I have a co-worker who recently developed a healthy living lifestyle change; she eats better, watches everything she eats, counts calories, exercises regularly, etc. She looks fabulous, and we are all very happy for her, but she is annoying us to death!!
She is constantly talking about how many miles she walked or ran, what wonderful low-cal, low-carb creation she concocted, what dress size she is wearing, etc. She brings in light and healthy recipes and makes photocopies for everyone and leaves them on our desks.
I am sure she is proud of her accomplishments, and I don’t want to begrudge her anything, but I am fairly heavy person myself (and quite happy as I am) and I have no desire to hear what someone had for dinner or how long they were on the treadmill. How can we make her stop?
- Annoyed
Dear Annoyed,
What wonderfully aerodynamic paper airplanes those photocopies will make!
Look at it this way: the woman thinks she struck gold. And rather than keeping it quiet, she is running up and down the halls of your office screaming "Eureka". Misguided as she may be, she is under the impression that the rest of you are fellow prospectors. She now sees herself as somewhat of a "gold miner's tour guide", if you will. What she doesn't understand—but will soon come to realize—is that people know damn well where the gold is; and if they want some, they'll get up and go get some. And some may never even pan for any because they see more personal value in silver and bronze.
Analogies aside, you asked Alotta a pointed question: "How can we make her stop?" The answer to that question is a short one: you can't. But you can certainly send up some strong smoke signals so that she'll get the hint and blaze some other trail. However, Alotta is confident that they won't be necessary because she'll soon just quit on her own. Right now, she's proud of herself and in awe of her recent accomplishments; but the novelty will wear off and she'll move on to talking about something else. It is, after all, coming up on February, the time of year when resolutions begin to take a back seat to candy hearts and chocolate.
Continue to be happy for her and find it in your heart to compliment her. If she pesters you personally, smile and say, "It is very sweet of you to be concerned about me but I assure you that I am very happy the way I am." If she persists, add, "I'm happy that you found what works for you. You look great." And then promptly excuse yourself.
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