It's common for me to get gifts at my work for special occasions and holidays. I had no idea people would want to give me gifts when i first started working. DP also works with a lot of people and gets tons of gifts throughout the year. All the gifts we get are not really personal stuff, it's mostly food. Yummy, delicious food. I have a hard time dealing with this, because most of the food is stuff i used to eat during binging episodes. I'll have some, but many times i find myself overeating and just wanting to bathe myself in it! Lol! I sometimes share it with coworkers but its so hard to resist eating it.... any advice?
What kind of food is it? Is it something that you may be able to donate to a shelter or food bank? (If you're not sure what they will take, you can always call and ask!) Something you could freeze? Share with friends by hosting a dinner?
At my last job, we also were given a lot of food around Christmas...I was SO grateful the one year someone brought in the most delicious fresh fruit tray. It is hard to say no to the yummy chocolates and candy, that's for sure. Especially when it is given to you directly.
When I'm given gifts at work, from students and their parents, I often share it with my DH and my boys and my staff, because they play a big part in our successful program here....Sometimes if it's SUPER good, I will eat the whole thing....But honestly I get gifts at Christmas and at the end of the school year, so twice a year, and not a ton so I try to share most of it and not feel bad if I eat all of something especially tasty
nonameslob I usually get fancy chocolate and biscuits, boxes of bonbons, nuts (those i like), homemade cake and all sorts of candy. It's rare for me to get salty stuff. DP gets fancy chocolates, biscuits and bonbons as well but also the ocasional wine (and we drink it all), baskets full of cheese, fancy crackers, pathe, olive oil, spices, etc. (I tear those apart and we stick to the heathly stuff). The shelters in my region ask for more healthy stuff. DP doesn't like sugary stuff nearly as much as i do and if she were to live alone a chocolate bar would probably last a month. Our nefews and nieces live far from us but sometimes i manage to keep some treats for them. Sometimes i'll eat the treats before we travel to see them... lol...
alaskanlaughter We get gifts at easter (easter is HUGE in Brazil), Xmas, Psychologist day, Teachers day and sometimes we just get stuff for no special reason. It's a lot. This year's easter we got 27 chocolate eggs. Have you ever seen the sizes of brazilian chocolate eggs? I don't think i've ever seen this kind of chocolate anywhere in the world (Google to understand)! I do apreciate the thought and affection that are put into it, but it's a huge temptation! I've been giving them as gifts to my friends, but now everybody is trying to lose weight!
Last edited by Marina Brasil; 09-23-2014 at 07:25 PM.
Do you live near any nursing homes or senior centers? Most really appreciate donations; especially at holidays. Some residents don't have relatives or visitors and receiving something would really brighten their day.
take it to the reception desk (provided you aren't working there) and leave it for everyone to enjoy. Then take any path but that one to get around the office.
While i would love to donate all the food to shelters, nursing homes, etc, most of them ask for other type of food because they already get a lot of sweets at the holidays and many of the people they help have restrictions when it comes to eating. Basically they seem to be having the same problem i have: many donations consist of sugary and salty stuff and they actually need healthier delicious food for special occasions. I'm baking diet desserts to take to one of them because the person who talked to me on the phone was so desperate by the fact they have nothing without sugar to offer to the seniors on Children's day that i just wanted to help. But... they won't take regular chocolate. The city i live in is huge on food factories and many institutions receive endless chocolate and candy donations. This specific nursing home has just received thousands of bags of cheese chips that they don't know if they will be able to use before the expiration date because most people there can't have cheese chips. So, donations are off the table unless it's got almost no salt or sugar.
I will take lotsakids and alaskanlaughters's sugestion and put in all on the kitchen table for my coworkers. I can't really take it to the reception because we try to encourage healthy eating habits and i work with Healthcare. Most of the patients here are overweight, have high blood pressure, diabetes and other conditions associated with bad eating habits.
Last edited by Marina Brasil; 09-24-2014 at 10:25 AM.
This year's easter we got 27 chocolate eggs. Have you ever seen the sizes of brazilian chocolate eggs? I don't think i've ever seen this kind of chocolate anywhere in the world (Google to understand)!
