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.

So in short.

No it is not reasonable to tell other people what to do and expect people to change their behavior when they are not harming you.

The harm is coming from you consuming unhealthy food. Part of being an adult is developing the ability to make choices and decisions for the benefit of our own health or suffer the consequences. Ie don't spent your paycheck in a candystore or the choice to go out and drink 15units of alcohol. Just because you go to a pub or bar, does not mean you have a right to tell them they should stop serving a oolcohol. Even if it is unhealthy.

It is up to you to navigate your way through life making decisions on what you do and don't do in your best interest.

A lot of industries are based off of people's lack of self discipline. Ie excessive clothes shopping, beauty, cigarettes, alcohol, cakes.
Yes it brings pleasure but it also is not necessary and comes at a cost if done in excess . Whether that be financial, physical or mental health.

I recently had weight struggles. If you're trying to figure out what the cause is.

Hormones (cerelle was my issue - it lead to weight gain and I've already dropped two dress sizes since stopping it a few months ago).

Stress also adds weight and cravings for sugary things.

Lack of activity. If you do some HIIT exercised that really helps. Walking is not enough.

Overeating. Make your portions smaller
. And drink water before meals.

For me the issue was not the other stuff it was a hormone thing and also a sit down job and not enough high intensity exercise. Running and walking wasn't enough.

If you have muscles they increase your metabolism I think.

I was addicted to unhealthy food as well. So really try and make an effort to reduce stress and reduce lack of sleep.

Good luck! Life is not easy. Having excess weight sucks.

But it is something you can change.
You don't need the office to change its snacks policy for you to get to a better shape.

Its all within you :)

"So in short" 😂😂

The comparison to smoking doesn’t work - no one needs to smoke. Everyone needs to eat.

No one needs to constantly snack.

Some of these answers are ridiculous. ‘Retrain your brain’?Really?

Why is it OP’s problem ? At the end of the day it’s not her bringing all this sugary junk into workplace, but other people. So it seems like THEY have problem with the willpower, as apparently they cannot get through the day without constantly snacking on sugary crap.

It’s yet another awful habit permitted at the office. Why is there a need to eat at your desk? If it’s the lunchtime then just leave your desk and eat your meal in the canteen/kitchen/park etc. Have you ever seen GP eating a muffin while talking to a patient? Supermarket worker stoking the shelves with a pack of crisps in their hand? Receptionist at the bank snacking on chocolate bar at her desk?

If it isn't Op's problem that she can't refuse a snack or treat then who's is it?
How does she go around a supermarket when she knows all the treats are under the same roof?
Just because there are snacks available doesn't mean that everyone else is constantly snacking all day with no willpower.
I might have a muffin with a cup of tea in work, it isn't a lack of willpower though as I'm not complaining about not wanting to eat it. I choose to eat it and I'm happy with my choice.
On the other days I choose not to eat it and I don't feel like I'm having biscuits shoved down my throat if I have one.
It's only a lack of willpower when you moan that you don't want to eat it but you can't help yourself.

I assume she is not spending 8 hours a day at the supermarket sitting next to a biscuit isle? She has enough willpower NOT to buy those things, NOT to eat them at home and NOT to bring and eat them at work. It’s the OTHER PEOPLE that have no self control to a point they have to set up a snack table, because obviously they cannot just have one treat! I mean it’s only logical that you have a constant supply of these things because you want to keep eating them all day?

It’s the OTHER PEOPLE that have no self control to a point

But they're happy with their lack of self control obviously, the OP isn't, so it's up to her to change her behaviours, not expect everyone else to accommodate her.

Ok, there are 2 things to distinguish here - I was talking about the concept of willpower as some posters jumped on OP saying she is essentially uncontrollable glutton that should exercise some willpower, when in reality she is - by doing all these things I mentioned earlier. It’s other people in the office that have no willpower, and the fact that they are happy with it has no impact on that.

Second thing - why should she change her behaviour if she’s not harming anyone? It’s her colleagues that are enablers and contribute to her (and probably others) health problems/weight issues. Having a steady supply of snacks is not obligatory and getting rid of the ‘treats station’ is not breaking any human laws. If someone wants to have a bar of chocolate they can bring one from home and eat it, or go to the shop and buy ONE for themselves.

I'm not sure I agree with that. I think it's about her right to be able to do her job without having to fight that willpower battle every moment of the day.

The only person who’s willpower is an issue is the OP who eats the snacks and then moans about it!
If someone else is happy to buy a snack and eat one at work what is the problem with their willpower if they are happy about it?
Is it “only logical” to assume if you have a ‘constant supply’ that you eat them all day?? Do people not have a constant supply of the food in their homes? It doesn’t mean they need to eat all day.
We have access to pastries, biscuits, even ice cream in the freezer at work but the logical conclusion is not that eveyone is sat eating them all day long 😂

Peacoffee
I agree with you.
We have ice cream at home, a biscuit tin, a box of savoury snacks, crisps, a fruit bowl and other snacky food. Based on this thread our family must be weird because sometimes shopping day rolls round and we haven't ran out!

