Today’s lunch was bright and cheery- a tropical getaway if you will! :mrgreen:
I had a yellow pepper with freshly ground pepper and black bean dip on the side. (Sorry, I just realized how unappetizing that bean dip looks- LOL).
I continued my tater addiction with mashed potatoes! I made these a couple nights ago and they include almond milk, garlic, sea salt, and vegan margarine. I heated them up with a pat of vegan margarine and parsley flakes.
Two words: COMFORT FOOD.
With an Amy’s Texas veggie burger, a high protein pita, Fontaine Santa hummus, salsa, and tomato paste. I like Amy’s burgers, but I really need to make more of the In A Jiffy Spelt Veggie Burgers. They are much, much tastier (and cheaper).
Dessert was a WRINKLY peach! It was now or never so I took one for the team…and ate it wrinkles and all. ;) It did look more ‘distinguished’ I must admit. :mrgreen:
Two exciting things:
1) Michael Pollan + Alicia Silverstone + Food Inc + Whole Foods on Oprah today. Loved it. Anyone else catch it? I thought it was funny how careful Oprah was about everything she said. I must have heard the line, ‘This is only my opinion, you must make the choice for yourself.’ a million times. I guess she is avoiding another lawsuit…
2) 5:30pm and still light out. Can I hear a woot woot for Spring on its’ way??
Do You Feel Pressured To Be Thin At Your Job?
This week I was chatting with a reader who is in school to become a Registered Dietitian. She told me that there is a lot of competition among the RD students at her school. Of course there is competition over grades, but she told me there is also competition over weight and appearance.
Because the focus of the program is so health oriented and it is so competitive to get internships, there is a lot of pressure to appear as that perfect picture of health. You know the saying: practice what you preach.
I instantly thought about my previous jobs and whether I have felt any pressure to maintain a low weight. Most of them were office jobs, so there wasn’t much pressure there. However, I worked in retail for many years and had to wear the store’s clothing. At times, I remember wanting to look thin in the clothing so I could represent it well to potential buyers. However, I never felt pressure from my boss. It was internal pressure I placed on myself.
With my current job, owning a bakery, I don’t really feel much pressure about my weight because baker’s tend to have the stereotype of being heavy. However, owning a healthy bakery, I do think it is important to show that a healthy weight can be maintained with balance and moderation. It is not about being thin as it is just overall healthy though.
Then there is my OSG gig. Given my past eating disorder, I had to think very long and carefully about how I wanted to approach my blog. I knew immediately that it might not be healthy for me to be a 3x a day food blogger just due to the sensitivity I have around it all. It works great for many people, but I had to chose the right path for myself. I decided to blog about a variety of topics that I am passionate about, throw some hot topics and recipes in there, and try to have a nice balance for myself. This approach has worked for me because I have not felt overly scrutinized or pressured to live up to some ideal. I just try to be healthy for myself and not think too much about what other people think or expect of me.
Whether I had OSG or not, I would still want to maintain my weight and be a healthy person, so the blog really doesn’t change anything. At times I have fallen into the comparison trap, like many of us do, but I just try my best to work with what I have and never expect perfection from myself because it does not exist. [For a great discussion see Part 1 and Part 2 on Social Comparison Trap.]
So that was my long-winded way of leading into today’s question…
Do you or have you ever had a job (or school career) where you felt the pressure to be thin? What is it/was it and why do you feel that way? Are there things that you do to reduce the pressure?
You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 today and we don’t know where the hell she is. ~Ellen
I definitely feel pressure to be thin at my school. Not only thin, but perfect. We have a term here called ‘effortless perfection,’ where everyone feels like not only do they need to be perfect, they need to make it look effortless.
Whenever I leave school I realize how skewed my thinking is when I am here and how I cannot wait to return to the real world.
I don’t have cable here so I couldn’t see Oprah! I’m hoping she posts it online.
Can’t wait to photograph dinner in the LIIIIGHT!
as always, love your healthy, balanced approach and attitude!
Hi Angela!
Love your blog, btw.
I’ve never had a job that made me feel pressured to be thin. But I do work for a small privately owned fitness company called T-Tapp. My boss created her own workout and we sell DVDs, skin care and nutritional products.
Being in the fitness industry for business makes me want to look good so I can show our customers that the program DOES work if you actually do it. Although we don’t focus on being tiny – it’s more about feeling and looking good at your size, losing inches and being healthy – I prefer to stay fit and keep up with my workouts. I wouldn’t feel right working here and NOT using the products or doing the exercise program. It only makes sense to believe in the products that you sell, which I do very much believe in. I guess you could say that I practice what I preach!
