To not want to be questioned over my diet?

[DIYnovices]

I work in an office where there are always snacks on offer and a nearby coffee shop I often grab a wrap from for lunch or get a coffee on the way in.

I’ve put on a bit of weight because of this. I’m a size 8 and am feeling clothes getting tighter and muffin top appearing. So I’m planning to lose the weight by eating less. I’m fairly sedentary so eating 1200 calories per day would let me lose weight safely at about 1lb per week. I’d like to lose around. 9lb. I’ve done this in the past and kept the weight off for around 8 years without calorie counting again.

I haven’t announced this in the office but people have noticed me declining snacks and eating a homemade lunch and drinking green tea etc. They have asked me and I answered honestly that I was trying to lose a little weight before I had to buy new clothes. The comments are absolutely endless! ‘But you’re not fat’ ‘you’ll look emaciated’ ‘you’ll get an eating disorder’. I’m so sick of explaining myself every day, and I don’t want to appear defensive or rude but I really just want to shut them down.

Thanks everyone. Glad it’s not just me that finds it annoying!

Agee this might be the way to go but how terrible is it that I have to lie just to get people to leave me alone!

It's not a lie though is it?

A homemade lunch and green tea is healthier?

It's just rude to comment on anyone else's food choices, full stop.

to be honest as long as you're not unhealthily underweight its none of their business

That would still be none of their business. In the same way that if someone was unhealthily overweight, it's still not ok for a colleague to question their diet.

Some people, especially habitual snackers or office feeders, get unusually bothered when they see other people refraining from grazing and eating junk.

I tend to frame things as wanting to feel better in myself, making some healthier swaps, cutting down on sugar.

ugh that is so irritating. Perhaps you could just say, thanks for your concern but this is not just about weight loss, it's health related and personal. I'd rather not discuss my health at work. (I know it's a bit of a fib, but if they think there is a health reason, I think they are more likely to back off and go back to enjoying their muffins and paninis and triple caramel lattes , leaving you in peace, plus you'll give them something to speculate about amongst themselves 😂)

Nosy feckers.

I've found that as a slim woman in the workplace you really can't win, if you eat the doughnuts you get the "gosh how do you stay so slim, you must have hollow legs!" comments and if you don't eat the doughnuts you get "oh go on, live a little, you can afford a few treats with your build!".

In reality whether or not I took the doughnut was down to how loudly my dentist was ringing in my ears, nothing to do with my weight.

I think ‘but you don’t need to’, is a stock phrase everyone says when someone tells them they are in a diet. Whether the person thinks they need to or not!!