Take a Hard Look at Yourself Before Picking at Others

[guywithashovel]

This is about a former coworker of mine. I've posted about her before. Maybe you remember. She thinks everyone needs to hear her commentary on their choice of diet, exercise, and cell phone choice. Here's something else she's prone to doing.

Her: Hey guywithashovel, how ya doin today? (approaching my desk)
Me: I'm fine. I've just been . . . .
Her: (cutting me off when she sees the can of Mountain Dew or Pepsi on my desk) Oh, are you drinking that?!?
Me: Um, yeah.
Her: Oh, I NEVER drink sodas. I don't think I've had one in six years. (looking around to make sure at least two other people heard her say that)
Me: Well, I just needed a caffeine boost.
Her: I don't think I could even think about drinking one. I almost can't even look at a can of soda now because I never drink it anymore because I always try to eat healthy.

Side note: She'll devour "pizza place" pizza if given the chance, and she drinks alcohol on a regular basis. Yet somehow in her mind, that's healthier than eating "fast food" and drinking sodas.

And yes, I realize this is an issue of "food snobs," which has been touched on in a few other threads.

Anyway, I'll overhear her later on that day talking to someone else about how she was floored to see that can of soda on my desk because she's so advanced in her healthy diet and it's been so long since she's drank "that stuff and she can't hardly stand to look at it now." (I'm really not kidding about this)

What gets me about this isn't just that it's annoying to have the calorie content or the supposed "healthiness" of your food scrutinized constantly. It's that she doesn't blink an eye about harping about how healthy her lifestyle is when she's actually pretty careless in other aspects of her life. The summer before last, she had several unpaid speeding tickets and consequently there was a warrant out for her arrest. She's also not above blowing a whole paycheck on expensive designer clothes because "everyone's already seen me in the clothes I have now."

Sure, maybe I don't eat all of the foods that you deem "healthy" (though most of what I eat actually is good for me), and maybe I do consume Coke, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew on occasion, but at least I don't get traffic tickets and then neglect to pay them and risk getting thrown in jail---because here, if you get caught with unpaid speeding tickets, they really will arrest you and throw you in jail like a common criminal, as my poor cousin found out the hard way.

Of course, the fact that this represents a "trendy health concern" is also irksome. Throughout the 90s, fat was what everyone worried about, and commericals were always telling us about this great food that was "fat free." Then, in the 2000s, it was all about carbs. Apparently, now that the 2010s are picking up steam, sugar is the new whipping boy (seems to be, anyway), which means we're getting a bunch of people all smug about the fact that they don't drink soda or eat/drink such and such item with sugar in it and that's supposed to make up for the fact that they just wolfed down a whole bucket of fried chicken. But I digress.

Anyway, despite all this, we have to listen to her talk about how awesome she is because of her healthy diet, the fact that she runs everyday, her primo choice of electronics (always has to have the latest cell phone---if you have an older one, especially a "flipper phone," you'll hear from her), and the fact that she's always dressed to the nines. I guess that overrides her inability to follow traffic laws and manage her finances.

[HYHYBT]

A healthy diet won't do you any good if you kill yourself in a traffic accident.

Or if you drive others to kill you just because it's the only way to get you to shut up

[gremcint]

most of the people who criticize what I eat happen to smoke and from now on I just refuse to take medical advice from people who smoke.

[BlaqueKatt]

most of the people who criticize what I eat happen to smoke and from now on I just refuse to take medical advice from people who smoke.

I don't care what their personal habits are, if I'm not in their medical office paying them for medical advice, they can stuff it. My physician knows my medical history, and what is good or bad for me. Yes I eat a lot of sugar, I'm borderline hypoglycemic, and a cyclist, my commute burns around 1000 calories, and my basal metabolic rate requires over 2500 calories a day on top of that, I eat a lot of carbs(fruit is just chock full of the lovelies), and when on a weekend ride that includes the cycling "energy shots" of pure glucose.

I have let my blood sugar get low enough that I passed out on my bike, while riding(I woke up to two strangers unclipping my feet from the pedals, and trying to get me untangled from my bike), because I got tired of hearing how bad sugar was for me, I came in the next day pretty banged up, explained what happened, and wow the "food judge" let up after that. Mind you the "food judge" weighs over 250 pounds, at 4'10", and won't even walk across the street, but I shouldn't eat so many sweets....

[protege]

Of course, the fact that this represents a "trendy health concern" is also irksome. Throughout the 90s, fat was what everyone worried about, and commericals were always telling us about this great food that was "fat free." Then, in the 2000s, it was all about carbs. Apparently, now that the 2010s are picking up steam, sugar is the new whipping boy (seems to be, anyway), which means we're getting a bunch of people all smug about the fact that they don't drink soda or eat/drink such and such item with sugar in it and that's supposed to make up for the fact that they just wolfed down a whole bucket of fried chicken. But I digress.

I work with someone like that too. She reads a few articles, and suddenly she's a fucking food expert? Sorry, not buying it. Plus, the jury's still out to whether following such trends are actually good in the long run. Right now, her favorite thing is that anything not "organic," or "non-chain" is "bad." Again, no proof, other than articles...written for magazines...whose interest is selling magazines. Er, no thanks. I'll take my mother's medical advice. She's been an RN/supervisor with the county health department for 30 years, and knows what she's talking about.

