Do you ever get unsolicited advice when people see what you are eating?

Today, While eating my greek salad for lunch, one of my coworkers came up to me and said "I only ever see you eat vegetables and chicken - It's not realistic. No REAL person eats like that - why dont you just eat REAL food and less amounts?"

<------- Evidently I am not a real person, I am a fake one... and I eat fake food.

I eat it for lunch because it easy, but I eat a myriad of different foods for breakfast and dinner.

I consider those kinds of comments to be pointless chatter. People somehow feel the need to SAY SOMETHING about other people's chosen menu. I don't get it. Other than the "oh, that looks good!" kinds of comments, they really ARE pointless.

There's a woman I work with who feels she HAS to comment on my lunch EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. "She's having her veggies and fruit again!" or something equally stupid & pointless. I usually just smile & nod, or "agree" with her - but lately, it's been wearing on my last nerve. I'm about to ask her WHY she finds it SOOOOOO important to comment on my food all the time? I mean, seriously, woman! - comment on your own **** lunch. Better yet, just STFU.

That person was just venting their own frustrations with themselves for not being able to eat as you are eating. They feel it's unrealistic for THEM to eat lunch like that.

That, and they just assume that's what you eat 24/7 which is pretty narrow thinking on their part!

I am currently a stay at home mom, but if they were to see my breakfast and lunch every day, they would think I only ate two things - ever. But, for dinner, I eat more and something different every night. People are just stupid about what they say sometimes.

it is SO annoying, right?!?!? I felt like saying "Yes, I am eating my veggies and chicken. MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY IT SO YOU CAN GET RID OF THAT VOLCANO OF A PIMPLE THAT HAS BEEN ON YOUR CHIN FOR 4 MONTHS!!!!"

ok... I am calming down now.

\end meltdown

When I was a preschool teacher I got this a lot. I remember bringing pineapple for lunch and getting told "that's not lunch!" We generally had to eat the food served to the kids and I would eat small amounts because I knew it was pretty high in calories. I would get lots of "That's it? You're only eating that??"

Leave me alone!

At my old job, some of my colleagues were convinced I was a vegetarian (I'm very much a carnivore) because at the office cafeteria I avoided fatty meats or meat that had been fried and asked for the vegetarian option instead. And any time they'd see me eat chicken or some other lean meat, they'd exclaim in shock "But I thought you didn't eat meat!".

"uh huh, that's riveting" is my standard snarky response to people who comment on things that are none of their concern. Okay, not really- but I do think you should call them out in any way you think would be effective (it varies greatly among personalities). People should be corrected when they're out of line.

I, too, don't really understand comments on food beyond a simple "Ooh, that looks/smells good."

I probably would've said back to that woman plainly, "I see you're having <insert food>. How's that working for you?"

I get this all the time at my work...
One from a older man who likes to point out that the food I and my BF eat "is not food...it's what food eats." (Just likes giving us a hard time about me being a vegitarian. and my BF give's him crap right back about the food he eats will give him another heart attack) - basic teasing that hardly gets to me.

What gets to me is when one other coworker sitting with us and takes a look at our plates and goes. "God you eat so much green stuff! you're like the healthiest eaters in this whole place." But he says it like he about to puke at the thought of eating a leaf. (he even picks the tastless iceburg out of his meat and cheese on a bun that he has EVERY DANG DAY!)

For the most part I think people are just curious. Now we have three other workers who eat salads every day at lunch but nobody really bugs them about it. (and they all would surprise me if they weighed more than 120 pounds,..one girl and two guys BTW)

So I wonder, is it just because I'm a big girl and eating plants that it's so much more novle? I'm not loud about being a vegitarian but most everyone who apparently cares about I put in my mouth knows I'm a veg-head. And I think they wonder what the heck i must be eating if it's not a leaf or a carrot.

"What are you eating! It smells so good! i thought you were a vegitarian?" - my Boss....Me- "sweet onions, squash, peas, garbonzo beans with a sweet curry sause over jasmine rice." and as always, they are shocked that something looking so good is made from plants.

I think if people know you are on a diet, they tend to snoop. Why?...I don't know. Are they the food police come to slap it out of my hands? Are they looking to see if I'm cheating? Sometimes I feel as though they are secretly hoping I'm shoving dounuts down my throat.

It's nearly impossible for me not to back sass their food choices when they get picky at MY LUNCH!
"Oh, I could never eat that, i hate mushrooms."
even though it's my lunch and I didn't offer them any, their just snooping at my plate and I feel and overwhelming urge to snoopp back and go "Well I could never eat Day-glo orange cheese that our goverment dyes because Americans are to stupid to figure out cheese is never orange."

two wrongs don't make a right but this, of course makes them shut up and go away. ^.^

I have the same exact woman working at my job, but when she goes into my coworker's office to get her sugar fix from his candy basket, she always comments on my veggies w/hummus late afternoon snack. Yes, that candy bowl is there, and no, I'd rather eat this. "You're so good" is another comment I get, especially when we do any working lunches and I eat my own instead of ordering in.

I'm still on this journey but I think this is what's wrong with our society. If you were eating an extra large value meal with fries and a soda, no one would ever comment about the way you're eating or that it's not "realistic." Eat healthy and a normal portion size for your weight goals and people react.

I still hide what I'm eating for lunch to avoid the comments from inquisitive people. Today, lunch is vegeterian vegetable soup with a few crackers which is enough for me (and very filling). I've also had to deal with people telling me that I needed to "eat a real meal." I'm sorry but a large bowl of vegetable soup with crackers and a drink is enough for me!

170starting I am so mad on your behalf!!! Vegetables and chicken are REAL FOOD!! It's a lot more real than the average processed crap American diet. I would be very tempted to look at that person's meal and point out all the "food-like products" and inform her that she is not eating real food.

It's also ridiculous to judge a person's entire diet based on lunch, as others have pointed out. My lunch range is pretty small because not many meals lend themselves to packing into a lunchbox and heating in a microwave. My dinners are much more varied!

It really makes me self conscious when I go for the healthy foods. Last night, I went to dinner with my RA and one of my hall mates because they asked (I live in a dorm!). I had already had some food a few hours earlier but still had roughly 600 left so I decided to go to keep them company and if I wanted I could get some veggies or something to use up the rest of my cals.

Well they all got pasta, potatoes, pizza, etc, while I decided to just have a few piece of carved turkey and tomatoes and grapes! (which was great for me I loved it!) But when they saw my plate they were like "Really?" O_o. YES REALLY!!! -_- After that it always goes into "Why are you dieting?" "JUST EAT!!" or "Why do you wanna lose weight?"

Which of course I can answer them but apparently "to look and feel better about myself" isn't a good enough answer.

I just started my weight loss so hopefully I can come up with better things to tell them or easier ways to just let it roll off, but right now it's just plan annoying.

I used to get this all the time from a plus-size coworker (worked in the same building, but didn't work with her, didn't even know her name!).

"There you go, salad again!"

Like, everyday. And I would smile, nod, be pleasant. One day I said "I used to be fat." And I looked her in the eye and held the look.

She never said anything about it again.