Cakes and Treats at Work

[WhatTheFlipToDo]

I have worked at my current work place for about a year. I have been consistently a size 12 in clothes for two decades yet I have put on over a stone in that time and size 14 clothes are getting tight. The only variable between this job and my last one is a permanently well stocked table of ‘treats’. So, biscuits, those little M&S tubs of cake bites, donuts, Rocky bars. You name it.

It is a job where you end up incredibly tired sometimes and I have little will power around chocolate at the best of times but when I'm tired it’s a million times worse. Essentially, I eat far more sweet things now due to this bloody table of junk food. Obviously, as I eat things I replace them but then I just eat them again. I don’t know what to do. I’d like to ask the team to save treats for an actual occasional treat but, simultaneously, if I’m the only one who has no will power, is it fair to request they adapt their behaviour for me?

I feel the views in this article sum up my own well. https://amp.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/17/people-should-not-take-cakes-in-to-the-office-suggests-food-watchdog-chief

Am I being unreasonable to want the team to cut back on the treats so I don’t get even fatter or is this my problem to manage? Genuinely contemplating leaving as I just will not be able to manage my weight without a change in workplace culture.

🤦🏻‍♀️

The fact that the communal table of sweet crap exists is evidence enough.

Why are you telling me about your work's biscuit barrel, it has nothing to do with this scenario.

Definitely this!!

Maybe this is partly why it irks me, this office obsession with "treats" i.e. cheap, sugary crap that no one needs - we're not children at a birthday party, so if you want to make work more pleasant, then pay more and provide actual benefits, not biscuits and friggin yumyums.

This. Some people have no interest in hygiene.

Personally I think some of the responses on here are a little harsh. Yes it is your responsibility to make healthy choices about what you put in your mouth but I don't think it would be unreasonable to (a) ask if the sugary treats could be moved a little further away from the kettle, and (b) bring in some healthy (or healthier) alternatives to share. You may well find that some of your colleagues feel the same as you do but just don't like to say so.

To be fair there's been a lot of sad posts on this thread but this one is probably the saddest.

Why do you see willpower as 'performative' rather than 'normal'?

Maybe this is partly why it irks me, this office obsession with "treats" i.e. cheap, sugary crap that no one needs - we're not children at a birthday party, so if you want to make work more pleasant, then pay more and provide actual benefits, not biscuits and friggin yumyums.
It's not either/or though.

If management are doing endless pizza lunches and donuts as a tokenistic tick box for 'wellbeing', I'll be there as the cynical one asking what they're doing about the real issues. I'll also be as cynical about them cancelling meeting time for yoga/mindfulness/other shit that is less useful to me than having that time allocated to get my actual job done.

If colleagues decide between themselves that they want to have some biscuits/cakes available through the week and they find that valuable then I'm not going moan and whine and tell them to stop it. Their food choices have nothing to do with me. I'm free to partake (or not) as I see fit. Why would I want to be the colleague who says waaah, stop having brownies in sight. It's not fair that I might eat one against my will?

It’s the wanging on about it that’s performative. Like the thread about competitive portion sizes. No-one cares about your willpower.

Why are you touching all the treats in the tub? People just tend to pick the one at the top, so others aren't touched.

I think this just about sums this thread up.

Colleague ‘I’m finding it difficult to not eat the fattening foods when they are sitting there staring at me all day in a treats table. Could you keep them where I don’t have to look at them?’

At lot of People on this thread ‘ No. you are doomed to fatness because you are a greedy bastard and have no self control unlike me’

This thread is literally about willpower versus lack of it

Are most treat tables not in the staff room?

I can't imagine why anyone would have to sit there all day, looking at it?

The thread is literally about the OP. And it’s been turned into a competitive portion size style thread.

Although without the objectivity and humour obviously.

You have to admit willpower/lack of willpower is a pretty pertinent part of the thread topic though, surely? @Mirabai

Oh don't be a twat.

