't be that much more expensive? (I dunno the price of donuts though). Anyway the fruits were really the best part of the office with the excellent expresso machine!
Around here, a dozen supermarket doughnuts is about $6-8. A fruit platter is $15+ and doesn't serve as many people. A dozen whole pears is about $25, and forget about berries, they're astronomical. Apples you could do for about the same price as the doughnuts. They're pretty cheap if you get the really small whole ones that are sold in the sleeve, but those are about 3 bites apiece. Pretty meager offering. You could do it with melon, too, but then you need to cut it up and have something to serve it in - a limiting factor if it's grabbed on the way in to work. Then you have the problem that fruit is not as universally appealing. Baked goods always disappear here. Fruit and veg? Maybe half.
It's not that it can't be done. It's that for this sort of thing people grab things that are cheap, convenient, and they think will be eaten. Having a regular delivery is a bit different (no one rushing around to grab something fast) and more expensive unless the company gets a deal.0 -
I never understood the line of reasoning that because other people in the office like to bring in donuts and what not that they are somehow sabotaging other employees. Every Friday my company, which I own half of, provides some kind of baked goods like donuts or cinnamon buns, and the ones that want to eat some, eat some, and the ones that don't, don't. Or, some people cut a quarter or a half off and eat that.
Does that mean that when one of my staff goes on a diet, that I have to stop buying said baked goods for the other 80% of the office?
Its a fact people bring it in, I don't hold it against them. AND NO I don't think it is deliberate sabotage it was a play on words....by all means buy away. Although a veggie platter would be nice once in a while
We had a client bring us goodies yesterday. It used to be only a half a dozen donuts/cronuts and maybe a little chocolate but this time he brought donuts/cronuts, chocolate, more chocolate and 2 salads.
This is pertinent because...nobody ain't gonna eat the salad. (I took them home to pick at the chicken in them.)
This week at work has been especially bad because another client brought in a huge cinnamon streusel cake that just had to stay yummy and my favorite nuts (cashews) and another client brought in these really delicious armenian cookies.
I grumble a lot about people bringing in the delicious treats but no one's holding a gun to my head to eat these things except me so I have to play around with the food I eat at night (which is most of it because I prefer to eat later at night) and do that little bit of extra cardio and hope that I at least maintain when I weigh in on Saturday.0 -
One of our vendor brought us a HUGE gift basket of chocolates. One of the people on the Xmas party planning committee locked it in a storage closet, intending to save it for the party. The rest of the staff went on full attack, and followed him to the close to retrieve said basket. The chocolate lasted maybe an hour.0
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MonkeyMel21 wrote: »Everyone complains about the weight gain but no one stops bringing the treats in so......
Sounds good, but in my office its outsiders that bring in the food. Patients, drug reps, physical therapy businesses, etc. Except for the majority of the Starbucks runs, more than half the office ends up getting it 2 to 3 times a week, usually the same instigater, lol. They know not to bother asking me though.
Yeah we get a lot of food from grateful clients and customers too, as well as the daily employee bring-in....either way it doesnt matter where it comes from....we've all put on muffin tops, especially the skinny ones....0 -
MonkeyMel21 wrote: »Everyone complains about the weight gain but no one stops bringing the treats in so......
Sounds good, but in my office its outsiders that bring in the food. Patients, drug reps, physical therapy businesses, etc. Except for the majority of the Starbucks runs, more than half the office ends up getting it 2 to 3 times a week, usually the same instigater, lol. They know not to bother asking me though.
Yeah we get a lot of food from grateful clients and customers too, as well as the daily employee bring-in....either way it doesnt matter where it comes from....we've all put on muffin tops, especially the skinny ones....
is that the foods fault or the choices that lead to putting oneself into a caloric surplus?
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I think it's important to remember that for most people, you will be constantly surrounded by yummy easy to eat free-or-cheap food, and you need to be able to figure out how to navigate this fact for the rest of your life. If you believe that you are powerless to consciously decide not to eat food placed in your proximity (or not to eat too much of it) you will be struggling with your weight for the rest of your life.