[mikoyan29]

Some people just have to have something they can lord over other people.

[blas87]

I don't even care how this sounds, I'm gonna say it. I work with literally a bunch of overweight women, many on all the latest diets or Weight Watchers (only a few of them have been successfull and are no longer overweight women), and damn does nothing piss them off more than a girl 20 years their junior in decent shape noshing on pastas, pizzas, big sandwiches, and ZOMG drinking SODA POP!!!

Hint Hint: That's just what I eat at work, people. Besides, maybe if you did more than sit for 12 hours a day, had taken better care of yourself at a younger age, and exercised, you could be a lot more happier than you are throwing hateful stares at me. I'm not pencil thin myself, but I try my best to stay in a healthy weight range and demand to only work physical moving around jobs.

I really don't mean to come across as a fatty hater, but I HATE getting lectures and evil glares from these women. I don't care how many "points" are in the sandwich I'm eating, or how "evil" carbs are, or how BAD soda is for me. Worry about yourself a little more and me a little less.

[Andara Bledin]

You're not a fatty hater; you're a bitchy, jealous, lazy-woman hater.

^-.-^

[Amanita]

I may be overweight myself, but I fucking HATE self appointed food police. I used to get that in school- boys picking on me would scrutinize everything I ate, ragging on me for eating a donut or pudding. And even from people whose intentions are less vile, I really don't give a shit about the calories or fat in my slice of pizza, or the carbs in the bowl of pasta I'm eating.

[bara]

Losing weight has more to do with how much you move than how much you eat anyway in my experience.

If your're more active you are less likely to be shoving food in your mouth and what you do eat is actually burned off anyway. I got a job as a pizza delivery driver and have LOST weight.

[AdminAssistant]

A group of friends and I were all sitting around talking about doctors and how they sometimes get worked up over things that turn out to be nothing. One remarks, "Yeah, but they won't say anything to people about their diets!!!" I almost lost it for two reasons. 1) I have to get a lecture every time I go to the doctor for *any* reason. Tendonitis in the wrist? You should join Weight Watchers. Costochondritis flared up? You should go to the gym three times a week. Annual gyno exam? "Remember, whole grains, no fast food, no soda..." Okay, look, I'M FAT. I know I'm fat. If I'm going to the doctor for something completely unrelated, I shouldn't have to spend 10 minutes on shit I need to do. I'm a fucking graduate student. I've been in repeatedly for stress, migraine headaches, and a rapid heartbeat. How the hell am I supposed to fit in cooking homemade meals and 45 minutes of exercise a day? And sleeping 8 hours a day? Either get my faculty to lay off or give me a break, okay?

2) This chick is a heavy smoker. I don't lecture you about your future lung cancer, you lay off my potential for diabetes and heart disease, and we'll call it even.

[Andara Bledin]

AA, you should totally tell your doctor to shut it on the lecture; you're paying for his time for a certain ailment and while you appreciate his advice, that's not why you're there.

My mother had a doctor that was rabidly anti-smoking, and she told him to knock it off or she wouldn't be coming back. This was after he treated her for a case of bronchitis that she'd gotten from someone she worked with that he tried to claim was from her smoking, despite her having told him that she was the 4th person in her office to have it. :eyeroll:

^-.-^

[guywithashovel]

I work with someone like that too. She reads a few articles, and suddenly she's a fucking food expert? Sorry, not buying it. Plus, the jury's still out to whether following such trends are actually good in the long run. Right now, her favorite thing is that anything not "organic," or "non-chain" is "bad." Again, no proof, other than articles...written for magazines...whose interest is selling magazines. Er, no thanks. I'll take my mother's medical advice. She's been an RN/supervisor with the county health department for 30 years, and knows what she's talking about.

To her (the person in my OP) credit, she is a previous health/PE teacher.

What gets me is the contradiction. She'll freak out (literally) if she sees anyone eating or drinking anything from McD's. But she loves this pizza place near OSU campus that sells pizza with really thick crust and puts pepperoni the size of lillypads on their pizza. Does she honestly think that's any healthier than a quarter pounder?

The soda thing really annoyed me. Not only do you have to make a big deal out of it at the time, but you have to make it a point to bring it up to other people later on as if I'm the worst eater in the world. The fact that I had plain oatmeal for breakfast and a Progresso chicken soup with a turkey sandwich for lunch means nothing because ZOMG I drank a carbonated beverage. The kicker is that she hits the bars every weekend. I'll bet Pepsi probably has fewer calories than most mixed drinks.

I've also met a few people with the aversion to chains. Those people are interesting, because they almost always patronize a few chains themselves, but they usually have rationalizations for why those chains are okay. For example, they usually have no problem with Whole Foods and Trader Joes (both chains, albeit trendy chains).

[Mytical]

Well..certain types of pizza DOES have all four food groups. *ducks and covers*

Sorry *ahem*. As somebody who is 6'0" and has reached as high as 305 lbs..I hate as much as anybody the advise givers..especially because what is healthy seems to change every hour..or by the alignment of the stars, or .... well you get the point.

No diet works for everybody, because guess what..people are UNIQUE. I know..*le gasp!!*.

[Seshat]

A healthy diet won't do you any good if you kill yourself in a traffic accident.

No, but it'll help people waiting for organ transplants.