My boss is having a sad.

She's 5'1", 115, and wants to be back at 103.

She has been "gaining a pound everyday! and all i eat are salads! i'm getting so fed up with this!"

She eats salads and baked potatoes, with about a pound of salt. She starves like this for a day or so, then binges on candy from one of our co-worker's offices (or desserts over the weekend).

I can't just sit her down and tell her like it is, but I have hinted at her.. like at lunch, i'll ask where her protein is (she's started to add grilled chicken) but I can't flat tell her, you're effing up your metabolism, you eat WAY too much salt, you aren't eating enough good food, 103 may not be your ideal weight (she has "enhanced" size Ds), and when you starve yourself you are setting yourself up to binge. When she gets all pissed she ate chocolate she says screw it, and gets up to have more.. I try to tell her she can stop now! and be okay! and not blow the whole day! but she goes and gets a whole bunch more candy anyway. I just can't help her.

So, I watch her struggle. And some days it makes me laugh and other days I just pity her.

it's not my boss but i definately have 2 friends that do this only they aren't already teeny like that.  and i try and subtley let them know how to maybe modify thier food choices but don't really do it directly (unless they ask me) b/c I'd hate to be that person just spouting off diet advice that's not really wanted. 

best i can do is just talk about how i do when the topic comes up and if they think it's good and see the results then hopefully they will follow through

but it is hard, especially since they are friends, to watch them get frustrated that thier fried chicken strips and cheese and bacon covered ranch dressing salad isn't working or that skipping breakfast and only eating broth isn't working :-p

sounds like a drama ho to me CDC. counting calories may not be dramatic enough for her ;)

Original Post by watergirl:

sounds like a drama ho to me CDC. counting calories may not be dramatic enough for her ;)

Yep - would rather complain than actually take the time to make a change.

Hinting or giving advice is probably not a good idea. Specially considering she is your boss. I don't think it will go anywhere good. The best you can do is just "lead by example". If you bring your own lunch and she asks mention how great tasting it is and that a mix of proteins, fats etc add to the flavor and keep you full. Don't stress the "weight loss" or "healthy" part too much.

UD

Original Post by umneydurak:

Hinting or giving advice is probably not a good idea. Specially considering she is your boss. I don't think it will go anywhere good. 

this^

I hate to sound cynical but most people don't want to hear the truth - they want a "magic solution".  I'll tell people what I do only if they ask, but I've found the eat less move more theory doesn't usually go over very well ; )

Got to love MAD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeqYyvRbHws

UD

Since she is your boss, I agree that it would be a bad idea to criticize her. Instead, maybe you could say, "Hey, I know a website that gives great tips and an easy outline to successful dieting to lose weight." Give her a link to this site, or some sort of reliable dieting site, and leave it to her. You give her all the information she needs, but it will be up to her if she wants to take in and apply that information.

I have to listen to a lot of that crap from college girls. "I only had 400 calories today, why am I not losing weight guys???????????????" I will usually try to tell them otherwise, telling them that my major is nutrition and my minor is sports nutrition, and wait for them to either a) listen and ask for other tips, or b) disagree with what I say.

People have funny ideas about food.  My sister ripped me a new one the other day because I dared to suggest that french fries weren't a healthy choice - her argument being "they're basically potatoes".  I suspect she thinks they qualify as a vegetable.  (She firmly believes that being her - and therefore knowing everything - is a better qualification for knowing about nutrition than spending a year learning about the topic.)

She is in Weight watchers, has been for years. They usually lecture her about her weight being too low.

As much as I'd like to, I'd never lecture her!! I've just dropped hints/reminders of things that she's already told me that she knows. I've been in the professional world long enough to handle it without getting dirty! :)

Just venting, more or less. I WANT to say more, but I limit it to that, because I know my hands are tied. I just hate to see someone putting themselves through that much misery for nothing.