Have a beautiful day!
Luckily I have never felt pressured to be thin at work! I think I definitely did in college, but one of the great things about aging is more confidence!
I feel some pressure in my retail job but like you, it’s self-imposed. I feel no pressure at all in my office jobs or past office jobs. Or any of my jobs for that matter! I do feel a little pressure from my blog but frankly, that’s kind of why I started it – to hold myself accountable, to have a checks and balances system, to not let myself go.
I never felt pressure to be thin at any of my jobs but now I kind of feel pressure to be thin because all my friends see me as this thin healthy person. But I eat the way I want and enjoy it.
I hear you on the 3x a day food blog. Besides being boring with my food choices I also would feel pressure to always eat healthy and start hiding the things I eat that aren’t in line.
Cynthia thank you for articulating what I feel like!!!
I agree! I don’t feel pressure to be thin as a teacher, but I do feel a little pressure because my friends and family view me as healthy. I guess this also makes me feel pressured to make healthy food choices. Well actually, I think I’ve gotten over the food selection part. :)
Also, I would say I feel pressure as a healthy food blogger to be thin and I was kind of scared when I put on some weight this fall. But then I realized we are all human. I am certainly not perfect. Great post Ang!
What an interesting question! I think I do feel a little pressure to look a certain way, because I do public relations and so sometimes I have to be on TV. I just did a live TV show yesterday and the reporter called me the “spokeswoman” for my work, which I guess I am, but I feel like I should look attractive and polished in order to represent this classy place. The pressure to be thin though, is pressure I put on myself…I don’t want to watch myself on TV and think, ugh I look fat (or pale but that’s another story)
I’ve only recently discovered your blog and I love it!
I am a teacher and work with a lot of females. I don’t feel pressured to be thin, but I do feel that weight is scrutinized. Being an avid runner and also a vegan, I would consider myself pretty healthy! However, I’m on the naturally thin side anyways and I get a lot of ‘what DO you eat?’ if I politely refuse a donut in the lounge or ‘you run too much’ or ‘you must not be eating enough’. It is frustrating, and in my opinion, definitely uncalled for! It can be uncomfortable to deal with. When did eating healthy and exercising turn into ‘something must be wrong with you’!?
Megan–I totally hear you on that! I am a vegetarian and try to always eat healthfully. If I turn down a free bagel at work because I’ve already eaten breakfast at home, people are so weirded out. If I turn down a slice of birthday cake or a cookie, people think I’m nuts. I absolutely hate when people ask “well then what DO you eat?” as though hamburgers and steaks are the only foods on earth. I welcome my co-worker’s interest in my eating habits, and there are a few people who are genuinely interested in my advice so they can eat more healthfully, but there is always someone who takes a judgmental tone and it drives me crazy. You’re right-it’s definitely frustrating and uncalled for.
Angela- I admire your ability to handle people’s questions regarding the way you eat. Often, questions come off sounding rude and accusatory, and you always manage to handle them all with such grace:) After 12 years of vegetarianism, I still get defensive sometimes!!
I’m totally with you guys on this also – its INFURIATING. I work with three other people who eat crap and drink coffee all day and think I’m nuts for having a green smoothie for breakfast and salad for lunch – yet they are constantly battling weight issues, health issues, illnesses, moodiness…Finally after two years they now leave me alone – but this is after many times where I ate bad food just to get them to leave me alone…and I paid for it (eating the crap)…
I am still at student but as a varsity coxwain in my undergrad there was definitely pressure to be a certain weight and at my summer job as a bar cart girl at a golf club there is pressure to look good so you get better shifts
Wow. As a former newspaper reporter/current freelance writer, it never occurred to me that the workplace could be a source of pressure to be thin. Interesting and thought-provoking topic — made me glad I’ve never had to worry about it!
I can COMPLETELY relate to this topic. I just graduated in December with a dietetics degree (not registered yet) and often felt the pressure to look perfect. By the end of my second year, I almost left and choose another degree, because the pressure was so great. Eventually, I realized that I put this pressure on myself, it wasn’t something anyone else was doing.
Being a nutrition student and future dietetian adds a lot of pressure to look a certain way, but we are just like anyone else. I found that I purposely started eating badly when with friends and family, because they always looked at me like this perfect person. I wanted people to know that I was just like them and could eat cookies, ice cream and pizza. So, even if I didn’t want to, I would eat it so I felt more “normal”.
