"Why didn't you eat any _____? Are you on a diet??"

I turned down cheesecake at work. Coworker said, lighten up on your diet! I replied I had already eaten a donut and ice cream that day, how much more should I lighten up? Plus side I had room for leftover cheesecake the next day.

SonyaCele wrote: »

regardless of what the food is, i tell people it has too much gluten in it and i've reached my gluten limit for the day. That gets them to walk away puzzled.

And this would be why people are so misinformed about what foods contain gluten and which don't.

I never liked people commenting on my diet, that's why I hardly tell anyone I'm working to lose weight. But I'd do my best to brush off any comments like that and realize it's mostly a cultural thing. Even here, when people comment, I just try to brush it off.

nebulasprout wrote: »

YES this! The other day there was salad with honey mustard dressing, and as I've never been a fan of mustard, I didn't take any. Cue two of my Korean coworkers asking "Oh, Americans don't eat mustard??"

Amazing.

lol yep. I've had so many interactions like that. Oh, Americans don't put sugar in their coffee? Yes, we do, I just don't feel like some right now.

Back to the OP, though - I realize I may be more sensitive than I should be given that people really do study what I eat because I'm obese. The comment I get the most is "that's really healthy" with a tone of surprise, and sometimes suspicion as if because I'm obese I'm sitting around eating fries all the time. I think a lot of people don't realize that many obese people are just eating more food and that we don't necessarily eat *kitten*. Since I've started this journey the only thing I'm changing is portions.

I hope to create a supportive environment around food, and sometimes I wonder how to cultivate it. Once I took one of my employees out to dinner, and we spent the evening talking about the project we were working on. As we were leaving, he was like "oooh, I'm sooo full!" and I laughed and said I wasn't full - I felt great. Then he said "that makes sense - you only ate like 550 calories. You didn't have any of that dipping sauce." My mouth literally dropped open; never in a million years would it EVER occur to me to count someone else's calories and track their food. Big surprise, a month later during a conversation I learned that he has an anorexic sister who's had to be hospitalized on several occasions. I wonder if living in a family environment like that could have contributed or made things harder.

So, when people ask me that question, I just firmly (even abruptly, even rudely if necessary) just say I don't want any. The fact is the reasons don't matter. It could be because I'm counting calories, because I don't like the food, or because I like the food but don't think it's worth the calories (for me, pretty much always the case with sweets, cake, etc). I'm not going into a whole spiel about my thought process around eating it and open it up for discussion, because that sets the precedent you have input on my food choices.

nebulasprout wrote: »

augustremulous wrote: »

I agree. It definitely gets worse when I'm traveling overseas because all of a sudden my eating habits aren't representing just me - they're representing AMERICAN eating habits. And everything I do leads to a comment or discussion about how Americans eat. No surprise - our eating habits have a bad reputation!

YES this! The other day there was salad with honey mustard dressing, and as I've never been a fan of mustard, I didn't take any. Cue two of my Korean coworkers asking "Oh, Americans don't eat mustard??"

Amazing.

Ha. I've gotten critiqued on not what I was eating but how I was eating. I apparently really annoy my German FIL because I switch hands while eating with a fork and knife. He says it is extremely inefficient and why do you Americans eat like that. This is a man that can eat an entire Dr. Oetker frozen pizza in less than 5 minutes. I'm like 'Did you even taste that before it got sucked into your black hole?". Also since when is eating food a race and test of efficencies?

It happened to me at a birthday party... It was lunch time and I was hungry, but I was also PMSing like crazy and I knew that carbs would put me on a carb-eating rampage, so I passed on pizza and cupcakes, and I got a ton of questions about why I didn't eat pizza... Ended up with the host thinking I didn't eat gluten and I had to correct her when she 'threatened' to bring a gluten free dessert when we invited her over (she was being nice, of course!).

So yeah... so annoying!

It happens to all of us, no matter where we live, and it's super annoying. It's also never going to stop. But the people you know and see on a regular basis might eventually get over it, if you stay consistent. If they see you going back and forth, then they'll really bust your chops. Wait until you lose weight and everyone starts crying that you're getting too thin. I wear a size 10, but apparently I'm wasting away into nothing.

nebulasprout is perhaps the coolest name I've read here yet!

If I could go back I wouldn't have told anyone that I was losing weight/ making a life style change. If I grab a donut, (splurge or fit it in, idgaf) never fails my MIL will say "what about your diet?" to which I have told her many times that I am not dieting and it won't cause me to regain 145lbs magically just because I eat ONE donut.

My mother is a lover of only eating a few things, lots of junk food and pop. She was always very thin and is now about 175lbs. She has a comment about everything I eat. I make a salad or eat sweet potatoes shes all "its okay to have a treat" if I have a treat shes all "oh what about your healthy food.''

I have also (not as often as when I was over 300 lbs) gotten "oh are you shopping for someone else" from the cashier when my cart is full of veggies. I did not ever get to 360 lbs from eating junk food, it was over eating pasta and cheese and whole pizzas.

Everyone in my office pretty much knows I'm a health and fitness nut so I don't get that much...if I did, I'd probably just give them a little flex and then they'd realize that they were dumb.

sunparakeet wrote: »

meganridenour wrote: »

It definitely gets annoying. It's crazy how word will spread through the office that you're "on a diet" just because someone caught you carrying your gym bag one day, or you turned down pizza one time.

Yeah for some reason I have a reputation for being a "health nut" in my office. I'm pretty sure it's because someone saw me eating a banana one time.

Hahaha what is the deal with that? Like the other day someone was asking where they should eat for lunch, as soon as I start to open my mouth to make a suggestion, they stop me and say, "NO. I don't like health food!"
Like where did this come from??
The same day another person asked if I wanted a soda from the vending machine, I said "no thanks", and they replied, "oh right, you don't indulge in unhealthy things, do you?"
!$&@#