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How on earth has this degraded into a "friends" issue or somehow some friggin' way to find out who your true friends are? Ridiculous. You know, Im not sure what planet you are from, but here on Earth its considered good manners to offer someone food if you have it. Its not a "Oh Im not going to be your friend because you offered me doughnuts". Ridiculous.
Again, its very very very very very very simple. Someone offers you food you say "No thank you". That is it. If they insist, you just say "no thank you" again. This isnt grade school where there is OOOhhhh so much peer pressure going on and you feel you have to do it to be with the "in" crowd.
It may depend where you live and what foods dominate. Also, if you used to eat a lot of sugar/fatty foods and all of the sudden you are not...that will look weird to the other people (especially when they don't know you well). In their eyes you are doing a "crazy" diet.
I would say try to bring your own snacks and show them you are eating snacks (if needed), just not the suggary kinds from before...you're modyfing intake of certain foods due to weight, health, or whatever. Don't preach too much but explain a bit about your choices. Perhaps others will join you.
The company I work for has it's own "biggest loser" challenge. The different teams share tips, workouts, etc. It's peer pressure to healthy habits.
I keep returning to this thought and I'm guessing that most people's knee jerk reaction would be no, that there is more pressure to be thin, but I don't think that's so. People are always bringing stuff to work to eat and going out for pizza together and once when I stopped eating sweets--no other dietary changes but that--I had a man ask me when I was going to get off that crazy diet. I have been pressured on numerous occasions to eat some dessert or to get ice cream and people look at me like I'm crazy if I say no. Also, even diabetics aren't taken seriously when they're trying to cut back, which is crazy. It's that old, "C'mon, don't be a stick in the mud--we're all eating it so join us." The amount of candy that the kids get on holidays is insane and the cookies at Christmas and they're so hurt if you won't try them. I have been firm but I feel like I have to avoid people when I'm trying to lose weight and I know it's not just me.
Yeh.
I don't bother avoid them. I just say no thanks. Very rarely is anyone super pushy. It seemed like people were more pushy when I was heavier and like mid diet loss range. I guess now I just look like I know what I am talking about when I say that **** is bad for you? Ha ha!
First off, NO! NO, I do not think there is any social pressure to eat.
Secondly, I think its a combination of it just being you, and the people who surround you.
I DO NOT think there is any social pressure to eat. Again, it depends on the type of people who are in your social circle though. Even still, if its important to YOU to maintain your health/fitness/nutrition intake you should not give a flying you-know-what about what anyone else thinks or says.
I should have posted the caveat that I was trying to start a discussion, not a complaint of how I can't lose weight b/c of social pressure. I certainly can say no and have plenty of times and I don't worry what they'll think, but I have noticed the pressure and others have surely faced the same pressure I have. I mean I did stay off sugar for a couple of years at least after the crazy diet comment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns
There is a ton of social pressure to eat, so take advantage of it -- use it to find out who your real friends are.
OK, I should probably not mention this on a public forum but one of the meanest things I ever did, to someone who totally deserved it, was to bring in cookies the day after a hated co-worker announced that she'd started a diet to lose weight for her wedding. She was going around behind my back spreading lies about me to get me fired, or at least to keep me from being promoted, so I didn't feel one bit bad and she fell right off that diet and into my cookie plate and I didn't even eat any of them, lol. Then another time, I found out there was a big bowl of candy bars in the teacher's lounge and I made sure to let her know. She gained instead of lost, before the wedding. Hehe. But, the thing is, I shared the cookies with my friends too, so not sure what that says about me.
I should have posted the caveat that I was trying to start a discussion, not a complaint of how I can't lose weight b/c of social pressure. I certainly can say no and have plenty of times and I don't worry what they'll think, but I have noticed the pressure and others have surely faced the same pressure I have. I mean I did stay off sugar for a couple of years at least after the crazy diet comment.
OK, I should probably not mention this on a public forum but one of the meanest things I ever did, to someone who totally deserved it, was to bring in cookies the day after a hated co-worker announced that she'd started a diet to lose weight for her wedding. She was going around behind my back spreading lies about me to get me fired, or at least to keep me from being promoted, so I didn't feel one bit bad and she fell right off that diet and into my cookie plate and I didn't even eat any of them, lol. Then another time, I found out there was a big bowl of candy bars in the teacher's lounge and I made sure to let her know. She gained instead of lost, before the wedding. Hehe. But, the thing is, I shared the cookies with my friends too, so not sure what that says about me.
That last line is hysterical, I would have done the same thing if she did that to me.
Uh, except for my mother (who is asian and therefore ethnic and therefore thinks stuffing your face is a sign of love), I don't feel 'pressured' to eat anything in social or work circles.
I think the 'pressure' that does happen is regarding most people's inability to do anything social without bringing food into the equation. If all you can come up with to do with me is go out to dinner...and that is the only way you know how to interact or socialize (which for most people is 100% true), then it's more like you are pressured to hang out in food-type locales, most of which are not going to serve anything worth eating.
People are weird...they will always focus on food. I bring whole, home-cooked food to work. And cut-up fruits...and not ONE DAY goes by that people don't walk by, look over my shoulder, and make some kind of comment about the food (usually, "Mmmm...that looks good," or "You eat so healthy"). Not one single day.
I think the pressure of social eating is alive and well. True, it's up to the individual to decline the food. But some people are so persistent, actually going so far as to sneak the unwanted food into my purse or putting a plate of it in front of me. It's like, what's their problem? Why can't they take no for an answer? And why do some people want you to feel like a weirdo if you don't eat like a pig like everyone else? Literally, I have family members who will publicly make fun of me not taking part in their crapfest. Can't people just appreciate my company and converse with me about things other than me not wanting to eat so much junk? It's not like just sit there and eat nothing. I'm just choosy about what goes into my body. Why can't they accept that and move on?
I think there is a bit of social pressure around eating. My friends and I go out to eat all the time. But I think it is more behavior matching than anything else.
If one person orders a drink, other people are more likely to get one too. Same with dessert. No one says OMG you have to get one. But people tend to do the same things as the people around them. If one person says: I am only eating veggies, others will think, hmm maybe I should get some veggies too.
That's why they say you should surround yourself with people that have the behaviors you want. If you are surrounded by overeaters, odds are you will too. If you surround yourself with healthy eaters, you'll probably start eating healthier.
What kind of people are you people hanging out with where they put so much pressure on you to eat? This just blows my mind.
For me there is NEVER any social pressure to eat. NEVER!!! Even if you hang out with the fatties who try to force food to you and try to make you feel bad if you refuse, you should be strong enough and have enough personal integrity and dignity to decline and not feel bad for it.
Again, I FEEL ZERO SOCIAL PRESSURE TO EAT. ZERO. ZILCH. NADA. NYET. NONE!!!
I think it depends on who you hang with. Most of my friends are bodybuilders or health nuts.
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