Treats At The Office
We had an office party today involving cake. And as I stood around with my co-workers making awkward conversation and enjoying my slice of cake, I overheard comments that felt very familiar.
“This cake is sugar free and fat free, right? Ha, ha!”
“Hey [Guy Doing South Beach], is this South Beach cake?”
“Oh, can I just have a TINY SLIVER?”
God, way to destroy the experience of eating a piece of cake with soul-sucking “jokes” about how many calories it has. And of course, I spent the whole time eavesdropping on all my fellow cake-eaters so I quite frankly didn’t enjoy my slice of cake as much as I probably should have. I should have been present in the cake-eating moment, or something.
How about you? Does your office ever feature sugary treats, and if so, how do you deal with them? Are you afraid to be seen eating the first piece of cake? Do you keep a candy bowl on your desk? Do you make joking references to spending some extra time on the treadmill? Or do you just eat the damn cake?
Posted by mo pie
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geowench – I have previously been described — though not by the cool people here — as b*tchy and evil.
That said, did you either
a) laugh right in her face, or
b) look at her sideways and drawl, “Yeah — it;s this substance that makes your brain work”?
This reminds me of a potluck I went to with my mom’s friends from a knitting group she goes to once. When the cake was out, everyone was talking about how, oh they can’t eat it cause it’s too sweet. Or other excuses why they can’t eat it.
So I ate two pieces of the cake, and it wasn’t cause I was worried about my weight or caloric intake I didn’t have more, I’m lactose intolerant.
I thought by eating the cake though, it’s like saying “Look, I’m not afraid of eating this cake. You don’t have to be afraid too.” Although, I’m sure those kind of people would rather talk about how I must have no willpower, to make themselves feel better for denying themselves.
You live life only once, you might as well eat the cake, dammit!
I can kind of understand this, because I, too, have felt pangs of regret while eating workplace cake…simply because in my experience it usually is not very good. I am all for enjoying a really good piece of cake, but something that someone bought at the supermarket and that tastes primarily of sugar with a little margarine aftertaste does not fit the bill, and makes me mournful of the fact that I put all that sugar and fat in my body for that when I could have had something really tasty instead.
look at her sideways and drawl, “Yeah — it;s this substance that makes your brain work”?
I know this is a joke, but it’s totally wrong. As others have pointed out, the brain uses glucose for food, not sucrose, the sugar we eat. The body can produce glucose from virtually any food you might eat, and also from the body’s fat stores. The only people who might need to worry about glucose deficiency are late-stage untreated diabetics (who wouldn’t benefit from eating sugar anyway) and people suffering from advanced starvation. Like I said, I know this is intended as a joke, but your zinger would have more zing if it didn’t have a completely faulty premise.
LW – where does dextrose fit into all that? I am a T1 diabetic, so I sometimes have severe low blood sugars that have left me unconscious. When I looked at the ingredients of the “glucose” tabs and gels I take to treat a low blood sugar, the ingredients say “dextrose.” Is that close to sucrose, glucose, or something else entirely? (I’m just curious, and was trying to understand the assertions about who “needs” to eat sugar in terms of my own situation.)
Dextrose is basically just another name for the biologically active form of glucose. But sucrose works very quickly for hypoglycemia, too, because the body can covert it into glucose very easily (glucose is a component molecule of sucrose). That’s why eating sugary foods quickly causes a spike in blood glucose. But that’s usually not a good thing, unless you’re having a hypoglycemic episode or are on the brink of starving to death.
I just realized that my first post might have been confusing because when I talked about “late-stage untreated diabetics” not being helped by sucrose I was referring to type II diabetics, and not type I. Sorry about that, mccn!
Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that if you’re not diabetic or starving or suffering from some other medical condition that affects glycemia, you don’t need to worry about having sufficient blood glucose even if you never eat sugar.
Either way I get comments.
If I eat it, I get the “oh, you know you want another piece” (b/c the fat girl can’t possibly eat only one).
If I don’t eat it, I get the “oh, you know you want some” (b/c the fat girl can’t possibly turn away food).
So if I’m in the mood, I’ll eat. If not, I won’t.
Funny, really, I found the clip really rather sad, perhaps because I’ve sometimes felt like that guy and perhaps because also that cake looked really good and I hoped he’d get a piece somehow. Oh, I’m an odd person.
Have often found eating in company difficult, even in a workplace where eating cake was the norm… because then I found it hard to refuse cake! And now I live in a shared house where we also share meals and I’m enduring an irritating angst because since this started I’ve put on weight and I sort of wish for the days when I could just have malt loaf for tea if I wanted.
And yet you’d think this uninhibited atmosphere would be heavenly after enduring members of my family claiming to be too full for ice cream and feeling fat because I was hungry.
In short, reading this post has reminded me why I still need the fat acceptance movement :)
I don’t eat the cake, because:
1. I don’t like cake all that much to begin with, and
2. Workplace cake is usually a nasty dry grocery store cake with stale “whipped creme (not and never was actual cream)” icing.
I don’t make a big deal out of not eating the cake. I don’t even mention that I’m not eating the cake. I just circulate and make conversation without holding a plate of cake in my hand.