Original Post by susiecue:

People have funny ideas about food.  My sister ripped me a new one the other day because I dared to suggest that french fries weren't a healthy choice - her argument being "they're basically potatoes".  I suspect she thinks they qualify as a vegetable.  (She firmly believes that being her - and therefore knowing everything - is a better qualification for knowing about nutrition than spending a year learning about the topic.)

 o.O

Actually, a friend of mine told me that fries weren't that bad when I told her that I'd eat a whopper jr. but skip the fries.

She also tried to tell me that rosie the riveter is actually betty the riveter. This girl gets her mind set and no amount of information will set her straight. hahaha. She still believes it's Betty.

There's a mile-marker story in there too but its early and that is a lot of typing.

People need to come to things on their own. My husband suggested I count calories when I was first struggling with my weight, and while I would write down what I ate, or even log it into fitday, it made no sense to me because I didn't know what I was aiming for, or why. All I knew was that at the gym, I could burn about 200 calories on the elliptical, and that clearly wasn't going to burn off the food for the day. I didn't know about BMR or burn rates or activity factors.

It wasn't until I actually read about BMR and saw the formula that I started to understand the rationale behind weight loss. After that, it was just a matter of not letting my dietary whims and momentary set backs to outweigh the logic.

Original Post by amethystgirl:

It wasn't until I actually read about BMR and saw the formula that I started to understand the rationale behind weight loss.

ditto that ^ (and I learned it here on CC)

After that, it was just a matter of not letting my dietary whims and momentary set backs to outweigh the logic. 

^exactly!

Original Post by crazydiamondchrysalis:

Original Post by susiecue:

People have funny ideas about food.  My sister ripped me a new one the other day because I dared to suggest that french fries weren't a healthy choice - her argument being "they're basically potatoes".  I suspect she thinks they qualify as a vegetable.  (She firmly believes that being her - and therefore knowing everything - is a better qualification for knowing about nutrition than spending a year learning about the topic.)

 o.O

Actually, a friend of mine told me that fries weren't that bad when I told her that I'd eat a whopper jr. but skip the fries.

She also tried to tell me that rosie the riveter is actually betty the riveter. This girl gets her mind set and no amount of information will set her straight. hahaha. She still believes it's Betty.

There's a mile-marker story in there too but its early and that is a lot of typing.

Oh GAWD! It's so much fun to deal with people like that. I used to try to educate them to the correct answer. I thought I could actually teach people. I found out that most people don't want to be taught and either just ignore you or get mad at you.

It's just so much better to just walk away and let them prove themselves a fool to someone else.

Sounds like Sits-with-Cookies, my co-worker.  Last week it was, yet again, "Look, I brought a salad!" loaded with cheese and croutons, only iceberg lettuce, and lots of full fat/calorie laden salad dressing.  I think I saw 1-2 tomato wedges and maybe a few slices of cucumber.

She asked me for help and I spent several hours typing up recipes/meal plans with calorie counts for her.  She was good for about 2-3 weeks and super excited when she lost weight.  Then she said it was "too much work" and promptly went back to fast food more often than not.  She is sick often and always tired, but has never made the connection.

Some people will not get it, even if you do tell them and/or try to help them. As stated above, they must come to it on their own, and even then, backsliding happens.  I know this from experience!

My entire office is like this (we are almost entirely female). Someone new recently joined the team and she keeps commenting on my 'healthy' lunch. Interestingly, I am trying to gain weight at the moment and so eat significantly more than everyone else (because everyone else is on crazy diets). I don't bother talking about good nutrition though because I've learnt from experience that people just don't listen. They're going to do their own thing anyway!

My best friend was talking to me about adding fats and protein to my diet and then proceeded to tell me he just eats fruit for lunch in order to lose weight. Oh, how I laughed...

I once watched a guy dump half a bottle of dressing on his lettuce as he proudly told us that he was having a salad for lunch to make up for the pizza and wings he'd be having for dinner.

Not that I don't love a good pizza and wings night, but...

Wow, 103 with enhanced size D's? That sounds too much like a barbie doll.

at 5'1", 103 isn't as bad as it sounds...