Lunch time stress........any ideas?

hello fellow runners,

i am having the lunch time blues...........ok, i'll explain. I have a little problem in the office and it would be good to see what others think of the issue.

The thing is that in my work we normally have our lunch while working at our desks. Most of us go out for a walk in the town centre either before or after the lunch.

Personally i need to go out for a 20 minute walk in the town centre to get soe frech air and strech my legs. I need the oxygen after being all morning in a closed stuffy office.

The problem is workmates complain about my lunch, they say it smells!

I normally bring fish, my favourite being salmon, tinned fish. Or tuna or sardines. and boiled egg.

people in the office complain of the smell of fish or eggs. They find it offensive.

I don't do it on purpose, and i have tried ways to make my lunch less smelly, like cover it up, etc but they still are botherred about the fish.

I don't know what to do. I want to keep a good relationship with my workmates and would not want to get to a point when they blank me out.

I am thinking about alternatives. What i eat is basically fish or meat or chicken or eggs. I can not get my head round sanwiches or potatoes or pasta or rice, ........................i don't eat anything like that as it makes me sick,

what protein foods can i have that don't smell much?

I am thinking of chicken, chicken legs already cooked and packed, or omelete, cooked in the morning, or prawns......................turkey slices,...........................???

any sugestions?

and i wonder, ...........................is it the smell of cannned tuna so offensive or is it that my workmakes are whipms?

i have alwats heard of people eating tuna or fish, and this is why my workmates attitude surprises me,

Comments

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    Tinned fish does tend to smell quite strong, and not everyone likes the smell of it.  Similarly hard boiled eggs can be a bit whiffy.

    You could try cooked chicken or turkey, they shouldn't smell.

    or is there another area you could go to to eat your lunch?  Could you take it out on your walk with you and eat it in a park when it's not too cold?

  • Whilst I like those foods.........I know from previous experience that they have strong smells that do linger in an office.......best to avoid conflict and do what Wilkie suggests
  • The smell of tinned tuna makes me heave, so I have a little sympathy with your colleagues. I'd suggest eating elsewhere or, as already mentioned, change your diet a bit. I don't think tinned mackerel smells too bad if cold, similarly, egg mayo sandwiches don't tend to be too whiffy.
  • fatima....I can't imagine how you manage without potatoes, rice, pasta or bread....how do manage for Carbs
  • Do you prepare your food before taking to work or do you open the tins there?  I find tinned fish smells most when you open it so preparing it before you go with a salad maybe will have taken some of the smell away.  Unless you're buying those pre-prepared tinned dishes which do smell and taste artificial.

  • Don't you have a mess room or kitchen/eating area? You could eat your meal still have time for fresh air.
  • You say you're in a stuffy office. Then you're eating fish & eggs, both of which have rather distinctive and lingering odours? I'm not surprised your colleagues are complaining.

    Possibly they'd complain about the aroma of someone's dinner regardless. But if you're always eating something that has a distinctive smell then at least give them a break and eat something a little less pungent some of the time.

    Do you have to eat at your desk? That's certainly something I'd try & change.

  • I like fish, but I wouldn't want to sit in a stuffy office that smelt of tuna all day either!I would suggest either eating elsewhere or switching to chicken, turkey or something less pungent. 

    I once worked with a woman who would happily eat sandwiches made of tuna mayonnaise and egg mayonnaise MIXED TOGETHER. The smell was horrible, but not as bad as the thought of those two fillings mixed up together image

  • *heaves*

    This thread reminds me of when a female colleague in the office was on the "Ducan" diet.  image

  • I had this problem with bringing mackerel and tinned sardine salads in and I felt very self conscious about the smell if I ate it at my desk.

    I found grilled salmon (eaten cold) doesn't smell at all- it keeps you healthy and your colleagues happy! Anchovies also tend to be fairly inoffensive.

    Hope you find a solution x x x
  • Nam, what is the Ducan diet?? I can't google on this comp
  • It involved eating lots of protein, but more veg than Atkins I think?!. It's all the rage at the moment image
  • You learn something new every day - the smell of tinned tuna is considered offensive - really ? If you were cooking this food in the office then I could see their point but a cold packed lunch...are maybe they being a little too sensitive.
  • My problem is I need to fart loudly and often. I don't want to fall out with my workmates, but I DO need to break wind... any solutions?
  • I find farting next to people and then walking away pretending it was them is funny! Also just as i'm walking out of a busy lift at uni... image

     My neighbour in my office eats sardine soup every day, eventually you get used to the smell!

  • A cork PC? image

    Sardine soup, hadn't heard of that!!!

  • *also heaves*....

    Yeah, I had a colleague who seemed to et nothing but very smelly fish - most unpleasant, and I'm afraid I sympathise with them too! Either eat something less offensive, or eat out, I guess?

  • Thank you for the replies.

    Some suggestions are good.

    I am trying to change and eat chicken and turkey and sliced beef instead.

    I cook an omellete in the morning to take instead of boiled eggs.

    Prawns and smoked salmon instead of tinned,

    That helps a bit.

    Definitely is right that in a closed small office the smell of  fish can be annoying. I undesrstand that,

    Fortunately i would keep a good relationships with my workmates and eat nice thigs too.

    Today i have two roast chicken legs and quark, and yogurt,

    In response to Seren Mos, yes, i can not eat potatoes or rice or pasta or anythiung like that. Makes me sick and bloated. Makes me hungry and given me cravings..................I suppose that is me. I must be strange. But i do eat yogurt and cheese and drink milk, so i suppose that gives me carbs,

    The eating out of the office is a good idea in theory, but in practice complicated to do here becasue of the timings,

  • If it is stinky fish, etc then you are showing no regard for others and just be shell fish.

    If it is the beautiful smell of a bacon butty then you are just going to make others envious.

    IMHO people who bring smelly food into an office should be shot. 

  • Maxpower North West wrote (see)

    If it is stinky fish, etc then you are showing no regard for others and just be shell fish.

    If it is the beautiful smell of a bacon butty then you are just going to make others envious.

    IMHO people who bring smelly food into an office should be shot. 

    The veggies may not like the smell of the bacon butties...image
  • I used to work with someone who brought in some sort of garlic sausage sandwiches.  You could smell them as soon as he brought them into the office - before he had even taken the lid off the container.  We asked him to leave them in the car and only bring them in at lunch time (where he could eat them in the canteen) but he didn't want them getting too hot in summer and too cold in winter and didn't seem to understand the concept of putting them in a thermal bag to keep the temperature right.
  • skottyskotty ✭✭✭
    Flo Po Ho wrote (see)
    Maxpower North West wrote (see)

    If it is the beautiful smell of a bacon butty then you are just going to make others envious.

    The veggies may not like the smell of the bacon butties...image
    yeah, because they'll be envious and craving it like he said.
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