just wanted your opinion

Am I just being overly sensitive?  This is what happened.  There is a new lady at work that is perfectly proportioned and well, gorgeous.  She is probably 5'5" and weighs in the neighborhood of 125#.  She whines about gaining 5 pounds from the stress of going through a divorce.  One day it was so bad I got up and left the lunch room.  Yesterday, I went to her area of the office.  She shares it with 2 plump coworkers who are very quiet and unassuming.  She had written a huge sign that read, "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels!"  I felt this was insensitive and inappropriate given that her two chubby cubicle buddies have to read it like a million times a day.  I was a little taken aback and I only had to look at it for 5 minutes while she rescheduled my patient.  She doesn't work for me, so I didn't say anything.  I did talk to her supervisor about it.  She agreed with me and asked her to take the sign down.  Am I just overly sensitive?  I'm not usually,  actually just the opposite.  I've always been frank about my weight gain. And well, frank in general, you know the kind, no filter....

Look at it from this point of view:

I got to 135 about a month ago...I've regained 3 lbs and that is the exact opposite of the direction I want.

Now, if I was in a place where no one knew me pr-op (or even before last month) and heard me complain about gaining three lbs, they might feel I didn't have the right to complain as I am still in a normal BMI...

Granted her sign wasn't the best thing but I have seen that saying as someone's signature here on OH. Maybe because the OH member has been in our shoes? Getting with her supervisor was a good move tho.

We also don't know everyone's history in work places...some people have the surgery and don't tell hardly a soul, esp co-workers. She may have been obese in a previous life.

My opinion...let it go. You have bigger things to deal with.

 Southernlady, you are absolutely right.  I do have bigger things to worry about.  I guess I thought I was standing up for 2 girls who wouldn't do it for themselves.  Thanks for the perspective.  On a side note, why do Price and Southernlady have the same avatar?  Twin sisters, same person, split personality?  Just curious.

I guess I don't see the resemblance.

I'm putting hers and mine side by side.

 
I wouldn't mind being her twin as she is a super nice person but nope...she's not even related except being a fellow LW.

I suspect those girls may not have even noticed.

Liz

The sign is a over the top, but I speak from experience about disordered eating.
I, ate all my emotions, and never paid mind to the scale. But on the other side, my younger sister is the opposite of me. She never weighs more than 100 pounds. She has way more body dysmorphia than I do, at a size 0 -2, I just dont get it. If she were to gain 5 pounds she would be acting just like your co worker.
Now if she has this sign up because she is prejudice against working with people with weight issues, that needs to be nipped right now or fired!
Glad you were able to speak for your coworkers. Did they have anything to say about it?

Wow, those avatars are weird sometimes.  When I changed mine last time, my old one showed up for days on my computer although everyone else saw the new one.  Gina told me to refresh my computer and that did it.  I agree with Liz, friends and fellow lightweights but cyperspace had played a trick if it has us with the same avatar.

But to the question at hand.  No, I think you are will within your bounds to say something to her supervisor.  I know I have to be really careful with my staff.  They are all varying degrees of overweight to morbidly obese.  Most of them don't have health insurance so and have trouble with day to day expenses, much less having an expensive surgery.  I certainly don't want them to feel bad because I could do something they couldn't have a chance to do.  BTW, I pay better than anyone else in town and they are contractors not employees so my providing health care isn't possible.  The state of the country is that non-educated workers just have a horrible time and when only one in a family has a job, it is almost impossible no matter how hard they work or how much they try.

I'm with the others, let it go. Glad that your supervisor was supportive. Perhaps, the sign was this woman's way of staying in the game. Hopefully, it wasn't to make other people feel self-conscious.

I was moaning about a 2 lb weight gain this week, so the weight issue is all relative to our past experiences.

As far as standing up for the others, did they ask for your help or complain that the sign was offensive to them? If not, perhaps, it was related to your issues. I certainly have to look at myself in some situations.

Gail

Some people are sensitive about their weight issues and some are not but if the sign bothered you then you had every right to go to her supervisor.

You are going to experience all kind of ill feelings after you start losing and get to goal.  Some you may cause without even knowing it because this ride is so exciting it's hard not share and want others who are overweight to know your "secret".  Other times it will be someone who is overweight and very jealous that you have gotten thin.  The lady you are writing about might also be bold enough to make comments about her wishing she could lose those 5 lbs. without trying.   Be prepared...not everyone's going to be happy that you've had WLS and are looking really good!  Some of us have lost good friends over becoming thin.  My sister won't even acknowledge my weight loss.

I used to get annoyed at people who complained about how "fat" they were when they looked great to me. Now I am one of those people!

I am 5 pounds heavier than I want to be and it's very worrying to me and I do intend to do something about it. Just because I'm no longer trying to lose 100 pounds doesn't mean my 5 pounds aren't important to me or that I shouldn't do anything about them.

As for the sign, in my book "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels" is probably the biggest crock of horse-patoee. If this was true, no one would be fat! I think it's a really dumb slogan.

But apparently she finds that slogan really helpful in her quest to better herself. Now think about how you would feel if you were trying to do something, put an affirming slogan on  your cube wall, and HR made you take it down as being "insensitive" to people who _______?

As an example, let's say you are training for your first 5k race and you put up a slogan about how no matter how slow you are, you are faster than someone who is sitting on the couch. And someone who has bad knees and can't run gets all huffy about it because it "makes her feel bad".

I think you would have a certain lack of respect towards the person who complained, to be honest. I also think, if it bothered her co-workers, it's up to them to say something, not you. Maybe they are also on diets and love the sign.

Has she had WLS? The only reason I ask becasue the Mantra is in Susan Maria Leach's book!  But I know what you are saying...I would never post that in my office!