A
female
age
41-50,
anonymous
writes:Hi all! I need to have a moan about a colleagues eating habits.A colleague of mine has the worst eating habits ever! She never has breakfast and instead comes in to work and eats 2-3 packets of crisps washed down by a can of redbull! Now we work in town so there's a mcdonalds, burger king, kfc etc so you can imagine lunch times what crap she eats! The other day she went to mcdonalds and had a large big mac meal and a double cheeseburger fillers by chocolate. Now despite this she is very skinny size 6-8 and because of this she likes to induldge junk everyday!Now you probably are wondering why I'm having a moan.... She is always off work ill! Seriously, in the past 6 months she has hardly been in a full week. When she does come she is ALWAYS complaining she feels unwell and begs for paracetamol!Our manager is aware and she has been issued a warning for the amount of sickness she takes. Manager even went out and bought her vitamin tablets to take!Not only does her sicknesses cause more work for the rest of us to do but we don't want her germs spreading- she is constantly sneezing and coughing! I firmly believe it's to do with her unhealthy lifestyle and she smokes!Our team often tell her to sort her diet out but she won't! She likes the attention she gets when people see how skinny she is and how much she eats without getting fat!Advice??
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male
reader, anonymous, writes (12 March 2010): Why, dear OP, do you not get on her good side by buying her a meal now-and-then and find out what is at the root of her issues and then address them with insight and a targeted response from the whole office team?
A
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): thank god i only have to deal with sweaty energetic kidlets. i couldnt live on lean cuising and carrot sticks and orange juice. sorry op i just think you sound very petty. even if your moan is justified it makes you sound like a shrew. try a little tolerance and kindness. sheesh. i'll keep my teenage boys. at least they are happy and laughing while they drive me nuts. mal
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): Better being a Mary sunshine than being a germ breeder! Lol!
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A
female
reader, eyeswideopen  +, writes (11 March 2010):
 We have one of these in my office, we actually DO call her Mary Sunshine.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): Queenkatie- read the post properly where does it say the whole office is against& how dare u insinuate we bully her? We all get on we'll& we don't want her to get more ill. Fair enough she may have an underlying disorder but her diet doesn't help- apparently she told us the doctor told her to get early nights, cut down smoking & include fruit and veg in her diet.
Oh& I hav no issues with my own body, stop twisting things to suit your vindictive comments.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): How haven't they fired her yet if things are that bad?Your story seems to stem from jealousy.How gorgeous is she?
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A
male
reader, Kenj +, writes (11 March 2010):
 A follow up to "Samantha x" if this woman does have an ED then as Sam says, try not to get to mad with her. It's not her fault, she didnt choose it and yes I know that sounds strange to comprehend.
ED's can take over a persons life more than you could ever know, she needs professional help if she doesnt get that then she will end up in hospital probably on a section 2 or 3 and she will die. Thats the reality of it.
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A
male
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): Poster I agree with you! I used to work with a guy years ago whose diet was attrocious& he had no sense of hygiene-he would go to the toilet& not was his hands- the biggest germ spreader of! Some comments on here are from small minded people ie marieclaire and FA etc...
They obviously would enjoy working in a stuffy office with bugs& germs!
Back to my colleague- he would get sickness& diarreah every other month& throw up in the bins! Not atall pleasant! But nothing could be done about it. He eventually left& amazingly no one else got I'll!
She is damaging her body with all the crap she puts in it so it will catch up with her, just wait! Then u can have the last laugh.
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): If she is becoming ill because of her unhealthy diet, but refuses to change because she likes the attention she recieves, then I feel quite sorry for her. I agree with Kenj, she may have an eating disorder. Or at least the mindset of someone with an eating disorder.
Could you speak to your manager about the work being too much when she is ill, and see what they suggest? Surely if it is that bad, they should try to find a solution around it, instead of expecting you to take on extra work.
But I don't think you can change her. If you are concerned about germs and things like that, again, I suggest you have a word with your manager about it, and explain how it is affecting you. Maybe the rest of the people who work with you could say something too, so he/she understands how much of an issue it is. I can understand you disliking all the coughing and sneezing, but I think you will probably be fine. Her immune system is most likely very low, so she is vulnerable to all sorts of illnesses right now.
But try not to get too mad with your colleague. I know it is easy for me to say, as I am not in your position, but if she is as bad as you say she is, and she doesn't seem to care as long as she is slim, then I feel sad for her because I can't see this having a happy ending. Rather, she may just become more unwell. I hope something gets worked out for you and your team. x
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): First of all, you don't have nearly enough information to draw the conclusion that this girl's sickness is caused by her diet. There could be any number of reasons why she's unwell - including psychological issues. She might even have a non-contagious disorder that compromises her immune system - as another poster has mentioned, her behaviour could be indicative of an eating disorder. Instead of treating her as if she has the black death, try being a little compassionate to her! People's lives can sometimes be hard and it's better to err on the side of kindness.
Secondly, the girl's diet, her weight, and her bodyshape are her own business. To be honest, it speaks volumes about your own insecurities that you feel that it's appropriate to criticize her for these things.
Finally, it disturbs me that you say that the whole office is against her. To be honest, that smacks of a nasty culture of bullying that is more appropriate for primary school than the workplace. Have you considered that her frequent absences from work might be the result of stress caused by you all having a go at her continually and treating her as if she's a social outcast?
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): Well FA seeing as u have 4 kids I'm assuming u don't care about their eating habits so it's up to your wife!! Oh and yes I will have u know I haven't had a day off sick for 16 months so if more people ate healthily they to would be in work & be paid to do their job rather than being ill at home!
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): I'm poster of this,.anonymos calling me miss busybody it DOES affect me as I have to work with her& endure her constant moans and workload when she us away!! Also u never said I wanted her fired!!
She doesn't have an eating disorder- I'm positive, she just loves her food.
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A
male
reader, Fatherly Advice +, writes (11 March 2010):
 BINGO!
You don't approve of her mother so you feel the need to replace her.
Don't worry about getting ill, your healthy eating habits will protect you.
FA
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A
female
reader, eyeswideopen +, writes (11 March 2010):
Keep antibacterial spray around and use it frequently on everything she touches. I think your problem will resolve itself in short order.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): Im the original poster and FA let me assure you I'm a Size 10 by no means a large person& no one in the office is on the large side!! My concern is about her immune system being low as she picks up every bug going& we don't want to get ill. Also yes she has a mother- a usless one!
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A
male
reader, Kenj +, writes (11 March 2010):
It really sounds like she has an eating disorder, and this is a serious illness. She most likley has bulima or even anorexia and is binge eating. Her immune system will be lower than normal if she is anorexic.
Does she dissapear to the bathroom after meals? You will probably find she does.
If it's offending you how she eats, can you get out of her way, go for a walk or something at lunch time?
Have you tried talking to her?
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A
male
reader, anonymous, writes (11 March 2010): eeek she seems horrible. I feel sorry for you all. why on earth they don't fire her.
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A
male
reader, Fatherly Advice +, writes (11 March 2010):
I suspect that she has a mother. I'm 100 percent sure that she doesn't want another. All you can do is wait until she gets fired for missing work. Most skinny people won't take health advice from larger people anyway.
FA
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