Please, Don’t Talk About Your Diet at Work.
Your small talk might be hurting your colleagues.
We’re used to diet talk at the office. Jim from marketing is Keto now, your boss, Alison, is trying to slim down after the holidays. Everyone on your team feels so guilty for what they ate over the Thanksgiving long weekend.
It’s acceptable and expected small talk, something to chitchat about at a lunch meeting as we look around at everyone’s tupperwares or takeout containers.
For myself, and others who have recovered, or are still recovering from an eating disorder, it’s torture. For people in larger bodies, as Your Fat Friend explains, it’s a constant reminder that you don’t want to look like them.
A key part of my recovery was learning to ignore diet culture messages, which by the way, are literally everywhere. We’re bombarded with subtle and overt directives that thinner is better, healthy eating is a moral imperative, and wellness (read thinness) should be our number one priority.
Those messages sunk deep into the recesses of my brain and made me really sick. I’ve worked hard over many years to loosen their grip, and I’m lucky, I’ve been successful — but it’s not easy.
You talking about your diet at work makes it harder.
