So much food at work!
7elizamae
Posts: 758 Member
During meetings this week there were bowls of mini-candy bars, bowls of jelly beans, three kinds of popcorn, individual bags of chips, and maple bars. The candy bars, jelly beans, and popcorn were all on the table right in front of us during the meeting.
I wish people didn't do that.
I didn't eat any of it but boy did it look yummy.
I wish people didn't do that.
I didn't eat any of it but boy did it look yummy.
14
Replies
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Every day at work they pull a candy cart out in the hall from a supply room that is right next door to my office. There are a lot of minis and fun sizes, but also full size Kind bars, 300 cal bags of nuts and trail mix, usually a couple of kinds of Little Debbie and Pop Tarts. They bring in donuts on Fridays. I do eat a fair amount of that junk but I make it fit; never a whole donut, mostly fun size stuff, maybe a 200 calorie treat every couple of days.6
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Good for you proving yourself to yourself. It will get easier every time. And every time is another chance to make a healthy choice.
My work brings in a great lunch at least once per week. At first they didn't understand why I'd eat my homemade lunch and sit with them socializing. Now that I'm down 100 lb they don't ask anymore.
Be ready for people who push donuts on you and otherwise sabotage your efforts. Feel free to adapt my response to those circumstances. Simply say "I'm allergic to donuts...they make me fat". It shuts them up every time.11 -
Also, sometimes I plan ahead. My lunch today is taco flavored baked chicken (skinless breast meat) and salad; that's under 200 calories. I might have half a donut or a treat or two (if they fun size or mini candy bars) this morning and still have room in the calories budget for a small treat this afternoon and enough for dinner and some fruit tonight. I am a little bit of a hoarder with the candy cart, grabbing a few of the fun size or minis of my favorites when they are out and stashing them in my desk to avoid feeling like I have to grab a couple when they are about to run out. The fun size and minis are usually bags of assorted ones, so the Baby Ruths might be gone two or three weeks before the bag is replace ad it might be a different mix the next time.
ETA - One good rule is that if you are settling for it - don't eat it. For example, red velvet cake/cookies and frosted sugar cookies taste good to me but aren't my favorite; if I was picking a dessert or snacks where there was a wide variety they are not what I would choose. So I try to skip stuff like that when it is the only choice and part of me wants to settle for it.10 -
I understand completely. I work in a kitchen as a chef, and my temptations vary from sweet to savory. I agree with CarvedTones, if you do end up eating a treat you can make sure it fits into your budget. It'll be all the more enjoyable!
Adding onto that, I make sure I eat a filling breakfast before going to work. Or chew some gum when they roll out the cart. Having that strong minty taste in your mouth is going to ruin the taste of those sweets and you will resist them even easier! 6 -
My work is like this too. There is a bowl of mini candy bars in the break room every day, along with a jar of cookies, and one of pretzels.
Every Friday, we have a vendor who brings bagels and cream cheese. At least once a month, there is either a special themed luncheon or an ice cream social. On the first of every month, there's a huge birthday cake with the names of everyone who has a birthday.
I usually allow about 100 calories a day for either 2 mini chocolates, a pretzel on the rare times they have the hand twisted sourdough ones, or occasionally a cookie if it's a kind I liked as a kid. This is my planned afternoon snack.
Most weeks, I skip the bagels, but occasionally I'll have a half for breakfast, or a whole one instead of lunch. If the birthday cake is chocolate with peanut butter icing, I'll have a small piece instead of my afternoon snack. Usually, I can ignore the cake.
Yesterday, we had an 'end of summer' picnic with grilled burgers and hot dogs, potato salad and macaroni salad. I got to check the labels on the burgers ahead of time - 380 calories each without the bun or cheese. Not worth it for a mediocre frozen burger, so I brought a turkey burger from home, warmed it on the grill and ate that on a bun with lots of lettuce and tomato. I had calories left for a small bag of barbecue chips.
If the ice cream social is store bought ice cream and toppings, I skip it, but if it's the Bruster's ice cream truck, lunch is ice cream that day.
