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.

I have worked in similar places where it is someone's birthday every few days, or there is some reason for buy donuts and cookies. It is frustrating especially if someone says go on have one, it's just an occasional treat (that happens every other day).

I guess the people who say have willpower are theoretically correct, but I can see how it would be a lot easier if you weren't bombarded by messages to eat.

Do really have a solution other than using will power. I suggest not getting tempted to even have one.

That might be true, but she can’t take it to the next step and ask others who can control themselves from having treats because she can’t.

I find the people who are complaining about op's willpower strange. You can still eat chocolate all day if you want - nobody is telling you not to eat chocolate/sweets. why can't you just bring it in for yourself and keep it at your desk? Or in a cupboard in the tearoom? There wouldn't be the same conversation if we were talking about a table of other addictive stuff like alcohol or drugs. Obesity kills.

I'm an overeater and attend overeaters anonymous. I understand your struggle but it's unfair to limit everyone else's treats. Can you keep a stock of healthy snacks to hand instead?

Can you ask for the table to be relocated away from the kettle? That way nobody is being deprived 🙄 and at the same time anyone who struggles with food / weight / eating disorders isn’t constantly being faced with junk food.

If you want to avoid sugar highs, it's better to eat good quality fats, complex carbs and protein, not UPF junk.

Kindly, it's a you problem. Why should others adjust what they do as you don't have any self will to say no? If you can't say no then you need to seek some professional help with that.

I have struggled with overeating and sugar addiction for over 30 years. So I get it. But I don't think you can dictate what others do.
Our office has biscuits by the coffee machine. I have to do what a previous poster suggested and frame them as 'those are not my biscuits' and not an option. Easier than the internal drama of whether to give in and have one every time you walk past.

I'd also recommend the Glucose Goddess and her book the Glucose Revolution for understanding why sugar highs make you crave more sugar and getting better control over your eating in general. Avoiding the spikes has really helped me to avoid the lows that follow and tendency to overeat sugar. I still struggle with disordered eating sometimes but can on the whole manage it much better

This happend to me too at my old workplace. I never used to snack so much, until I worked there, and always had a biscuit with my tea, or a piece of cake for a lift me up. I put on so much weight.

The issue isn't just about about there, you may start to pick up on these habits after you have left there because now you are used to always having a little snack every day.

I would suggest not to cut back everything immediately, but to do it slowly. Position yourself where you don't see these snacks as much, perhaps only have a little snack after lunch only. Bring your own snacks? Maybe looks at the calories, and start to reduce them a little every day

You just have to try different tactics

I feel this kind of daily onslaught of biscuits/cakes/etc in offices will be one of those things we look back on and wonder why it was ever the norm/acceptable - like drinking or smoking in the office.

Most people have a vice that they find tough to break/resist (smoking, alcohol, spending, gambling or junk food). In some cases that vice is actually the result of an illness such as an eating disorder or neurodivergence, or can just be a coping mechanism.

There is really no need for a constant overabundant supply of junk food that makes people have to employ daily strategies to avoid it. It’s not taking peoples choices away in the same way sugar tax does, you can just bring in your own treats? Or make it a more occasional treat?

Previous posters are not wrong, you can’t stop people bringing in treats. But I hear you. This exact scenario happened to me. We always had treats and one lady was a baker as a hobby and brought in the most incredible cakes every week. I too put on a shed load of weight. My job was exhausting and demanding too and the temptation to to indulge was huge. I started bringing healthy treats like strawberries, pineapple etc for people to share and that started a chat about healthier snacks in the workplace. So a few of us decided to do that on some days so we ate less cake. Maybe the way forward is to try something like this and eat cake, chocs, crisps etc a but less often. Good luck!

Look at the glucose goddess on insta, she has a few books too, it's really interesting. Basically talks about glucose/glucose spikes and has tips on what you can do to reduce your spikes, which in turn reduces sugar cravings. There's a new book out which has recipe ideas too I think which would be good. It must be hard having treats there all the time, but maybe the glucose method would help 🤞

https://www.glucosegoddess.com/

Be the change!
We had loads of cakes and a table with unhealthy snacks , which i had to battle everyday. Then we got 2 new teammembers who are serious athletes, busy with what they eat all day.
And they just put fruit and veggies on the snack-table. Made it much easier for me! Everytime i was drawn to the snack table i just could grab a snack-tomato. (And i refill them also ofcourse with healthy snacks.)

It’s your problem. Take some veg snack and humous, or fruit and eat those if you have to snack

and I say that who is someone who is overweight and has little will power myself

You're overcomplicating the problem.
Just stop putting the food you don't want to eat into your mouth.

No you can't ask them to stop because you've no willpower

I’ve been losing weight since Jan (nearly 2 stone so far). One of my low level anxieties is not having enough to eat as that would cause me to buy junk food at the office.

The way I deal with it by having more food available than I can can eat. So on a typical day I take in a home made salad, a protein (fish, chicken or avocado), vegetables, full fat greek yoghurt with strawberries, a cheese slice, a 25g pack of nuts, a Kind bar).

More often than not I take the vegetables, nuts and Kind bar back home as I just didn’t want it. But psychologically for me, knowing it’s in the fridge IF I want it is really important.p and helps me resist treats people have brought in.

Op you are not the problem. If willpower worked society would not be fat.

I’m a bit like this; when my team went on a diet I actually lost a little weight too as I never bought the stuff of my own accord but when it was there I ate it and then felt I had to contribute.
i’m not sure what the solution is though

Sugar and weight issues aside, what about the hygiene side of things and everyone dipping their hands into tubs of treats.....ewww.

I agree this helps.

Bring in carrot sticks and cottage cheese galore. Put some healthy bits on the snack bar in case it promotes change.

If they do office wellbeing surveys, ask for health to be considered more generally- a culture of more standing and walking, neck stretches at the keyboard etc.

Drinks- have flavoured water and tea and what have you and drink before you snack, every time.

Plan a great dinner to look forward to, with a treat afterwards if you've gone all day without raiding the snack bar. I find I look forward to treats and meals so much more now I resist from moment to moment.

All the little tweaks add up to reduce the impact of the snack bar!

I feel your pain OP. I too would be there is a shot, stuff like that calls to me.

how about having a fruit bowl on your desk, or a tub of chopped fruit to dive into, if anyone ask’s explain the issue with the sugar mountain beside the kettle, it’s likely you’re not the only one and hopefully that would start an office conversation that changes the current culture.

Nobody is forcing you to eat. Dig deep and find that willpower. It's not up to others to change their rating to suit you.

I’ve worked in a number of similar places over the last 15+ years and none have had the sheer quantity of cakes/biscuits daily

So what. You don’t have to eat them. You are choosing to. Why should others have to adjust because of your lack of willpower and personal responsibility. Why make it their problem. To change jobs rather than control yourself is absurd. I say this as an obese person who doesn’t touch food at work (or indeed ‘treats’ at home unless someone’s birthday). And don’t go there with ‘so why are you obese’, I’m under an endocrinologist also struggling to work it out given I appear to put on weight just by breathing.

'Obesity Kills'

But what comes before obesity?

Lack of self-control, failure to take personal responsibility, and inadequate or bad choices around real nutrition (as opposed to calories) and failure to educate oneself about the latter.

A hell of a lot of people for example, start their day with a mere coffee, followed by grains (essentially sugar) for breakfast (if at all) then crash in the afternoon and crave a sugar fix. Even so, a lot of people can get away with that because they workout before/after work, but that is one small example of a poor way to eat that will make resisting sweet treats much harder later in the day.

You make it sound like Obesity is inevitable, it takes time and a lot of poor decisions to become obese.