As other's have said, there's nothing performative about saying that everything is fine in moderation.

If you don't have willpower, it's not my problem. I don't have willpower either. I just shovelled the last of the cauliflower cheese into me when stood in the kitchen. But that's entirely my own fault. I'm not blaming my husband for leaving it on the side and not scraping it into the bin. But I'm sensible enough to realise, it's not a big deal in the scheme of things. I just won't have half a packet of biscuits in front of the TV later.

Oh don't be a twat.

That was exactly my point. As if OP doesn’t know everything is fine in moderation.

I don’t really need willpower because I don’t like shit food so I don’t eat it.
But this thread isn’t about me.

It’s interesting how we bring our own experiences to bear. I’ve mostly worked in offices. There was no staff room. These treat tables were at the end of the bank of desks. Same where my O H works. It’s in the open plan office there.

Says the poster who’s main point is ‘I don’t need treats so why should anyone else have them’.
No one cares.

People in OPs office clearly enjoy the treats and that’s why so many people bring them in. Get over it. Maybe if you had the odd biscuit you wouldn’t be so miserable.

Being a healthy weight with a healthy approach is performative? Give over.

Easy solution to this one, take them to work. There will be someone there with no will power who will scoff for you.

I get you OP, my downfall would be savoury stuff. In one job I had they used to regularly do working lunches and there would be trays of gourmet delicious Sandwiches, sausage rolls, pies, crisps etc it used to unreasonably annoy me when I was trying to lose weight because I couldn't resist!! 😚
However you can't stop others from bringing this stuff in really. Try to work on the will power is the only thing💪. But I don't think suggesting a healthy eating month of or something is a bad idea either!!

Says the most angry, miserable poster on the thread. I can see why you’d need rocky road.

My point has always been to have sympathy for the OP. The only reason my food intake even came up is because sympathy was taken to mean obesity.

I don't touch all the treats in the tub, but others might, especially with unwashed hands. And if the treats are out of sight, who knows what some people might be doing with them before putting them back 🤢

Tongs would be a good idea.

Going to write what may help.

Then also my view.

1. so eating sugar creates dopamine. People get addicted to having a sugar spike (or any sort of sudden release spike, refined carbs do the same like white bread). When you are tired, or stressed, or generally feeling down. People tend to look for a pick me up, subconsciously. It can turn into an addiction ish thing. That maybe you subconsciously don't realise. But it's a thing. The meds for food addiction are the same as for adhd - I think its dopamine/serotonin creators. So it's literally sort of a need for happy brain chemicals. You could actually get gp help. Diet is actually super important because most life ending diseases seem to increase risk with poor diet.

Also the gut craves what it is used to. I think? I think the microbes that live and develop cause cravings. So if you eat sugar a lot, the ones that thrive off sugar then multiply and crave sugar and vicious cycle.

This then leads me to.
I'm sorry but the problem is yours not your work. Yes it would be great if they would adopt a healthier culture - and this may be great to approach from this angle.
Advocating health of employees and also not having sugar crashes helps with concentration. You could be really positive about trying to replace the sugar snacks with nuts and fruits. Even as a challenge month.
But the problem is yours in your own self control.

And also you will benefit from developing that.
Try just challenging yourself for a month.
(this is a good trick because if you do something for a month it's at that point actually easy to stick with it forever.. The hard bit is the changeover time.. But if you have a timeframe you're doing something then it's 'over',. It's mentally easier to do something hard.)

I do think you could ask nicely at work and see if people will be compassionate and see if they will help you.
But i think asking for it to be removed because its inconvenient for you and you can't self manage is not sounding like a fruitful angle.

If you're asking for help, being understanding of other colleagues, suggesting solutions and coming from a posititon of reason and willing to compromise you may get a lot further with it.

But it won't just be solved with less snacks out.
See your gp about sugar addiction.

You do not want to get diabetes.
Have a learn about sugar spikes from eating foods that raise sugar levels quickly and that might help with motivation /avoiding sugars.