So once upon a time, there was this girl and she was me. At my work there's the dreaded candy bowl. It sits in the main office where I work. During the course of my day I walk past that stupid candy bowl probably fifty times. While I don't take a candy every time, several times throughout the day I grab some candy. One of my dearest friends at work is the one secretary that sits right by that stupid thing, so every time I go say hello to her, there it is, calling my name. It's ten feet from my box, which is a very serious problem for me, considering my out of control sweet tooth.
It's bottomless. When it gets empty it magically fills itself back up. It's limitless, nobody cares how much you take. The only time, seriously, the only time I can say no to the stupid candy bowl is when they have entire (yes you read that right, entire!) candy bars sitting in there.
I can't say no to it. I can't stop. I really can't.
Since I can't stay away from the candy bowl, how can I say no to the stupid thing? Any pointers?
Thanks in advance.

I hate things like that. There is a candy bowl at one of my jobs too- luckily I dont have to go near it very often.

maybe since the secretary that sits there is a good friend, you can ask her to help you out. She can be your little guardian angel and hide the bowl when you come over or you can just tell her that you are trying to stop eating it.. so next time you reach for some candy she can give you a gentle reminder and a nudge in the right direction? I also think that the more times you say "no" the easier it will get. good luck!

I think you should talk to your boss and say something like "it's so nice that we have a candy bowl for all the employees and clients, but I have an idea! Why don't we instead have a big bowl of fresh fruit? It's beautiful and kinder to everyone's health!" You'll even get credit for taking more initiative

If that's not possible I'd also ask the secretary to keep tabs on you about it too. Although it's not really her job to police you, but if she's a friend she might be willing to help out.

This is going to be really gross so don't read it if you don't want to......


When I am tempted by something like that in a "public" place, I picture all of the other people who had their dirty unwashed hands in the bowl feeling every single piece of candy before choosing one. So the one you pick will be dirty too, no matter what one. And you don't want that....GROSS.

It has become a habit. You can break habits. Danzingurl had a great idea in enlisting your friend to help you. It takes 21 days to break a habit. Concentrate on one day at a time. Tell yourself you are stronger than the "dreaded candy bowl" because you are!!!

Boy that is a hard deal. Its almost like being trained. You go to do something and then you get to reward yourself. Its like a treat for doing something. Just need to get blinders on I think and try your best.... or ask them kindly to put something in there that you do not like ...

I am a bad person... I (even tho way overweight) used to have a candy bowl on my desk. Now I never ate any of it (funny as I stared at it every day) but the other ladies in the office would come visit me to grab a piece. It was kinda my way of seeing people in our busy office. I was a bad bad bad girl!

Are there others where you work who also have the battle of the bowl going on? Enlist them in a contest to see who can go the longest without succumbing to the bowl. For every day that you succeed, everyone puts in a dollar. Maybe put a piggy bank by the candy bowl. It's somewhat the honor system, but the secretary will probably know whose been nibbling away. The last person who gives in gets the money in the pig. May not work for everyone, but I'm so competitive and love getting a reward that it might work for me -- and would help break the habit.

those all sound like great ideas!
My mom has a candy bowl in her room so everytime i walk down the passage there it is calling my name! I have now started looking at the floor when i walk down the passage or saying to myself "no, if you eat that you will regret it, its not good for you and you will undo yesterday hard work"
Sounds ailly but it really works for me - tough love works for me.

Once a week I work at a location where people bring in all kinds of home-baked goods and call everyone in for a 20 minute coffee break. I just told them I was diabetic and they stopped bugging me to try the latest goody. Having publicly told them I cant have it for health reasons stops me from even thinking about having it. But...this kind of modified behavior took me a long time to get the hang of. So happy not to feel that obsessive need to have some. Best of luck.

My manager has one of those in her office.... Luckily I work 3-11 and she is only there for a couple hours of my shift. The rest of the time it is locked up tight. Thank god. I can resist those few hours... 95% of the time.

As for suggestions.... maybe keep a healthy treat you like at your desk, so when you tempted you can just think to youself, "no, I have something just as good that is better for me" try it out. Or bring a bottle of water with you when you go up there so you can keep your hands busy and if you think to grab a candy... take a sip of water instead. Good Luck!

LOL that is similar to mine. I used to work in an office where we had a guy who would actually sit and pick his nose... and then go reach into the candy bowl! So I would always think of that when I wanted candy. Even though that job is long gone, I still "picture" that. The candy bowl at work sits on a bookshelf right outside my cube and where I can see it so I just also have to STOP saying I can't stay out of it and make the choice that I can and will.

There used to be a woman in my office, and she and I had a "deal' to bring each other healthy treats every once in a while... so you would never know what kind of "surprise" you were going to find.. and orange or bit of special salad one of us had made, etc. She moved to a different office but if there is someone like that you work with it makes a fun alternative to the candy bowl.

I've also been known to bring in myself a bag of baby carrots or something and put them into a bowl to share.

I don't think it is realistic to expect your co-workers to change the bowl to fruit, etc. It won't happen unless you work in a very health conscious office. But when YOU bring in treats, you can make it something more healthful; who knows, perhaps others will begin doing it too.

But it really IS up to each of us individually to keep our hands out of the candy bowl. "I can't do it" just doesn't fly. We can

Thank you, Misti!! I was so afraid I offended someone!!

My husband used to work with someone who apparently never washed his hands after using the restroom. They always had one of those big tubs of pretzels that the department shared. Once someone saw Joe's hands in the tub, the word got around not to touch it. I wonder how many times they missed him in it (lol!!!). That just grossed me out to even think of and I never forgot it. And if it keeps my hands out of the junkfood, it doesn't bother me!!

I love the healthy treats that you did with that lady. I am so picky about who's food I will eat (who prepared it, what their kitchen looks like, etc.) that I don't dive into every treat I ever see. Gives me the creeps!!

Temptation is everywhere, we can't avoid it. But we sure can trick ourselves into not wanting it!!

I'm not too tempted personally by treats that sit out in the break room, if I can just walk by ASAP, I'm good. Just try to pass by as quickly as possible, keep healthy treats like nuts in your office. Try to stay away from feeling hungry. What gets me more is when the person who has brought said treat tells me about it and encourages me to try a cookie. Then I just feel plain rude for being like, oh no thanks (cause it would hurt my feelings if someone did that to me, although I'd never push someone to eat my food).

In grad school last year we had a class where there was 8 of us, we took turns filling up the candy bowl so there'd be one on each of the two tables and it was right in front of me. There's a reason I gained a lot of weight that year. If I'm sitting down and there's a bowl of chocolate or something amazing and delicious in front of me, I'm going to have a hard time not constantly snacking.

A lot of people seem to think it's rude to refuse food. I don't understand this. I find it impossible to eat something when I don't want to, and even impossible to eat something that I don't like... for example I don't like cookies with nuts in them. I cannot think of one single reason why I have to put a fattening sugary cookie in my mouth if I don't even like it. Just because someone made them does not mean I have to eat them and feeling guilty for not taking something that is offered really should not be considered rude. I don't feel bad at all if someone does not want to eat something I made, it's their perrogative and they may have a slew of reasons for not wanting to eat it including: not being hungry, being on a diet, not liking a certain ingredient, or having an allergy.

So if someone tries to get you to eat something you don't want to eat, be honest and refuse or lie and refuse. There are so many excuses I use:

- I have an allergic reaction to "whatever ingredient"
- I just ate
- I'm on a doctor-prescribed diet

I agree. If that's the prevailing culture, we need to change the culture.

F.