I soon realized that this was rediculous and that I should eat how I want and not how I feel others want me too. There is a lot of jealously with women, but I can’t let that affect me. I enjoy eating a healthy diet and working out most days of the week.
I think the pressure we feel from outsiders is usually just something we make up in our heads. In my situation, I soon realized that all of us students shared a passion for healthy living and being active, and they were so supportive and encouraging. In a way, I was just being judgmental of them, thinking that they must all eat perfectly and work out every day… but they don’t! We all struggle with the same things no matter what our major or occupation.
Luckily I have never had this pressure at work or school – just pressure I put on myself for my own reasons.
I’m an RD. There was a point where I felt pressure, but it was pressure I put on myself… not pressure from others or a job. I’m over it now. But its a catch-22. There are clients that feel they relate more to an overweight RD because they feel the RD can relate to them more, and there’s some who won’t go to an overweight RD because they don’t feel they practice what they preach. It’s the same theory about personal trainers. Would get an exercise plan from an overweight trainer? Our thoughts are so twisted. We need to not judge and focus on inner health… not the outer appearance.
My comment is so similar to Estela’s – I never really felt pressured from others but definitely put pressure on myself. (I don’t think it would have mattered what my major was) But I will never forget a professor telling us that either way (overweight/skinny) – some clients will have issues with both – if you have never been overweight you don’t know what they are going through and if you are overweight you must not know what you are talking about!
Oh yeah :) I work in the music industry in Nashville… everyone is so trendy and in shape! Whether you work for a label, are an artist/musician/song writer… or a receptionist!
There is definitely pressure to look good… be thin, etc here!
while i’m in the same institution as allie above, i’m in the hospital/medical side of things and it’s very different! actually, i am surprised that many of my coworkers in the medical field do NOT seem to feel pressure to be healthy, work out, or look a certain way. maybe we’re just too tired?
sometimes i feel like i stick out because i DO care about these things, and i do feel like i want to practice good health practices, since i have to talk about these things to my patients. i think it’s kind of hypocritical otherwise to preach about good nutrition and exercise, and then not follow those guidelines ourselves. that said, i wish i could follow my own patient advice on getting enough sleep – but that’s not my fault, that’s the job itself!
Hmmm… I’ve actually never felt any pressure to be thin at any job I’ve had. I’m definetely not the thinnest person out there, but over the past year as I’ve overhauled my eating and taken up running, I’m actually now seen as the office “freak”. (Seriously, they call me that)
I’m the one toting in green monsters, adhering to training plans, brown bagging my lunch with healthy options. I’ve actually found that I get MORE flack for trying to be healthier and a lot more comments when I do snag a cookie or food item they deem “unhealthy”. Also some people seem to like to watch and see when/if I’ll fail, which puts a whole other level of stress on it.
I don’t ever talk about the food choices I make, or the reason I want to train for half marathons as I find that I hate it when people try and impose their beliefs on me, so I refrain from sharing my (unsolicited) opinions. If they actually ask why and mean it, then I’ll chat with them about training or recipes or what not.
I’m super duper annoyed with myself for forgetting to set my dvr to catch oprah. SO MAD!
Before I started my own business, when I worked as an RD at a local hospital, I *definitely* felt pressure. I saw more disordered eating in our office of 9 dietitians than I was comfortable with. I worked with one RD for 2 years who ate a container of sugar-free, fat-free yogurt and a baggie of red pepper strips for lunch. Every. Single. Day. There was definitely competition to be the thinnest, eat the least, etc. Of course I was the office fatty because I ate bread and meat and wore a size 6 (the rest of them were size 2 or smaller).
Now I work for myself from home and don’t feel a bit of pressure to be thin. Some days I don’t even feel pressured to get out of my pajamas! Great question, BTW!
I work in entertainment in Los Angeles so there is a ton of pressure. But as I get older I just try to get past it. It isn’t easy but I am working on it!
When I was studying to be an RD there was definitely a lot of pressure to be the fittest/eat the healthiest foods/etc. Looking back, I can see now how stupid it all was.
There is 0 pressure to be thin at my current job. Go figure that I’ve been getting into the best shape of my life since I began working here. Taking the pressure off does wonders for me, it would seem. :P
in my specific line of work, there’s really no reason to look or be a certain way; however, our department is RIGHT NEXT to the design department, and every single woman in there is effortlessly thin. there are fit models running around all of the time, and unfortunately i attack myself for not being exactly like that. i’m trying more and more to learn to love myself, though, and i’m working towards a healthier weight, which makes me happy!
Are you sure they are “effortlessly thin”? They may make it look effortless, but they might be working really hard at it…