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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookMy intentions for almost every morning of the last month and a half were to go on a juice feast for AT LEAST an entire day. Every morning between 3:30-5:30am I make nifty little green juices or fruit juices, store them in my cold lunchpack thing (because the refrigerator has been on order since the hospital opened three months ago), and cart them off to work. Yet – I have failed to complete my mission. Is it lack of discipline? Not bringing enough juice to sustain ten hours of work? Why yes, those are important reasons why I have failed about 20% of the time. But the real reason?
The office is staffed with 14 middle age women who all just kind of think they are my mom, since I am a homeless young contractor whose real mom is 2,000 miles away and obviously not feeding me enough because I’m too skinny. So what does this mean? It means that every day when I come into work, someone has cooked something, and someone has usually cooked this ‘something’ with the direct intention of feeding it to me and the other young male contractor. People have made cookies (seriously, baked them exclusively for us), cooked us spaghetti, made us soup, baked brownies with “us in mind”, purchased our favorite types of bagels… Oh! Don’t forget all the candy they sneak onto our desks or the birthday parties celebrated at least once every three weeks which entail cake and sandwiches and fruit that we feel bad not participating in since they always buy an obese cake that none of them will finish. All of this in the 30 days (minus the five total days i had off in which i traveled to a Caribbean island and was definitely not going to fast. TODAY I came prepared with an arsenal of juices and YAY! no one brought anything. I was so happy until I realized that it was because of hospital celebration week and they threw a giant carnival in the parking lot with games and dunk tanks and free food and cotton candy and pretzels and snacks of all types. My next day off is in two weeks when I fly home for three days (to my parent’s house where even a vegetarian diet is taboo) and spend two days in airports where I cannot bring more than a few 3oz containers of juice.
Ok maybe I don’t need advice. Maybe I just needed to vent. On a day to day basis this isn’t very stressful. I enjoy being catered to and adored by the people I am training, and am very grateful for their affection.
I just really want a day to myself! Without sugar!
Comments
yup my work is like that too. i just give away the food or throw it out. it is poison anyhow. we have quite a few people whose hobby is baking and always feel the need to bake for every meeting. I have gotten used to saying no and I just bring lots of veggies to eat instead.
the other thing i did was to get a min-fridge for my room. I am not juicing right now but I have store my green smoothie for lunch in there.
another think victoria boutenko says is to have a blender at work as well. especially if you are there 10 hours.
they will stop feeding you if you tell them the food makes you sick and if they give it to you, you will throw it out. it’s harsh but sometimes necessary.
SURYADAYA - I understand where you are coming from. I think the best thing to do is kindly explain to everyone, individually or collectively as you have the opportunity, that you are trying to stick to a program for health reasons and you would appreciate them not offering you these things. If you have the will to refuse them for several days, they may get the message. If not, it may be that they do as a matter of course and you really aren’t the target of their “good will.”
A few suggestions…
When you speak with folks about not eating the cooked stuff, acknowledge their efforts and love towards you and that you really appreciate their efforts. If they would like to really give you a gift and showing they care for you by bringing food, you will be happy to provide some recipes and everyone can try the new recipe goodies. It’s a win/win situation… you actually might teach them more than how to use the product that you are training them on. You are in a great position to teach since you are already in that role. :)
As for taking a blender to work like bitt mentioned… Getting a “bullet” type blender might do the trick. They are small and you can probably fit it into a desk drawer or under your desk when not in use. It comes with blender containers that convert to a mugs so you don’t need to clean a blender jar AND a drinking container. You can precut up all sorts of things at home and bring them in to make smoothies or soups… lots of choices… lots of variety… and again an opportunity to teach since people will see you making your goodies… You can even make pates/dips with nuts/seeds or denser veggies and need something more substantial then juices/smoothies.
Another idea… bring in shredded or spiralized veggies like zucchini, carrots, squash, etc. with sauce for spaghetti days and parties. Easy. Yummy. Looks similar to what they are eating.
Happy exploring options…