Office Dieters

KwackerJack

A few people in my office are quiet large, Yet all they eat is bowls of porridge, banana on toast, home made mixed fruit etc.

I always wonder why there not getting any smaller, not that it's any of my business or that I care as such.

Is it a social office 'thing' to be seen to eat really healthy

What gets me is some of them winge and moan about there weight and do feck all about it, now that does bug me! Either do something about it or ditch the salad and tuck into the canteen delights and shut up about it!!

The King of Moo

They have frozen pizzas or Chinese take-away at home for dinner.

KwackerJack

The King of Moo wrote: »

They have frozen pizzas or Chinese take-away at home for dinner.

Exactly my thoughts.......never ate a frozen pizza, usually cook them!!

shopaholic01

Most people don't understand portion sizes. They probably are trying, but eating too much of anything will make you fat.


You should do them a favour and knock their plates out of their hands.

The King of Moo

KwackerJack wrote: »

Exactly my thoughts.......never ate a frozen pizza, usually cook them!!

Cooking!?

Well, la di da!

SPS1

It is likely, many of them are clueless as to how to lose weight. Many people of the younger generation still believe for example, that avoiding fat as much as possible on a diet, is healthy. You can only imagine then how strongly engrained such an idea is in the older generation, where in the 80s & 90s it was vilified.

People also like to blame things that are out of their control (hormones etc) for why they cannot lose weight, as opposed to things completely in their control (diet & fitness).

Artful_Badger

I'd imagine they probably make an effort with their diet but dont back it up with regular exercise.

Me I make no effort with anything. So I commend these co-workers of yours for trying.

hfallada

OP they sound like the type of people that do a 30 main jog and reward themselves with a muffin and large sugary ice coffee. Or those people that talk about how they only have Chinese 3or 4 times a week.

veryangryman

KwackerJack wrote: »

A few people in my office are quiet large, Yet all they eat is bowls of porridge, banana on toast, home made mixed fruit etc.

I always wonder why there not getting any smaller, not that it's any of my business or that I care as such.

Is it a social office 'thing' to be seen to eat really healthy

a

Definitely the done thing in office and yes the misbehaving is mainly done at home. I know as I do it. I guess the mentality is that your seen to b trying. Who there doesn't have at least one friend who boasts about their diet and or gym habits.

Good to be healthy and all that but man it bores me hearing about it.

TeddyTedson

KwackerJack wrote: »

A few people in my office are quiet large, Yet all they eat is bowls of porridge, banana on toast, home made mixed fruit etc.

I always wonder why there not getting any smaller, not that it's any of my business or that I care as such.

Is it a social office 'thing' to be seen to eat really healthy

What gets me is some of them winge and moan about there weight and do feck all about it, now that does bug me! Either do something about it or ditch the salad and tuck into the canteen delights and shut up about it!!

They could be eating a lot of the right stuff. But things like sugar in drinks and how much sugar in their tea is really what gets a lot of people I'd say.
Strict calorie counting is probably the best way to go about losing weight. You know then if you're doing it right or not. People might want to lose weight and feel they should be but the odd snack is probably more the issue rather than actual meals. When people are dieting they'll often have 3 health meals a day, followed by a few snacks and fizzy drinks maybe. I saw a great photo last week of the amount of sugar contained in various drinks. Yops were one that really shocked me. Many people probably think a yop is a healthy option and good to have while trying to lose weight. I'll try find the photo actually and you can see.

The Backwards Man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlcL7S1NzGM

Femme_Fatale

hfallada wrote: »

OP they sound like the type of people that do a 30 main jog and reward themselves with a muffin and large sugary ice coffee.

No they don't.

Muise...

