Nosy Coworkers

Mikkimeow · March 2018

I was heating up my meal prep a few minutes ago, and I had a coworker walk by me stirring my plate of spaghetti. She looks down and says, "Oh, I see the diet is going well!" chuckles and walks away. I simply sighed.

My meal prep is below. It fits my macros, keeps me full, and frankly, why should I give up pasta to lose weight when I can eat it and still be at a deficit????

I've found that since my weight loss has become noticeable, the comments have started. It is almost since I started caring about what goes into my body, other people feel the need to also. Many are well meaning, "Oh I see you got the salad!" or " You are looking great, keep it up, don't quit" What many don't realize is that I have been at this for quite some time, and your perceptions on pasta aren't going to persuade me to eat like a rabbit. Good luck with whatever weight loss fad you try this month.

How often do you guys deal with this? What are some things you hear about what you eat/ your lifestyle that just get under your skin?

cmriverside · March 2018

Did you say, "What do you mean by that?"

Because I don't even know what she meant by that.

Peoples' mouths are in motion long before their minds are in gear. Just ignore it.

lightenup2016 · March 2018

I would have said--"Yep, lost a lb last week!" or something along those lines. Assume she's just jealous, feel bad for her, and forget about it. She'll see you continue losing weight...

Or, you can go out of your way to explain it to her, but in these cases, people often don't want to hear the truth (CICO) You might get lucky and reach her, but I'm guessing not.

Congrats on your weight loss!

kschildroth · March 2018

I actually get it a lot. Mostly because I eat vegetables all the time for lunch because I really enjoy them. So they will make comments some snide comment like oh you're eating vegetables again big surprise. I don't really let other people's comments effect me. They obviously are uneducated and don't know my situation.

erickirb · March 2018

Not sure what you mean by meal prep... where they at your house when you were prepping/cooking a large pot to be divided later. If so, they may though all of that was a meal or so, not many meals.

If you were at work, you mean they saw you heating up your portioned out meal? which is what I think you are saying, but you said they saw you heating up your meal prep, which made me wonder.

Regardless, it is easy to say, what do you mean, this meal is 400 calories, which makes up 25% (or whatever) of my daily intake.

ladyhusker39 · March 2018

People can be jerks. Ignore them and keep doing what you're doing if it's working for you.

RodaRose · March 2018

Congratulations on your success! When you work and eat in close quarters with the same people day in and day out, some people are going to make comments. Try not to read anything into them. The comments (good or bad) have nothing to do your achievements.

Mikkimeow · March 2018

erickirb wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by meal prep... where they at your house when you were prepping/cooking a large pot to be divided later. If so, they may though all of that was a meal or so, not many meals.

If you were at work, you mean they saw you heating up your portioned out meal? which is what I think you are saying, but you said they saw you heating up your meal prep, which made me wonder.

Regardless, it is easy to say, what do you mean, this meal is 400 calories, which makes up 25% (or whatever) of my daily intake.

haha, to clarify, it was my food that I had pre prepped and portioned out. I was just stirring it up as she walked by.

HoneyBadger302 · March 2018

Maybe it's because of where I live and/or the type of people I work with, but this isn't an issue for me at work. Most of my coworkers are either fit, working towards it, or care about their health in general. Maybe the type of people my company is prone to hiring? Usually at work if we're discussing anything it's where that "delicious looking salad/meal/dish" came from.

I have ran into it in the past outside of work, however, and then I typically just brush it off and ignore the person. If they are persistent, then I will say that I've talked to my doctor and they are very happy with my progress and plan (even if I haven't) as it tends to shut people up.

Most of the time, the person making some rude comment is someone who is overweight themselves. A women's fitness group I'm a part of has had a few discussions about this, and it is almost never the fit people making those kinds of comments!

If she kept it up, eventually I'd come back with something a bit snarkier.

DarianJP · March 2018

People will always have an opinion. I was eating baby carrots “plain” at work the other day and my coworker said, “Ew! How are you eating those plain. You’ve gotta have some dip or something with those girl.” lol And I told her carrots were the perfect snack because I could eat endless amounts of them by themselves because they’re a little sweet, a little savory and crunchy. Everyone’s a critic. Haha

XxQueenMxX · March 2018

I would have definitely replied with a snarky comment! Sorry that you feel the need to post your diary on here and explain your self to feel better. Next time tell here everything you said on this post!!! People definitely think that "dieting" cosists of lettuce and water. Teach her a little something, so she can take her jealous self elsewhere and/or maybe build up the courage to work on her body! I really hate when people are rude to others!!!

stanmann571 · March 2018

Yeah, I'd stick with variations on. "Yeah, it's going great, thanks for asking" And leave it to them to clarify.

stanmann571 · March 2018

DarianJP wrote: »

People will always have an opinion. I was eating baby carrots “plain” at work the other day and my coworker said, “Ew! How are you eating those plain. You’ve gotta have some dip or something with those girl.” lol And I told her carrots were the perfect snack because I could eat endless amounts of them by themselves because they’re a little sweet, a little savory and crunchy. Everyone’s a critic. Haha

Funny, that's one of the things that I did when gaining weight....