With a little planning, I can participate in the food occasions that I want, and avoid the ones that don't fit.11 -
Someone once commented in response to a similar thread that the way they deal with this situation is to not eat anything that they haven't brought into work themselves. I thought that was really useful for someone who really has to abstain and is an all or nothing kind of person. That way you can still treat yourself, but on your own terms and to something that you've chosen yourself rather than just because it's there and it looks tasty.
If you're disciplined enough to limit yourself, include it in your daily allowance and then just walk away, then all the better!
I also think the approach of only eating treats that you REALLY like is a good approach. Don't waste your calories on something 'meh'!10 -
Well if I was in an environment where there was always food available, I would just plan for it. I usually pack my lunch and an afternoon snack. I would just pack a little less for lunch and no snack, and then eat a couple things they had available (if I wanted, sometimes I would prefer to eat my own food)2
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My job does the same. If they can find a way to have a party, however small that reason they will. And party=potluck. We've had 5 full fledged parties and 3 smaller cake only parties in the past few months. It's like a catch 22, don't go and people think you're anti-social or go and torture/exercise your self control skills.
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One of the departments where I often have meetings keeps a stash of chocolate. Not cheap chocolate, either--the good stuff. Whenever I have a meeting over there, I always pre-log a piece of candy.
Doughnuts and things like that are easier for me to resist. I'm not that into doughnuts, and besides, if they've been sitting around the office, they're probably kinda stale by the afternoon. If I really want one, I'll eat half or even a quarter of a doughnut.
I try to ask myself if the food is something special or not. To me, things like prepackaged snack cakes or standard candy bars are not special. I can get those at any gas station if I want them. If someone brings in a homemade dessert that looks good, that might be special and I might eat some of it.7 -
During meetings this week there were bowls of mini-candy bars, bowls of jelly beans, three kinds of popcorn, individual bags of chips, and maple bars. The candy bars, jelly beans, and popcorn were all on the table right in front of us during the meeting.
I wish people didn't do that.
I didn't eat any of it but boy did it look yummy.
What do you care what ppl bring in and do? You do you.
Well, my point was that it was very tempting. It's not that I care what "they" do, it's the need to ignore treats that they placed right in front of me within arms reach during six hours of meetings.
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Someone once commented in response to a similar thread that the way they deal with this situation is to not eat anything that they haven't brought into work themselves. I thought that was really useful for someone who really has to abstain and is an all or nothing kind of person. That way you can still treat yourself, but on your own terms and to something that you've chosen yourself rather than just because it's there and it looks tasty.
If you're disciplined enough to limit yourself, include it in your daily allowance and then just walk away, then all the better!
I also think the approach of only eating treats that you REALLY like is a good approach. Don't waste your calories on something 'meh'!
I like this. Next week I'll plan and bring in something I love that fits in my plan.3 -
During meetings this week there were bowls of mini-candy bars, bowls of jelly beans, three kinds of popcorn, individual bags of chips, and maple bars. The candy bars, jelly beans, and popcorn were all on the table right in front of us during the meeting.
I wish people didn't do that.
I didn't eat any of it but boy did it look yummy.
What do you care what ppl bring in and do? You do you.
Well, my point was that it was very tempting. It's not that I care what "they" do, it's the need to ignore treats that they placed right in front of me within arms reach during six hours of meetings.
Temptations are a part of life...
Personally, I would have just picked a couple of my favorites and enjoyed...or conversely, I often bring my own snacks to these kinds of things.4 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »During meetings this week there were bowls of mini-candy bars, bowls of jelly beans, three kinds of popcorn, individual bags of chips, and maple bars. The candy bars, jelly beans, and popcorn were all on the table right in front of us during the meeting.
I wish people didn't do that.
I didn't eat any of it but boy did it look yummy.
What do you care what ppl bring in and do? You do you.
Well, my point was that it was very tempting. It's not that I care what "they" do, it's the need to ignore treats that they placed right in front of me within arms reach during six hours of meetings.
