annoying lunch comments...EVERYDAY!

I'm recovering from anorexia:
eat lunch in a staff lunch room. It is buffet style with about 6 or 7 tables to sit at ...small but works good enough
PROBLEM?: well, it never fails that EVERY SINGLE DAY SOMEONE inevitably comments on what I am eating......USUALLY to the effect of....
"you eat so much, how do you stay so thin"
or if I have mostly healthy things like salad with chicken and fruit salad or something they say,.
"no wonder she's so skinny, look, she's eating like ONE chicken leg.."
meanwhile they pile their plate full of mashed potatoes and chicken fried steak...
or they say,..
"How can such a little person eat so much"

THE POINT IS THAT IT'S EVERYDAY and it doesn't helP AT ALL when I am doing my BEST to eat more,....eat snacks in-between and eat BETTER!! But with these DAILY comments I just about FLY off the handle and it drives me nuts!!
WHY IS IT ANY OF THEIR BUSINESS?!!!
If I DO have a lot of food it's because it's greens, fruits, lean meats, etc....so it's not like it's un-healthy but they scare me (being that I deal with anorexia) into thinking I am eating too much...WHICH I AM NOT!! (working my way up from 83 lb.).......now I am 88...
What can I do...or how do I respond to these un-asked for remarks?
please help----this is really frustrating!

You can either A: Ignore them B: Joke around with them aswell

Either way You are the one thats getting healthy...they aren't.

[=

Don't listen to them!
I'm trying to gain weight as well and people have been commenting on the amount of food I eat a lunch ever since. It get's pretty annoying, but I've learned to just ignore them and go on with what I'm eating. And I find it funny how they are sitting there telling me that with a bag of chips in their hand. Hah. I feel the same way. My parents do it to, and it annoys the hell out of me. They don't understand that in order to gain muscle you have to eat A LOT. So just ignore them :)

Is there a way you could eat somewhere else? sit somewhere else or something? I understand how you feel.

I know exactly what your going through.  I have the same problems in my cafeteria during school lunches and it seems like most highschool girls have disordered eating habits anyway.

I try to ignore these comments when they come up, tell myself that they are ignorant and I can't let it get to me.  You are doing what YOU NEED to do to be healthy, so what they say your eating disorder will try to use it as an excuse not to eat - the exact opposite of what you want, right?

Other people are just ignorant or curious, and if they say something, try politely asking them not to comment on what you eat, or try and find a friend or support person who seems comfortable with their eating and will try to talk about other things that takes the focus off food.  When people make comments like that sometimes they are just using it as a way to justify what they are or are not eating to make them feel better about themselves.  Try and ignore it and keep on doing whats best for you ^^

OMG, I TOTALLY understand where you're coming from.  I too am in the process of getting over a period of severely disordered eating.  I am pretty sure I was anorexic, though I never went to a doctor to be diagnosed.  Anyway, for awhile I was working at a video store where I would be the only employee there for hours on end.  I didn't get a break so I would have to eat my food behind the counter.  I tried to eat when there wasn't anyone else in the store, but since I was trying to recover and I needed A LOT of food, this wasn't easy.  Anyway so I would always get some dirty old man leaning over the counter, looking at my food (which was usually a Boca burger I had heated up in the microwave, some fruit, hummus, etc) and saying, "Aren't you gonna share some of that with me?" or "Sorry to interrupt your LUNCH" really sarcastically.  At first I tried not to let it bother me but the more it happened the more annoyed I got until I developed this PHOBIA of letting people see me eat, or of having people comment on my food.  Eventually I just quit the job because my boss was gossipping about my weight with the other customers, and giving me the silent treatment because I had lost so much weight... but that's another story.  I hated that **** job.  Anyway, I just wanted to sympathise with you.  Your post hit home for me.  Good job on trying to recover.  I have read a lot of your other posts and you are positively inspirational.  I know you can do it. :)

I think it is very commendable that you are eating in such a healthy way---coworkers can sometimes be so thoughtless, and it is really none of their business what you eat.  You might try responding to them by "giving it right back" to them and telling them that, indeed , you are one of the lucky ones who gets to eat a good amount of food and stay thin.  That will probably shut them up!

dont worry people are just plain a-holes these days!....Ive been putting up with this kinda things my whole life especially from shallow women!!!!........and why is it ok for people to go "HEY YOUR SKINNY"......but they would never say "HEY YOUR FAT" to someone....the fact is it's not OK it hurts peoples feelings!....there is a double standard there in society and it is wrong...but the fact is people will be people and we just have to press on and try to be healthy so you should really congratulate yourself on the hard work you are going through because it'l just make us stronger individuals in the long run and the major point is they will be 50 years old having heart attacks and we will live to be 90 and happy. good luck!