TeddyTedson wrote: »

They could be eating a lot of the right stuff. But things like sugar in drinks and how much sugar in their tea is really what gets a lot of people I'd say.
Strict calorie counting is probably the best way to go about losing weight. You know then if you're doing it right or not. People might want to lose weight and feel they should be but the odd snack is probably more the issue rather than actual meals. When people are dieting they'll often have 3 health meals a day, followed by a few snacks and fizzy drinks maybe. I saw a great photo last week of the amount of sugar contained in various drinks. Yops were one that really shocked me. Many people probably think a yop is a healthy option and good to have while trying to lose weight. I'll try find the photo actually and you can see.

Beer and wine are fattening too. At least the beer-drinkers acknowledge this, but it's as daft to wash down your fancy salad with a bottle of Pinot Grigio as it is to have a diet coke with your supersized McMeal.

anncoates

Do you manage to get any work done in between compiling your moral bulletins on your colleagues ?

thecatspjs

It's probably glandular. Show some f*cking sensitivity OP.

phasers

there's a girl in my college like that, she always gets healthy lunches and complains that she never loses any weight. Then after college she'll go into tesco and buy a massive bar of dairy milk to scoff on the bus home

KwackerJack

2 double cheese burgers, large fries, large twisty fries, apple pie, chicken wrap and a diet coke

Oh and would you have a bag of grapes?

sawdoubters

I stay slim by jogging 5 miles a day,10 at weekends

Femme_Fatale

KwackerJack wrote: »

What gets me is some of them winge and moan about there weight and do feck all about it, now that does bug me! Either do something about it or ditch the salad and tuck into the canteen delights and shut up about it!!

That doesn't make sense. If they're eating salads and other healthy foods a lot, then they are doing something about it.

KwackerJack

anncoates wrote: »

Do you manage to get any work done in between compiling your moral bulletins on your colleagues ?

I see them in the canteen, whilst in the office I work!

vitani

Could be that they're only healthy in work. I used to work with someone who had porridge every morning and looked down on me for having a regular scone at the mid-morning break. Yet she'd go home and eat takeaway for dinner 2-3 times a week, whereas for me, takeaway food is something I'd have only a few times a year.

Femme_Fatale

It's probably a case of them eating healthily during the day, and then going on a bit of a binge in the evening, plus no exercise. I'm exactly like that in the winter - although it doesn't cause me to put on much weight thankfully.

KwackerJack

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

That doesn't make sense. If they're eating salads and other healthy foods a lot, then they are doing something about it.

Considering they have not lost a single pound in over a year I would say they salads are followed by a snackbox and bottle of water.

Anyway my office chums or for arguments sake, this involves the vast amount of overweight people.

You see all these American fitness videos yet half the American population are clinically obese.

Femme_Fatale

Not seeing anything strange about that. There are still lots of slim, healthy, fit Americans - they're the ones using the fitness videos.

KwackerJack

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

Not seeing anything strange about that. There are still lots of slim, healthy, fit Americans - they're the ones using the fitness videos.

My point is that because someone looks like there eating/living healthy does not mean they are.

You would think a nation that screams fitness would not have half there population assessed as obese.

Fizman

thecatspjs wrote: »

It's probably glandular. Show some f*cking sensitivity OP.

The OP is showing some sensitivity.....by coming on an anonymous website.

The non-sensitive route is to ask to their faces "Why are you so fat"?

Auldloon

What age are these people? Over the decades weight slowly creeps on unless you are very serious about excercise.

Mint Aero

shopaholic01 wrote: »

Most people don't understand portion sizes. They probably are trying, but eating too much of anything will make you fat.


You should do them a favour and knock their plates out of their hands.

Thankfully some very informative and educational advertisements are being broadcast about portion size. From what I can gather, it's smaller plates should be used for kids, not big plates like what adults eat.

I have made notes from viewing the ads which have been appearing on RTE and I'm not sure but I think this school of thought applies to all meals? In the ads it's clearly a pasta dinner the family are having, but does anyone know if smaller plates for kids could be applied to like....a bowl? For breakfast? They weren't very specific in this regard. Also I get confused as to whether the smaller dinner plate only applies to late dinners or early ones too.