As soon as they notice I’m sans cake, all the women who were just whining “Oh, I’m so baaaad, I shouldn’t be eating this,” turn on a dime to berate me for *not* eating the cake. “Just a little won’t hurt,” “Why aren’t you eating the cake?” “Of course you want cake. *Everyone* wants cake.” “DEAR GOD YOU MUST TO BE EATING THE CAKE NOOOOOOOW!!!!” They do everything but smash it into my face because I won’t join in the nasty-grocery-store-cake fake hedonism. I’ve even had plates of unwanted cake literally shoved into my hands.
No one can accept that I just don’t want any damn cake.
As a sensory defensive type, I’m usually so nauseated by the smells of the food and the sounds of people eating that it’s really no temptation at all. I spend those potluck days hunched in a tight ball at my computer, with my earplugs jammed firmly in, wishing fervently that I was somewhere else.
I hate the very thought of eating in public. I despise diet talk. It’s absolutely horrifying. “I can’t eat any, I’m too fat.” And the person is thinner than you.
Or if you decide you don’t want to partake for whatever reason you are judged for that as well. You must be one of those crazy, deprived dieters or maybe anorectic. Depends on the crowd.
You can’t win. Maybe I’m just a “closet eater” but I can’t enjoy eating in such an anxiety-filled situation so I prefer not to. And to draw as little attention to myself as possible. If I think people might make comments I’ll eat or pretend to eat. Maybe that’s abnormal but I wish people would be more sensitive and not judge. What someone eats or doesn’t eat is their own choice and nobody’s business.
I eat the crap out of any sort of free cake offered. Extra frosting, please. Yesterday at a work event I happily ate two hot dogs and two desserts at the end of the night.
If I worked in an office that had catered lunches or treats more often, maybe it would be different, but cake is a MAYBE once a month type deal, and cake is not something that I purchase for myself at home, so this is my chance to get in some good, pastry-eating. Yesterday for the first time ever, someone said something about how I must have a high metabolism (soooo not true) and I just said that I loved desserts AND I loved running, so it all worked out – but other than that, I refuse to get into it with the “I’m so bad/just a little slice/I wish I could eat like that but it goes straight to my hips,” type folks. I say go for the gusto.
We have chocolate at every staff meeting – varying from cheap stuff I ignore to good chocolate brought back from meetings in Brussels. People either take it or not depending on what they want and nobody makes a big deal one way or another out of it.
It’s nice to work with adults. And chocoholics.
I work with all guys, so you’d think the “bad food” talk that is stereotypically the domain of women would be non-existent. And it is for me and the two other students. Our advisor, OTOH, complains about nearly every sweet treat that we bring in. Of course, he has a major sweet tooth, so that doesn’t stop him from complaining about the unhealthiness and then sneaking a double helping when he thinks no one is looking.
For me: I always eat the cake (unless there’s another option like cookies or brownies or pie) but only after I’ve scraped off the frosting. I usually hate the frosting. But I love the cake, especially if it’s either yellow or chocolate. Even better if it’s cheesecake. :)
LaWade, I’m not going to get all into it with you, because I’m sure you’re a scientist and I’m sure you’re right, but are you telling me that brain cells aren’t made of lipids, and the brain doesn’t use glucose as metabolic fuel?
Yes, some cells in the brain are partially made of lipids and the brain does use glucose as metabolic fuel. But your body can synthesize lipids and glucose from almost any food, as long as it contains some carbohydrates (which most food does). And people rarely eat glucose, anyway…table sugar is a different type of sugar called sucrose.
@ LaWade:
Well, OK then. Your first sentence? Was all I meant in context.
Really.
I’m sure if I threw the entire rest of your — admittedly learned — commentary at someone in the office — in the midst of a food-pushing situation — all I’d get is a wide-eyed look of “Buh?” and my guess is that the impact of the sentiment — no matter how accurate the commentary’s literal content — might have been substantially, perhaps irreparably, diluted.
Which, arguably, kind of defeats the purpose, y/y?
After all, my entire intent in throwing out a comment like that is rarely to educate Mr./Ms. “ZOMG – do you know how much fat is in that?”
Some people do not want to be educated.
My intent is usually to get them to JUST. SHUT. UP.
Here’s a thought: Why not stop prescribing what OTHER people should do, and also SHUT UP about your own health-manias?
Seriously. I liked the world a lot better back before people thought it was their duty to offer unsolicited advice on EVERYTHING (not just food and exercising, but also child-rearing, driving, choosing clothes, gah, EVERYTHING) to relative strangers.
If I don’t ask you for advice, shut the heck up. And let me enjoy my damn cake in peace.
Oh, I know the real answer: the busybody folks are unhappy (because they are so wrapped up in AVOIDING potentially harmful things they never enjoy the little things) and they want everyone else to be as unhappy as they are. But seriously: shut the heck up. I don’t want to hear about how sugar is “unhealthy” for me. I don’t want to hear about how I’d immediately drop 35 pounds if I just walked every night after dinner (guess what: I already do!).
I just want people to butt out of my damn life and let me be happy. Even if they aren’t.
I work with 99% women — there is a constant stream of treats on a back counter. I used to contribute to the fat talk, but try not to now. If the treats look fabulous, I try to savor a small piece. If they look store bought and not so fabulous, I ignore them. I ignore all of the idiotic comments.
Mostly I eat the damn cake and then get the hell out before someone offers me another slice. I keep my comments to myself, thankyouverymuch.