Your help please?

Hey all, Well, I home (briefly) from the writer's conference this week, and I've been asked to submit an article to a businesswomen's magazine regarding weight in the workplace. I'm hoping ya'all can help, lol. Both men and women can chime in here. Here are the survey questions, you can reply here or email them to me. No names will be used in the article, but please let me know in what type of industry you work: 1. What were/are your top 5 frustrations with being overweight in the workplace? 2. What have been the top 5 advantages of your weight loss as it pertains to your work environment? (Or, if you're pre-op, what are you looking forward to?) 3. If you would like, please share a personal story (remember, no names will be used unless you ask me to) that relates to one of the above questions. 4. What would be your top 5 suggestions to women who are struggling with weight related issues in the workplace? Please feel free to add any comments, suggestions, or personal stories/tips you would like. Also, if you would be open to the possibility of having your before/after pictures in the article, please let me know. (This is NOT a requirement) Though this is not a faith-based article, please feel free to comment in that vein if you wish. Here's a chance to make our voices heard! Thanks so much everyone! Blessings! -Perry 358/325/272/210 Perry P. Perkins Christian Novelist Just Past Oysterville: Shoalwater Book One Read chapter one - (www) perryperkinsbooks.com

Hi Perry, I am on the same subject, lost the page, start again. I am a writer in Seaside, Oregon waiting for surgery with Emma Patterson, MD. Portland, Oregon. 1. a. nice fitting clothes. b. walking any great distance from work station to car or in the building. c. furniture that fit. chairs or tables. d. feeling like I didn't fit in with the others 2. If I was smaller the above would no longer be a problem 3. Personal story. Being made fun of happened all my life with being large. I was tease because I had bigger body parts than others in school and work. I was humilated often when trying to fit some desk or chair that had arms on them. I would leave or not go to important meeting if I would have to be near the front so others would see me. When in college it was the same. I had to ask for special setting arrangemets and that in it self was humilating. I didn't go to movies for years becasue of my size. 4. Women stuggle in school and work situation becasue so much more is expected of women in the clothing department and the dating sence. Without a good self esteem one doesn't do as well and promotion of leadership roles are limited. People being who they are if you do have any leadership role those who don't like your style or manner will find physical insults to make and when you become aware of them it is so painful that I have quit jobs or classes or other social groups because I felt so ashame of my body. Well I hope that helps. Pauline Linda Frye

Fun project! I'll play! I won't have any *real* afters to show for awhile, but if the article isn't published right away, I am willing. Here we go: 1. What were/are your top 5 frustrations with being overweight in the workplace? 1) Finding a chair that was comfortable. I work as a police dispatcher and therefore am "chained" to my console the whole shift. As I topped out on weight, I found that only a few chairs were reasonably comfortable for me to sit in, yet they were always taken. As a result I was constantly in physical therapy. 2) Being tired at work. I seriously felt I might be narcoleptic for awhile. I was a blinking, talking, gibberish typing zombie at times. It started to scare me how often I ended up "sleep working." I can recall on many occasions where I had my eyes open but was effectively sleeping. When I would "come to" I would look at my computer screen to see gibberish typed there. 3) Not being able to dress up. One of my favorite things is to dress up and look nice, but at 325 lbs you start to find yourself buying clothing because it fits rather than because it looks good on you. I didn't have the money to spend on the expensive plus-sized clothing so I was always settling for what fit. To this day I loathe the fact that I bought a pair of rose colored pants because they fit. 4) In my job I do not always have a face to face knowledge of the officers I dispatch for, so many of my friendships with them are on the phone only. One of my embarassments/frustrations is that when I do finally meet some of them, there is an uneasiness and avoidance that occurs. I think it's because they are shocked at the way I looked and I crushed their idea of who I was. Perhaps it is all my own doing though - it is hard not to feel self-conscious around strangers. 5) Always having goodies and food around was a horrible tempation but I almost always was a good girl. By the time I had surgery I realized that I spent the last 5 years on a diet, avoiding the donuts and birthday cake only to find myself heavier than when I started. I wouldn't have rice at a potluck or Christmas goodies brought in every year...yet I still got fatter and fatter and fatter. It was depressing that through all those years of self-denial I still had nothing to show for it. At least now I can pass those things up without that albatross around my neck. I avoid it because it will make me sick, yes. But I also avoid it because *this surgery* is working and I see the direct result of that. 2. What have been the top 5 advantages of your weight loss as it pertains to your work environment? (Or, if you're pre-op, what are you looking forward to?) 1) I can find a chair that doesn't kill my back and I haven't been to the physical therapist since I was a few weeks out of surgery. 2) I can park anywhere in the large parking lot and not care that I have to walk. 3) I am no longer a zombie at work. If I get tired, I just get a little tired. It is nothing like the sleep working I used to do. 4) I feel more capable of expanding my horizons. Although I currently still have quite a bit to lose, my feelings about myself have changed and I suddenly feel more prepared to go out there and seek out more of a challenge. 5) I am no longer overheated and I don't feel like I'm suffocating. In fact, I am pretty cold much of the time at work which is a huge departure from where I was. 3. If you would like, please share a personal story (remember, no names will be used unless you ask me to) that relates to one of the above questions. Can use any of the above stories. 4. What would be your top 5 suggestions to women who are struggling with weight related issues in the workplace? 1) There is a glass ceiling to many women with weight problems in the workplace, but remember that sometimes we aren't projecting the confidence or friendliness that we might otherwise. Many people complain that others respond to them differently after they lose their weight. While that may be true, and it may even be true that some people are responding to the physical changes, it is also likely that many are responding to your personality changes. 2) Whether you are deciding on weight loss surgery, going on a diet or just wanting to not gain, try to spend some serious time trying to decipher what it is you think you can do, what it is you KNOW you can do, and what you want for your life. If you want to diet down, then prepare yourself mentally and emotionally. Prepare yourself for the time when you are 15-20 lbs from goal and feel like you can ease up on yourself. Prepare yourself for depression and stalls. If you end up having the surgery, you are miles ahead of the game being prepared like that. 3) Do what you can to be comfortable. If you need to, pull a supervisor aside and explain how ergonomically your needs aren't being met because of your size. Chances are they will be sensitive to your situation and realize that if they don't try to accomodate you in that way that they could be contributing to an injury. Can't think of anymore off the top of my head right now. If I think of 4 and 5, I'll come back to this... Dina