Temptations are a part of life...
Personally, I would have just picked a couple of my favorites and enjoyed...or conversely, I often bring my own snacks to these kinds of things.
This. There's always going to be a temptation for one thing or another. That's life.
We can't control other people, but we can control how we respond to situations.6 -
As I'm reading this, someone just came in with a box of Timbits and offered them to me
, I took one of course lol 2 -
My work has gone to the open work space type office. I honestly don't mind the treats on a spread type thing and rarely indulge.
But.... What drives me crazy is the guy who brings in fried chicken around 2 or 3 pm every day, and the the guy across from me who eats at strange hours and is a VERY noisy slurpy eater. I can go walk away from the noisy guy but the wafting smell of the chicken is difficult to get away from.4 -
SummerSkier wrote: »My work has gone to the open work space type office. I honestly don't mind the treats on a spread type thing and rarely indulge.
But.... What drives me crazy is the guy who brings in fried chicken around 2 or 3 pm every day, and the the guy across from me who eats at strange hours and is a VERY noisy slurpy eater. I can go walk away from the noisy guy but the wafting smell of the chicken is difficult to get away from.
You don't have a break room or kitchen?? At my old job it was an open space type of environment and they had a rule where you could only eat in the break room. I hated the rule at first but came to like it. Coworkers are annoying enough as is without having to hear them chew and slurp etc.1 -
SummerSkier wrote: »My work has gone to the open work space type office. I honestly don't mind the treats on a spread type thing and rarely indulge.
But.... What drives me crazy is the guy who brings in fried chicken around 2 or 3 pm every day, and the the guy across from me who eats at strange hours and is a VERY noisy slurpy eater. I can go walk away from the noisy guy but the wafting smell of the chicken is difficult to get away from.
Open space office layouts are definitely a special circle of hell.7 -
Last year right before Christmas I was just nicely getting started losing weight and was on a roll. There were so many chocolates and baking for about 2 weeks sitting right behind me. I had to walk by that stash 40 times a day. I told myself that if I could get through the day without eating that stuff I could pick one piece to eat on the way out. It worked well because some days there was nothing left. Other days even though I wanted more I was gone and no longer had access to it.11
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After years of being around co-workers who didn't bring in stuff and brought their lunches from home, I'm now around a group that brings in treats and wants to go out 3-4 times a week for lunch. Looking back, nobody in the former group had a weight issue. In the current group, its more like 50% (granted both sample sizes of about 10).
You just need to do you (as was suggested earlier) and decide what group you want to be in.3 -
corysmithsmail wrote: »My job does the same. If they can find a way to have a party, however small that reason they will. And party=potluck. We've had 5 full fledged parties and 3 smaller cake only parties in the past few months. It's like a catch 22, don't go and people think you're anti-social or go and torture/exercise your self control skills.
Same! Why oh why can't we just have a nice celebratory fruit tray? LOL
When they plan these things, I always pipe up and offer to bring an entree and a dessert. I always make something tasty but healthy and usually a sugar free (not because of the sugar, but because of the calorie count) cake. This way I can indulge with a nice sized slice of cake and a healthy and tasty meal and still enjoy the party within my calorie allotment. If I make it, I know what's in it! Now and then I get a "try my *insert 7000 calorie casserole name here*" and I always nod and say "man it looks SO good! I gotta try that later if I have some room left." That generally satisfies the social need and they immediately forget about forcing their food on me. I've been able to skirt the problem successfully for the past year doing this.8 -
If you make a rule to live by, such as the one mentioned about only eating what you bring in, it makes life easier for me, and might for you.
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At my office, it's the stuff that is always and/to regularly around that I have to watch. Once a month or so special events are generally not what cause weight problems.2
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I find making hard and fast rules for myself works. Like no eating at food courts in malls, or at sporting events, never go through fast food. Those absolutes really keep me skinny now. I have my own business and am not subject to that kind of work environment. But you may just want to make a rule...that only your food you pack is what you eat at work. Good job in staying away from all that!2
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elisa123gal wrote: »I find making hard and fast rules for myself works. Like no eating at food courts in malls, or at sporting events, never go through fast food. Those absolutes really keep me skinny now. I have my own business and am not subject to that kind of work environment. But you may just want to make a rule...that only your food you pack is what you eat at work. Good job in staying away from all that!
