What do you say to "food pushers" at work?

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  • koalathebear
    koalathebear Posts: 236 Member
    I was very upfront about it. Told them I was on a calorie controlled diet and couldn't eat unexpected food that I hadn't factored into my daily budget. Everyone has been very understanding. In fact these days they even ask whether it's ok to offer me food and I say yes I'm in maintenance so have more budget.

    I don't like fruit cake, banana muffins, banana cake so when those get forced on me, I tend to just accept them and then throw them away or I'll give them to someone else.
  • TheRoseRoss
    TheRoseRoss Posts: 112 Member
    These are your coworkers and they mean well for the most part. There are people that are legitimately threatened by your dedication, and to feel better about themselves they consciously/unconsciously try to sabotage you. Also, I don’t feel it’s as simple as “I said no! Why isn’t that good enough?” People hold grudges, and simmering animosity can lead to a toxic work environment. Not every hill is worth dying on.

    I often:
    - tell people “oh man! Shoot! I just ate. Let me wrap some up and save it for later.”
    - “I’ve gotta get on a conference call in 2 minutes. Let me take it with me.”
    - Fix a plate, pretend that I just got a text, say “oh shoot! Bad timing. I’ve gotta make a call,” and vanish

    Yes, it’s being “fake,” but it can be the difference between your colleagues not resenting you. Worse case scenario, eat a few bites. I don’t think any of us here are professional fighters that are worried about making weight, or professional bodybuilders on the verge of stepping on stage. Unless you have a real problem with food in the sense that eating something “bad” will send you binging, it may not be worth the anxiety of trying to stand your ground. I have co-workers that “pick on me” and the angst of walking in the door and wondering “what’s it going to be today?” Drove me crazy. I finally figured out how to let it go. When pizza was catered, I’d say “I can’t eat. I’m fasting because I have to have blood work done later.” Anything like that so people don’t project their insecurities, and then start taking them out on you.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,415 Member
    My daughter taught me to say, "NO, THANK YOU," in a disturbingly aggressive fashion when she was about 3. I've gotten more mileage out of that lesson...

    (Her cousin was trying to hug her, and she kept telling him, "No, thank you." The last iteration was delivered in a bellow and occurred on the other side of the kitchen island from me, followed by a thump and scuffling. Came around the corner, and had to peel her cousin off the side of the island, where she had him pinned by the neck. CONSENT LECTURES FOR EVERYONE, followed by a lot of private snickering and pride.)

    If the first "No, thank you," doesn't work, I fall back to consent lectures, and that makes EVERYONE uncomfortable. :D
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    I start with "no thank you", and then I'll usually give some excuse like "I ate way too much breakfast this morning". The important thing is to frame it to make it sounds like "I'm such a *kitten* idiot that I don't deserve the food you are bestowing upon this pitiful soul". People just want to feel good about themselves and some do that by giving food, so showing them that their "charity" is wonderful and that you are the *kitten* for refusing makes them still get that "high" of giving. It's dumb but it's worked for me.

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