If it's not a coworkers donuts, it will be client gifts, parties, business lunches, special occasions, neighbors, inexpensive food trucks and fast food, snack machines, etc... You need to develop the skills to control what YOU DECIDE to eat and what you decide to skip. There are lots of things outside of food that are tempting that we consciously decide not to partake in without complaint because it is part of being a well-adjusted adult person. Food should be no different. Just my 2 cents.0 -
MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
Of course its the choices, not the food itself....its just really stepped into high gear this past year, and its most noticeably having an effect on the people who always used to be thin.....they never got into the calorie counting habit! Having a bunch of skinny 20-somethings bemoaning their first tummies has opened some eyes....0 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »I work from home, so kitchen.
I don't work from home, but totally this. I am far more likely to overeat when I'm home.
For those of you who struggle with random work related goodies, just start thinking more about germs and viruses. Sick co-workers coughing. Ink and paper particles that are puffed out of copy machines and printers. All that stuff is ALL OVER that box of doughnuts. Sure, it was nice of Carol to bring in that tray of brownies, but her 5 year old kept sticking his fingers in the batter. And he sneezed in it when she wasn't looking. And the leftover food someone brought in from the big party they threw last night - how long did they leave it sitting out on the buffet table before putting it away in the fridge? Was it stored properly? Eww. I HATE eating group food. If I don't grab the first bagel, I don't want them after people have dug through that bag with their grubby hands. Everyone in the office is always sick for a reason. No thanks
I am so with you on this one. I have seen co workers do some foul stuff with food and I vowed never to eat what people bring in. Like you said, if I don't open the bag or get the first whatever I am good without it!!!!0 -
My house is very tempting, I live with my sister and she has problems gaining weight so we constantly have donuts, chips, pizza, cupcakes, cake, and etc. It is hard to resist but I've been strong!0
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I work in a hospital, and brought in food is a constant temptation. Some of the doctors are slowly changing cultural habits by bringing in vegetable platters or sometimes crackers and cheeses for snacking rather than cookies and candy.
NDJ: rather than feel under attack from the 'dieters,' consider bringing your workers something more nutritious than donuts, but more attractive to the group than say kale. A big middle ground exists, and it is not that much more expensive or difficult to procure.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I think company owners and management really need to think about this in terms of employee health. A cake/box of donuts/whatever as an occasional treat is one thing, but fostering an environment of constant junk isn't good for employee health, and therefore isn't good for the company. Don't forget about productivity losses, sick days, and increased health insurance costs.
Agreed. When we had Mandatory Saturdays, lunch would be provided, we would all overeat, and be in a food coma for the rest of the day. We were really only productive for the two hours before lunch.
Providing something does not equal forcing said people to eat it. When we have company lunches some people eat a lot and others eat little. I fail to see how it is the employers fault as to what volume of food people choose to eat.
What a person eats or doesn't eat is entirely on them. But from a management standpoint, you can't foster or endorse an unhealthy environment, sit back and say "not my problem," and then act surprised when there are negative consequences to the business.
The major corporations know this, as do some of the great startups who are turning into major corporations. Many of these places provide meals for their employees, and the meal isn't a box of donuts.
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I think it's important to remember that for most people, you will be constantly surrounded by yummy easy to eat free-or-cheap food, and you need to be able to figure out how to navigate this fact for the rest of your life. If you believe that you are powerless to consciously decide not to eat food placed in your proximity (or not to eat too much of it) you will be struggling with your weight for the rest of your life.
If it's not a coworkers donuts, it will be client gifts, parties, business lunches, special occasions, neighbors, inexpensive food trucks and fast food, snack machines, etc... You need to develop the skills to control what YOU DECIDE to eat and what you decide to skip. There are lots of things outside of food that are tempting that we consciously decide not to partake in without complaint because it is part of being a well-adjusted adult person. Food should be no different. Just my 2 cents.
I agree with your entire post (again), but particularly the bold. So very true.0 -
There is a bowl of chocolates 18 inches away from me, on my desk for my clients, all day. Most of the time I forget about it, but some days I weaken, especially if it's a certain time of the month0
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