All I have to say is WOW - I learned something new about Brazilian Easter Eggs! I feel for you. It is a shame to throw all of that away, but I wouldn't want to eat that either... I posted photos, but then removed them - that could be some serious triggers for folks... [For anyone who wants to see some absolute craziness: Do an image search on "brazilian chocolate easter egg".] I can't believe those hanging eggs filling the markets!
Do you have kids around where you live? That is my normal strategy for quickly ridding my house of unwanted junk.
Or I have let people know that I have "blood sugar issues" (I don't have diabetes but I definitely have problems when I eat too much sugar ... I don't feel like explaining to everyone about my binge tendencies) and that I can't eat a lot of sweets, baked goods etc. The best strategy is preventing the gifts from coming in!
I don't know if it is at all possible culturally but if you could suggest an alternate gift, a donation to a food bank or the specific nursing home you are in contact with ... that would be a lovely alternative.
By the way, do you end up giving gifts for all these occasions as well? If so, what do you give?
GOOD LUCK to you! Food gifts are a hard issue. I have angered my mother many times over refusing to accommodate her idea that massive amounts of "comfort foods" = love.
This is hard for a lot of people but have you tried... throwing it away?
Usually if I get a sweet thing like that as a gift, I'll eat a bit to say I did, and then I immediately throw the rest out. The poor and elderly don't need junk food any more than you do. It can be hard to waste food, I know - I grew up in poverty myself - but it's better to get my fix and trash the rest than to ruin my health by overindulging, and putting something in a trash can is the one thing I can do to it to really stop me from going for it again a few hours later.
cestlavie22 - I understand what you mean, but i would feel guilty throwing it away. It may not be food if you think of added chemicals, conservatives, etc; but it is considered food by almost the majority of my community. DP gets those gifts from wealthy people but i get them from poor people who are my patients and are really trying to please me.
EmmaD - In easter it's common to give chocolate eggs to children and a box of bonbons or a chocolate bar to adults. There is no easter candy, only chocolate. The chocolate eggs are hollow and they have small bonbons inside. Children's eggs may have small toys. There are tunnels with hanging eggs in every supermarket and just about anywhere people sell sugary stuff. DP and I exchange chocolate eggs that weight about 7 ounces (those are considered small eggs!). A child often gets eggs from the 2 sets of grandparentes, godfather/godmother, aunt, uncles, etc. There are all sizes of eggs and they have numbers according to their sizes. Some of my patients sell homemade eggs to make extra money and they get me huuuuge eggs at easter. I don't have children and my nefews and nieces live far from us. My friends have babies, everybody is in their 30's and having babies now, so no chocolate for them because they are a few months old! I can't really ask for donations because those gifts are not expected at all. We do gift them to friends, but it's a lot!
Oh, we give gifts at a few occasions, but it's a reasonable amount (pretty small, actually). We receive so many gifts because we work with people on a daily basis and both our jobs involve a close relationship with our patients (i'm a psychologist and DP is a personal trainer and physical education teacher that attends to patients with special needs and various disabilities). My patients are poor or middle class and hers are wealthy.
Maybe i'll take it all to the work kitchen whenever i get them.... the ones i brought today are almost gone. There are 100 people working here, so there are lots of people who could use a dessert after lunch!
Last edited by Marina Brasil; 09-25-2014 at 03:29 PM.
I will take lotsakids and alaskanlaughters's sugestion and put in all on the kitchen table for my coworkers.
I think this is a good idea. If your kitchen area is anything like mine at the office, the goodies will be gone in no time. You can always smooth it over with a little note saying that since you couldn't possibly eat all of these delicious treats, you'd like to share the love with everyone.
When a patient gives you that type of food, you could try this:
"This is so lovely. Thank you! I have a health condition that requires me to restrict the amount of sugar/salt/whatever I eat, but if you don't mind, I will share it with my family/coworkers/whatever."
It's true. Whether obese or normal weight, we all need to monitor the amount of junk we eat. And if you tell them that you can't personally enjoy the gift, maybe they'll stop bringing them.
But I am definitely in the throw it away camp, FWIW. Because I know that if it's there, I will very likely come back and eat it, and I know that these will not be calories that my body needs. So what's more wasteful? Throwing something out or consuming it and allowing it to cause me harm?
Help! I get A LOT of food as gifts!
You can always smooth it over with a little note saying that since you couldn't possibly eat all of these delicious treats, you'd like to share the love with everyone.