I've tried following the instructions on the ad myself, as an adult I use a big plate but everytime I make dinner I end up with a mountain of food on the plate. They didn't give any instruction on how to avoid this come to think of it, it's far too complex an agenda to squeeze into 30 second ads. Might be best if they launch half hour programmes in the evenings.

seamus

phasers wrote: »

there's a girl in my college like that, she always gets healthy lunches and complains that she never loses any weight. Then after college she'll go into tesco and buy a massive bar of dairy milk to scoff on the bus home

They buy the bar of chocolate because they don't eat healthy lunches, they eat small lunches; a big pile of leaves with a handful of rice or something. Barely enough to feed a cat.

5 hours later of course they're bloody starving, so they buy a chocolate bar. Big lunch is the way to go. Just don't eat a big dinner too.

It's not just about what you eat, exercise plays a massive part as well. There's a girl at work who makes a song and dance out of only being able to eat salads. Thing is, not only does she drink about 3 lattes a day, but she doesn't ever exercise at all. She would rather wait 10 minutes for a bus than do the 5 minute walk to the Tube station.

Worst part about these colleagues is their irritating comments to the rest of us. She's always saying how unfair it is that I have a daily bar of chocolate with my tea and am still slim, as if that has nothing at all to do with my cardio 3 times a week, weights twice a week, Pilates class, Zumba class and and weekly swim. Yes, maybe I do have a high metabolism but I work bloody hard to stay fit.

thecatspjs

Fizman wrote: »

The OP is showing some sensitivity.....by coming on an anonymous website.

The non-sensitive route is to ask to their faces "Why are you so fat"?

That's a good idea actually. OP should ask them why they're so fat despite eating porridge. Get straight to the heart of matters if it's troubling him/her.

shopaholic01

Mint Aero wrote: »

Thankfully some very informative and educational advertisements are being broadcast about portion size. From what I can gather, it's smaller plates should be used for kids, not big plates like what adults eat.

I have made notes from viewing the ads which have been appearing on RTE and I'm not sure but I think this school of thought applies to all meals? In the ads it's clearly a pasta dinner the family are having, but does anyone know if smaller plates for kids could be applied to like....a bowl? For breakfast? They weren't very specific in this regard. Also I get confused as to whether the smaller dinner plate only applies to late dinners or early ones too.

I've tried following the instructions on the ad myself, as an adult I use a big plate but everytime I make dinner I end up with a mountain of food on the plate. They didn't give any instruction on how to avoid this come to think of it, it's far too complex an agenda to squeeze into 30 second ads. Might be best if they launch half hour programmes in the evenings.

I suggest you stop eating yourself. I know you're delicious but it will add up over time.

OneArt

There used to be a very large lady that came into my old work. I mean incredibly large. She came in at least once a week, sometimes twice on her lunch break.

It was always a small cheeseburger, a large Diet Coke and a side Greek salad with lots of feta cheese.

I don't know if she was actually trying to lose weight, but such a meal certainly didn't look helpful.

Durz0 Blint

They are consuming more calories (or the same amount) that their body needs, that's why so they must be eating more calories when you aren't observing them.

I lost over 60lbs (and more importantly have kept it off) and never touched a "nasty" salad. I ate the foods I like and kept it to 500-1000 calories below my maintenance and lifted weights 3 times a week (along with a little cardio afterwards).

Look of shock on peoples face when you tell them you are dieting while you tuck into some pizza is great.
Only thing that beats it is when you tell them how much weight you managed to lose

I notice this also at work. And yes, many people do just order a takeaway when they go home. Or pig out on ice cream etc. I eat way more than most people when I am at work, but then I generally eat nothing when I go home..

Catphish

I don't like knocking people that are making some kind of effort, but it is obvious that the fall down in the plan happens outside of the office. There are few possible reasons for their failure. After a day's work a lot of people don't feel up to pulling out the pots and pans and cooking from scratch, and haven't mastered the pre-prepare/freezing way of tackling it, and they end up ordering in. Then there are people at home that may not be the most supportive, and the 'dieter' ends up caving and eating whatever is made/ordered by the other (I call them feeders). Other people genuinely eat well even at home, but lack of regular exercise is hampering their good nutritional efforts.