At many of my workplaces there's been boxes of chocolates, cakes brought in, sometimes being and share lunches. In a big team people can help themselves when they want. Some people might want a biscuit on Wednesday, someone else might want one on Friday, someone else might have one once a day most days because they don't keep them at home, someone else might not take part at all. Everyone is free to choose what goes in their mouth.

The existence of snack foods doesn't inevitably lead to consuming them.

And this is why society, in general, will just get fatter, the strain on the NHS will increase and someone, somewhere is making lots of money

I agree, resisting treats in a supermarket aisle is very different to resisting free treats on a table near you at work.

I think OP could make small changes like bring in low sugar fruit like strawberries and blueberries for the table, or some diced coconut or even cheese and crackers.

That might inspire people to stop bringing in sweet treats.

Just back to see if this thread is still going round in circles!

Some posters are determined to make it about 'use your self-control'.

I don't think that's the point - it's about "is the culture of treat-laden tables in the communal coffee area a great idea in 2023, with all the concern about unhealthy lifestyles and diabetes?"

I use my self-control and don't indulge. But I just think it's unnecessary and giving out a message which is totally out of step with recent research and thinking.

Just put it in a cupboard! People can still have it but it's not RIGHT THERE for those who might be struggling. Perfect solution.

@CoffeeCantata I agree. It's no longer a treat if it's a regular occurrence and available all the time. It also normalises the culture of snacking on highly processed food.

Not seeing these things as treats is a good place to start surely

Malala9845 · Today 11:46
@CoffeeCantata I agree. It's no longer a treat if it's a regular occurrence and available all the time. It also normalises the culture of snacking on highly processed food.

Helen483
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think it's about her right to be able to do her job without having to fight that willpower battle every moment of the day.

Yes - absolutely agree with these posts.

It's a really unhealthy culture - that's the point.

Would you put a drinks table out in your department? No, because alcohol impairs how we function pretty quickly.

Would you put a table with fags on it out, though? Ciggies don't impair efficiency in the same way as alcohol. Well, by the logic of some people on here, yes, because 'you should use your willpower!'. Of course you shouldn't (legal issues aside...) because it's promoting a toxic habit which is almost certainly injurious to health, and it would be grossly unfair to those who have given up or are struggling to do so.

Keep unhealthy habits as a very conscious choice, don't promote them in places where people have no choice but to be.

(And I think some posters are being very priggish with regard to snackers here. I wonder if they'd be equally ruthless with someone struggling with alcohol or smoking addiction?)

Why are so many people keen to blame others for their own lack of self responsibility. It IS willpower, otherwise everyone in the office would be scoffing cake and biscuits all day gaining lbs a week

I have really good willpower and have lost 25 pounds since Jan. I take in lots of healthy snacks and ignore the kitchen and its treats.

But even I can see that a table groaning with free, readily available treats within hands reach at work is vastly different to them being on shelves in the supermarket.

So it seems like THEY have problem with the willpower, as apparently they cannot get through the day without constantly snacking on sugary crap.

This is an interesting spin.

What makes you assume...

A.) They cannot get through the day without sugary stuff just because they bring it in?

B.) They constantly snack on it?

You seem to be assuming that no-one just brings a little box/tub of cakes in, pops them on the table and eats one if they fancy it. In any given week they might visit the table only once, twice or not at all.

No-one has to constantly snack just because it's there, but you seem to be assuming they do/would?

HereToo

Don't go around showing common sense.

It doesn't do to acknowledge that plenty of people can enjoy a little bit of what they fancy in moderation as part of a generally balanced diet and healthy enough lifestyle.

There's a lot of posters on this thread who seem genuinely confused that the presence of snacks doesn't automatically lead to endless eating. That's why the assumption is that everyone else is endlessly eating, constantly grazing, that nobody would keep snack food in the house because it will get instantly eaten etc.

Acknowledging that plenty of people can be in the presence of snack food and use common sense is a dangerous idea because it suggests some level of agency.

Sadly I think there'll be a whole new generation of MNetters in the future, blaming their binge eating on their parents who refused to have snacks in the house, because they didn't trust themselves not to eat them.

So the kids learn nothing about self-regulation and are more likely to go wild with their pocket money, when they're old enough to get it.

I mean they kinda do... More and more people in UK are getting overweight/obese and the office cake culture is definitely a factor. It's all fine and dandy saying that everyone should just be able to self-regulate, and in ideal world we would all be slim, healthy and happy. But the reality is that lots of people struggle with emotional eating and eating disorders. I don't see a problem in workplaces being more supportive and inclusive. It's not like OP wants to ban all treats, people can still eat them.