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’m with you OP. Temptations in the office are really hard to resist and it would help so much if they just weren’t there but as other people have said it is hard to change everyone else. I think the only answer is to decide that you have a firm rule for yourself never to have any of it. Just one is also too hard in my opinion. If you want a treat then bring it with you or go out and buy it. No one really cares if you say no thank you.

🤣🤣

I completely understand as I also can’t resist chocolate if it’s right in front of me but unfortunately this is your problem to solve not theirs. We can’t ask supermarkets to hide their temptations when we shop. You will need to find something that works for you to avoid these sweet treats. For me whenever I get a craving for something sweet (I gave up sugar a few months ago) I have a tea spoon of almond butter and it actually works (for me).

This is nobody else’s problem but yours. Have some self discipline. Take healthy snacks in to eat instead and stop eating crap. It’s really not that difficult.

It’s your problem you have no self control don’t ruin it for everyone else

Do you actually have to be in an office all the week? Are you someone who is being asked to be in five days a week instead of say two or three, because of someone who micromanages or cannot manage any skivers/poor performers.

Jeez, you're not a child, you're a grown adult. It's not your employers or colleagues fault you're getting fat (and I'm saying this as someone who can't resist treats either) the fault is yours and yours alone. If you can't resist temptation, ask to move to somewhere else in the office or bring a huge flask of tea/coffee in if the treats are in the kitchen and only refill at lunchtime to last you through the afternoon to avoid the temptation.
This is all that is wrong with society nowadays, people constantly blaming other people for their own failures!!

Tbh when the treat table was out all the time in the office I was at previously I soon got bored of the novelty. It's always someone's birthday or end of month. You can use any excuse for cake lol

To help myself I also bought grapes which I left on my desk. It's easier to snack on stuff right in front of you then going looking for something.

You can't really expect everyone to stop snacking though on account of your awol willpower 🤷‍♀️

Maybe assign yourself one treat day a week. Treat Tuesday? Or if that's too tricky, start with one non-treat day a week, then slowly increase the non treat days.

Ps. It's good that you have recognised the cause of your weight gain. First step to getting back in control.

Ok. You know essentially you are being unreasonable. Of course you’re an adult and should be able to resist. But there’s no denying it for some people it’s hard. I’m on your side.
but it is your responsibility to deal with it. And I suggest that you take onboard the suggestions of fruit and veg for snacks.
In addition why not use a hypnotherapy track for binge eating. That should help. There’s Clear Minds or Virtual gastric band amongst others. That should help you control your impulses.
Good luck.

How about trading your relaxed-around-food colleagues for one who has such issues that nobody is permitted to eat or drink at all in her workplace? I've had one like that - it started off as no unhealthy food around her and escalated to full on shaking and sobbing because 'I just know he's eaten something' during his lunchbreak offsite to avoid triggering her.

Or just don't pick the food up. It's not compulsory.

Yabu.

You don’t have to eat it and no one’s forcing you to.

I worked at a place like this and there were usually someone bringing in sweets or our team lead was bringing them in to motivate us to work harder or as a reward. Then, there were people making a show about being on a diet and whether they should have it or not and of course no one is going to tell them otherwise without likely ending up in HR or being seen as rude.

If you know, you can’t stop at a few, best not to have any at all.

Maybe track the treats you eat for three days and tally up how many calories, fat sugars and salt, you’ve consumed. That’s usually quite eye-opening to most because one biscuit could have 3g - 4g of sugar and an adult’s daily intake is max 30g (may be less for women). 4-5 biscuits is already half of the daily amount.

I'm very much like you. If it's there, I'll eat it. If it's not, I won't. Hunger doesn't come into it.

However, it's not your colleagues' problem that you can't control your eating. Sorry.

Ive told everyone where i work now i dont like chocolate or cake. Therefore i dont get offered it anymore, and if its just out i cant be tempted to have any, as everyone thinks i dont like chocolate or cake.

I wouldn’t like this either OP, I don’t buy unhealthy food and thus I don’t eat it, if it’s right in front of me all the time I would struggle. The problem is you can’t enforce a no treats rule on others. Every time you feel tempted to snack make a cup of tea or have some fruit, whatever you can distract yourself with!

Can you have your own stack of snacks like nuts , raisins and chocolate chips that help moderate your sugar levels? And some kind of personal points system where if you don’t take the treats at work for a week you get a treat like some new makeup?

You can't ask the whole office to change for you. You need to learn how to control yourself and gain some will power or increase exercise to compensate for the crap your eating all day, but at the end of the day you can't exercise yourself thin, it has to be diet as well.

Give yourself a goal, an upcoming wedding, a holiday or buy a dress in a size 12 and come up with a realistic date to be in it. 1 to 2lbs a week is realistic and more likely you'll keep it off in the long run. Tracking your calories is the only way to really manage diet, once you start learning how many calories are in that tiny cake bit or how long you'll have to exercise for the work it off it may not be so tempting.

As others have said, it’s great that you’ve pinpointed your weight gain issue - but you can’t change anyone but yourself. So you won’t eat those snacks. So what will you have instead? Can you pack up food to take to work, including some grazing food (like nuts/seeds, or veg sticks etc) for picky food to snack on, not just proper meal food?

break the habit of eating the food others provide, only eat the food you’ve brought but bring enough things that you have a grazing snack option.

posted too soon - you need to work out how you will train yourself to see the food, know it’s available to you, yet not eat it.

don’t start with dieting, but with replacing the food you want to avoid with something it’s ok for you to have, and ideally savoury and more filling. Once you’ve trained yourself into walking past that treat table, eating your home brought grazing foods, then you can look at reducing overall calories in the food you bring from
home.

First step is not to try to stop snacking, first step is to change the snacking then reduce/stop it.

Are they really!? That's amazing!!

*misses point

This. Please don't be an absolute miserable and selfish person. Whatever gives you the right to even think this could be asked of others?? The entitlement is astounding. No one is forcing anything into your mouth, this is your problem to manage not anyone else's Fgs!!

I had a similar issue in a previous job and I decided that I would not eat food that I didn’t bring into work myself.

I still had treats outside of work but I wasn’t going to waste my calories eating at work. I made a decision and stuck with it.

This is a you problem 😢but I sympathise. Someone has brought a really high end box of biscuits into the office this week. I’m starting a diet at the weekend so have been cutting down and the urge to eat them is so difficult to resist. If it was constant, I think I’d be eating all the time.

Stay away from the table .. don't go near it ?