I don't think it's fair to say that people are just pigging out when they go home. Some people don't understand the basics of (exercise > calorie) intake for weight loss.

Hey KwackerJack, why don't you offer to go walking during your lunch with one of these office dieters? to offer your support yano?

Mongfinder General

thecatspjs wrote: »

It's probably glandular. Show some f*cking sensitivity OP.

Nothing but a bunch of fat fcuks.

seamus

seamus wrote: »

They buy the bar of chocolate because they don't eat healthy lunches, they eat small lunches; a big pile of leaves with a handful of rice or something. Barely enough to feed a cat.

5 hours later of course they're bloody starving, so they buy a chocolate bar. Big lunch is the way to go. Just don't eat a big dinner too.

This is true. I was never as effortlessly slim as when I lived in Spain. Small sweet breakfast, massive 3-course lunch and a small dinner. It's way more logical. Having a big dinner in the evening is just asking to get fat...why wouldn't you have it in the daytime when you need the energy and have all day to burn it off?

seamus

Mint Aero wrote: »

I have made notes from viewing the ads which have been appearing on RTE and I'm not sure but I think this school of thought applies to all meals? In the ads it's clearly a pasta dinner the family are having, but does anyone know if smaller plates for kids could be applied to like....a bowl? For breakfast? They weren't very specific in this regard.

I'm not sure if you're serious, but I'll answer you seriously; Yes. Children should have smaller everything sizes probably until they're nearly the same height as you (assuming you're not a 6'7" outlier); this is usually when they're between 14 and 16.

Also I get confused as to whether the smaller dinner plate only applies to late dinners or early ones too.

It doesn't matter.

I've tried following the instructions on the ad myself, as an adult I use a big plate but everytime I make dinner I end up with a mountain of food on the plate. They didn't give any instruction on how to avoid this

Studies have proven that adults who use smaller plates for their food will eat less. It actually fools your brain, and it sounds like it shouldn't work, but apparently it does. A mountain of food on a small plate looks like "more" than the same amount of food on a big plate, so you will feel full faster.

This is the same basis on which you should use smaller plates for children; if you give them a child's portion on a big plate, both you and the child will feel like it's not enough and so you will feed them more.

This is probably to do with a quirk of circular area, and it's most noticeable in pizzas.

The difference between a 7" pizza and a 9" pizza, is 2", right. So a 9" pizza is about 29% larger (just less than a third) than the 7", right? Nope. A 9" pizza is 65% larger than a 7". Think about that in calorie terms, even though you'd often say, "Nah a 7" isn't enough, a 9" is a little more, I'll go for that.", you're actually making a massive jump in portion size.

(A 10" pizza FWIW is more than twice as large as a 7")

The same principle applies to plate size. A couple of inches in the difference can mean portions twice the size, and you won't even realise it.

Muise...

Kinley Shaggy Marinade wrote: »

Worst part about these colleagues is their irritating comments to the rest of us. She's always saying how unfair it is that I have a daily bar of chocolate with my tea and am still slim, as if that has nothing at all to do with my cardio 3 times a week, weights twice a week, Pilates class, Zumba class and and weekly swim. Yes, maybe I do have a high metabolism but I work bloody hard to stay fit.

Tell her you have worms. She'll stay away from you then.

seamus

Kinley Shaggy Marinade wrote: »

It's not just about what you eat, exercise plays a massive part as well. There's a girl at work who makes a song and dance out of only being able to eat salads. Thing is, not only does she drink about 3 lattes a day, but she doesn't ever exercise at all. She would rather wait 10 minutes for a bus than do the 5 minute walk to the Tube station.

Exercise actually isn't that important if your goal is weight less. On raw figures, exercise doesn't give you much bang for your buck. Cutting 300 calories out of your diet is easy. Burning 300 calories in the gym is not, for most people.