 

brando

 

I TOTALLY understand.  This happens to me EVERY SINGLE TIME I eat with people.  I hate it soooo much.  And like you said you can't win either you eat too much or too little for the other people in the room - but either way there's always a comment.  It got so ba that I have taken to eating in my office with the door closed because I'm sick of dealing with the comments and I just want to enjoy my food.

People talk,
no matter what.

It's life.



You can't hide from idiots,
ignore them and do what you know is right and what makes you happy.

You're on a healthy track ,
their junk food days will catch up to them ..

thanks for ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLlllllllllllllllllllllll of your advice,..
SO helpful to hear you all give such up-lifting comments :)
thanks guys :)

when i worked at a restaurant i was offended/annoyed/everything to the comments the servers and management would make. As a hostess i got a free meal everyday where i would order a chicken salad, sometimes the fish, and a few times the chicken strips. It did not matter what i ordered, even dessert there was always a comment. So, i started commenting back, i did not care if it was offensive because they got the point, and dont worry about them not wanting to be your friends for your comments, because they will forget about it. Or you can simply state your feelings next time.

Hang in there, you're doing great!  We're here for you!

In general, people's comments say more about their own personal issues than anything else.  It's just easier for them to spin it off on someone else than to get down to the real work of dealing with their own crap.  If others didn't have an issue of some sort, they wouldn't see/say anything like that to you, because in effect, it would be a non-issue for them!

Sometimes just reminding myself of this helps deflect some of the defensiveness I may be feeling in reaction to comments made by others.  Use that knowledge like armor to protect yourself from bearing the burden of other people's issues.  Do what you think is the right thing to do and good things will happen!

I have the same situation but am a student in the cafeteria.  I recommend eating with other people or kind of isolate yourself some.  For exapmle, when I start getting annoyed by others I'll simply say "oh ****, i forgot to do that paper for 7th period," stick my headphones in, and start drilling away with something.  You could do the same thing except with papers.

You also could try eating in the math/social studies/whatever you teach office.  There are usually less people in there as opposed to the lounge.

same thing happens to me...im trying to recover, just getting to 90-93 (fluctuates) at 5'2" and either OMG i eat so much! or no wonder youre so thin youre eating a SALAD now. sighs. its the same people too making both comments. drives me nuts

 

hang in there though, youre doing this for you not them :)

This is funny. A few days ago at school I was putting together my salad at the salad bar for lunch and this stupid boy next to me says, "And I thought I ate a lot"  I don't even know this person!! I've only seen him getting a salad other times when I am. So I said, "Well all this isn't very many calories" (because I just pile on a lot of veggies and use a light dressing)

I wouldn't care about thier feelings for a moment, look them straight in the eye, get a serious look on your face and tell them that thier comments aren't appreciated and they can keep them to theirselves. You could probably jazz it up a little more but tell it to them straight. Just because you work with them doesn't mean you have to be nice or tiptoe around them.

I reallly really appreciate ALL of your comments!

I would hate to look at them directly in the face and be like...RUDE ya know? But I sometimes feel like screaming WHY IS WHAT I AM EATING SO CONFOUNDED INTERESTING TO YOU ALL?!?!!! I don't say anything about the greasy grub they are shoveling into their mouths---why do they find the need to comment on MY intake?
 
  I refuse to let their ignorance play a part in my struggle to recover.

Amen,sister!    You go,girl!

You're doing great honey, congratulations on all your hard work for your recovery!  I have a very food-centric office too and it can be so difficult, but your situation sounds horrible.  I would simply say, please do not comment on my food.  And just leave it at that.

I think some of these people have a point. I would make cut up remarks back at them....make it out like its funny. They will get tired of that. what is your health weight for your height and age? Please dont let their remarks bother you. Thats what they are wanting. You are much better than them anyhoo, because you fought something alot of people like you never succeed in fighting. I have a eating disorder too. Bulemic. I am not as bad as I used to be. I got down so much my family and friends thought I was anorexic. And I got so tired of their comments. I wasnt seeing what they were seeing. I was seeing FAT, LARD, TUBBY person. I still do. But I am fixing it, and I ignore peoples comments. I am all that matters. So to hec with them...they are probably jealous that you can eat what they cant...and they think you dont gain a pound because they dont know that you actually are suffering a disease, that you are trying every day to overcome and become healthy. Be happy......Dont worry! Everythings gonna be alright, ( I love those songs) hehehehe. Take it easy.we are all here for ya.            Shannon