100_PROOF_ · March 2018

Some people are sadly misinformed about dieting in general. There's many at my job that think carbs cause weight gain. They drink gallons of whipping cream and coconut oil and then complain that they can't lose weight. They don't realize weight loss comes down to calories. Calories in calories out. They think just because someone eats low carb that they will automatically lose but that is not true at all.
I just ignore them all and laugh to myself.

MzManiak · March 2018

Every time they see me eating anything, they feel the need to say something. Sometimes it's not even that they are commenting on it, or giving opinions... they will just say what it is I'm eating.
"Oh, a banana and almonds, huh?"
"Oh, you're eating a salad."
"Oh, you got your protein shake."
Like, why? Why do you care? Why do you feel the need to say anything, especially when it holds no value?
*sigh* whatever. Can't choose your coworkers. Or your family.

triciale555 · March 2018

I am a huge pasta person and will always be. Yes, if it fits your daily calorie then it’s not problem. Ignore other people’s ignorance. She sounds like a person that has her own insecurities and since your weight loss is noticeable, she needed to “comment”

Mikkimeow · March 2018

MzManiak wrote: »

Every time they see me eating anything, they feel the need to say something. Sometimes it's not even that they are commenting on it, or giving opinions... they will just say what it is I'm eating.
"Oh, a banana and almonds, huh?"
"Oh, you're eating a salad."
"Oh, you got your protein shake."
Like, why? Why do you care? Why do you feel the need to say anything, especially when it holds no value?
*sigh* whatever. Can't choose your coworkers. Or your family.

I've dealt with my family making comments for years. I learned to tune it out. I guess that's what has caught me off guard. When I was eating like crap along with the rest of my coworkers, no one cared. I work in logistics, and our desks are set up next to each other, no cubicles. A lot of boundaries in general are overstepped. You can't take a bite here without someone asking about. Mostly it is comical, I just thought this chick's comment today was super rude. And I don't want to go into detail explaining to her how you can eat spaghetti and lose weight. She still thinks sugar and carbs of any kind are the devil.

aggiumma · March 2018

Honestly I would just respond "yes, it's going well, thanks" and move on. Why engage with someone who is being rude?

Alidecker · March 2018

I used to get "are you ever going to be done with your diet" I did explain to this person that I was never going back to the way I used to eat, because I would go back to how I used to feel and look. No one really said much after that.

Most of the people at my office understand. When I hit a big goal of losing 100 pounds, they had a food day, but instead of the normal high calorie food of chips, dips and sweets, they had a healthy food day. More veggies, some decent stuff that covered lunch at work. It was nice.

lynn_glenmont · March 2018

erickirb wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by meal prep... where they at your house when you were prepping/cooking a large pot to be divided later. If so, they may though all of that was a meal or so, not many meals.

If you were at work, you mean they saw you heating up your portioned out meal? which is what I think you are saying, but you said they saw you heating up your meal prep, which made me wonder.

Regardless, it is easy to say, what do you mean, this meal is 400 calories, which makes up 25% (or whatever) of my daily intake.

Just because a phrase has become an instagram fad doesn't eliminate its long-established meaning. Meal prep = meal preparation. OP was preparing a meal, hence, meal prep. No multiple meals, special boxes, or photos for the Internet required.

AnnPT77 · March 2018

My strategy? Thick skin.

Remodeling other people's behavior is impossible: A losing proposition.

Managing my own reactions is doable, including moderating the rather natural reaction to be annoyed when some idiot is rude. I don't want others' silly remarks affecting my mood, so I've worked at just letting them roll by. There are limits, but they're pretty far out there now.

In the workplace or with other people with whom I need to continue civil social relations, unless the remark was far over the line, I'd strive to act as I would if the person was just making pointless small talk, and - as social oil - reply in that same vein.

"How's your diet going?" "Great, thanks."

"Another salad, of course!" "Love me some veggies!"

"You're getting soooo skinny!" "My doctor and I are very happy."

"Are you gonna stay on that diet forever?" "Diet? (Shrug) I eat what I enjoy."

Etc. Eventually, my internal reaction tends to settle down to the same neutral emotional level. As a bonus, people who like to needle others sometimes get bored with trying to provoke someone who doesn't seem to notice, and they lay off.

If I can manage it, I want to build a reputation as the person who's calm, civil, well-adjusted, and who takes the high road when others go low. Zinger reactions are more fun, and I sometimes fail myself and go there, but I try to stick to my longer term goal of being the steady person. In that respect, it's kind of like weight loss: Trading off short-term self-indulgence for a longer-term goal.

YMMV.

Nosy Coworkers

Replies

Categories