Yes to the hard and fast rules! That's how I got to my goal weight. And I am not going to blow it. But it was certainly extra tempting to have those snacks right in front of me all day. Next time, I plan to move seats.2 -
Chocolate cake with peanut butter icing? Move over people......2
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I can totally avoid the waiting snacks and tempatations as 1) I don't usually find them THAT appealing, and 2) they are usually in the "break room."
Harder thing for me to deal with are all the lunch/meal smells - even our break room is open to the rest of the office (around the corner from my desk, but no dividing walls between that and office space), PLUS, a lot of people eat at their desk.
Even if I otherwise wouldn't be that hungry, smelling some great meals can make me think I'm hungry.4 -
elisa123gal wrote: »I find making hard and fast rules for myself works. Like no eating at food courts in malls, or at sporting events, never go through fast food. Those absolutes really keep me skinny now. I have my own business and am not subject to that kind of work environment. But you may just want to make a rule...that only your food you pack is what you eat at work. Good job in staying away from all that!
I've only recently come to this same notion, and it's turning out to be a winning strategy for me. It occurred to me that I don't want to have to make endless treat decisions in the spur of the moment based on the attractiveness of the temptation and risk making my success dependent on my mood or how tired I might be feeling. I'd much rather make a single all-encompassing decision, basically a rule, in advance and just live by it. I tell myself that I can revisit the subject when I'm at maintenance. (Edited to add: I just noticed that this is in the Maintenance category. I'm still in the losing part of my journey.)
I'm the employee tasked with buying the office candy and putting it in the bowls for our unit, and I admit that there used to be a kind of a fox in the hen house thing going on. Since making my no-food except what I bring from home rule, I've had no problem with handling the free candy. Before making the rule, it was a daily 50-cal (min) indulgence, and probably accounted for around 500 calories every week. I didn't even savour the treat anymore.
Meal planning and advance meal prepping on the weekend has helped with my reliance on fast food.
Unplanned impulse fast food purchases/consumption in 2018? None. 6 -
PloddingTurtle wrote: »elisa123gal wrote: »I find making hard and fast rules for myself works. Like no eating at food courts in malls, or at sporting events, never go through fast food. Those absolutes really keep me skinny now. I have my own business and am not subject to that kind of work environment. But you may just want to make a rule...that only your food you pack is what you eat at work. Good job in staying away from all that!
I've only recently come to this same notion, and it's turning out to be a winning strategy for me. It occurred to me that I don't want to have to make endless treat decisions in the spur of the moment based on the attractiveness of the temptation and risk making my success dependent on my mood or how tired I might be feeling. I'd much rather make a single all-encompassing decision, basically a rule, in advance and just live by it. I tell myself that I can revisit the subject when I'm at maintenance. (Edited to add: I just noticed that this is in the Maintenance category. I'm still in the losing part of my journey.)
I'm the employee tasked with buying the office candy and putting it in the bowls for our unit, and I admit that there used to be a kind of a fox in the hen house thing going on. Since making my no-food except what I bring from home rule, I've had no problem with handling the free candy. Before making the rule, it was a daily 50-cal (min) indulgence, and probably accounted for around 500 calories every week. I didn't even savour the treat anymore.
Meal planning and advance meal prepping on the weekend has helped with my reliance on fast food.
Unplanned impulse fast food purchases/consumption in 2018? None.
Inspiring post!
I made it all last week eating nothing but what I'd brought to work. It felt great to have that decision already made.4 -
When folks ask why I'm not having any, I explain that I am allergic, (pause), it makes me fat3
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I make it a policy the only things I eat at work are things I bring. Except for a team lunch maybe once a quarter at a local restaurant.2
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