It's a myth that you need to exercise to lose weight. It helps, but you certainly can lose all the weight you want without lifting a finger.

But like you point out, there are knock-on effects to exercising which include improved metabolism, so in the long-term exercise makes it far easier to maintain weight loss with less effort. On top of being able to run for busses, etc.

Or to steal from the Oatmeal, one of the best things about exercising is being able to occassionally go fncking mental and pig out and not feel guilty about it or worry about your weight.

Frogdog

KwackerJack wrote: »

A few people in my office are quiet large, Yet all they eat is bowls of porridge, banana on toast, home made mixed fruit etc.

I always wonder why there not getting any smaller, not that it's any of my business or that I care as such.

This, OP. What they're eating are processed carbohydrate (porridge, toast) or fruit (which as well as being mainly carbohydrate, are full of sugar, in particular the nasty kind, fructose). They'd be much better off eating foods higher in protein and/or fat. More filling, usually/normally more nutritious and more conducive to healthy fat loss.

I bet if they swopped some of the above for say, a 4 egg omelette with green leafy veg and some form of protein like smoked salmon, what the difference would be in a few weeks! :cool:

jimgoose

Did anyone else think the thread was about uptight, slightly innocent German fellas like yer maun in Killinaskully??

4zn76tysfajdxp

seamus wrote: »

The difference between a 7" pizza and a 9" pizza, is 2", right. So a 9" pizza is about 29% larger (just less than a third) than the 7", right? Nope. A 9" pizza is 65% larger than a 7". Think about that in calorie terms, even though you'd often say, "Nah a 7" isn't enough, a 9" is a little more, I'll go for that.", you're actually making a massive jump in portion size.

(A 10" pizza FWIW is more than twice as large as a 7")

Once I figure this one out, I'm gonna reward myself with a tiny 10" pizza.

Ihatecuddles

I know a morbidly obese girl who eats very healthy in work, but eats massive portions of frozens meals at home. Would eat 3 packets of crisps and 2 chocolate bars after, its very sad to be honest. She would probably enjoy 1 bar in work if she could, but spends all day thinking about it and ends up eating non stop.

thecatspjs

Bexley Slow Tumbleweed wrote: »

Once I figure this one out, I'm gonna reward myself with a tiny 10" pizza.

pi x radius squared!. Mathematics bitch!

Muise...

Bexley Slow Tumbleweed wrote: »

Once I figure this one out, I'm gonna reward myself with a tiny 10" pizza.

I think it's to do with circumference - C = π x d = 2π x r

mmmmm π

pizza π

Ihatecuddles

I suddenly feel weird about my chicken wing, caesar salad and peshwari naan bread diiner sitting in front of me.

bmwguy

Bexley Slow Tumbleweed wrote: »

Once I figure this one out, I'm gonna reward myself with a tiny 10" pizza.

Pi x radius squared is the area of a circle (pizza is a circle)
Pi is 3.14

Area 7 inch is 3.14 x 3.5 x 3.5 = 38sq inches approx (no calculator to hand)

Area 10 inch is 3.14 x 5 x 5 = 79 approx

Area 12 inch is approx 113 (3 7 inches)

Area 16 inch about 200 nearly double a 12 inch

Apologies for boring post sitting on the train very bored

Ihatecuddles

bmwguy wrote: »

Pi x radius squared is the area of a circle (pizza is a circle)
Pi is 3.14

Area 7 inch is 3.14 x 3.5 x 3.5 = 38sq inches approx (no calculator to hand)

Area 10 inch is 3.14 x 5 x 5 = 79 approx

Area 12 inch is approx 113 (3 7 inches)

Area 16 inch about 200 nearly double a 12 inch

Apologies for boring post sitting on the train very bored

You shall forever be known as trainguy.


Just by me though :P

razorblunt

Don't forget if you're on a diet in work the Friday treats and spontaneous birthday cake have zero calories ... Fact!!