Many people suffering from eating disorders have had these symptoms since childhood, and they usually don’t just disappear when you get older. So what happens when you get older and have to get a job or try and start a career? Working with an eating disorder can be difficult in more ways than one. For example if you are a waitress (like I was for 4 years) you are surrounded my food all day long; and its basically torture. What happens after you get out of the waitressing gig and are finally starting your career in a nice office? You can never escape food. People will always want to “grab some lunch” with you or bring you “treats.”
This is probably the hardest thing for me to deal with at work. Its not even work related and it can just be so stressful. There has to be a way around it right? Maybe, and maybe not. I tried looking online for some answers to this question. How exactly are WE supposed to deal with people that don’t have an eating disorder? They will more than likely throw some rude comments at us, or even worse, some very triggering comments. Although from what I saw there are no answers on the oh-so-great interweb to help us out.
These are just a few ways that Ive learned to deal with these people.
First of all I find ways to avoid being asked any questions at all times. Ive learned that keeping things in my hands and looking busy doesn’t really give people the opportunity to ask you what you are doing or notice anything is up.
If there ever is a time where someone stops you just to confront you in any way about your eating habits; don’t panic. There are ways around this.
I asked a group of people that are dealing with their eating disorders at work how they handle it. Here are some of the responses I got:
“I work in a bed shop, and I am the youngest employee. I am 20 years old… everyone else is over 40.I don’t have to deal with any of the staff asking me to go out for lunch because we all have lunch at different times.I find it pretty easy to turn down food that other people try to offer me because I’m vegan, and everyone at my work is super against veganism.I’m actually finding it pretty hard at the moment to deal with people constantly harassing me about losing too much weight and not eating at work.”
“I work in a cafe hahaha I just usually work through lunch but I get asked almost everyday why I don’t eat, I usually say I had a large breakfast or I’m saving myself to go for a meal later. I’ve been told km too thin by staff and customers I can usually lie and say I have a fast metabolism. I’m the cook so I don’t have to deal with other people cooking and bringing it to me.”
“I smoke…so I grab a coffee and sit in the smoking area with my fellow smokers so no one asks me to get anything to eat on my breaks.”
I’ve recently come up with a system that will work in most cases in any work situation. I like to call it “one and done” and that means you give them one chance then they are done. For example: you are at work and Jenny from accounting asks you why you never eat. You can say something like “eating at work makes me tired” or anything you come up with. If she doesn’t ask you again then you are okay. It really isn’t any of her business to begin with but people in this day and age really don’t know how to mind their own business. If she brings the subject up again at a later time that is the point where I would tell her to mind her own, and immediately bring the issue to your management. Technically it is considered harassment and they will more than likely deal with her and you will be okay from then on. Now if your manager is the one bringing this up, there are numbers you can call to speak to someone anonymously about it.
No one is going to understand what you are going through except for you. It is your responsibility to take action when being harassed or judged, and if you don’t do anything about it then its really your own fault. So stand up for yourself and make work a less stressful environment.
Until next time my Flowers
<3Bloom
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