did your weight affect you at work?

I just completed the survey about how WLS affected me on the  job and it made me curious.  Did you feel your weight affected you at work?

I currently work from home as a freelance writer and have for several years, so I know my situation at the time I had surgery was different than many others.  But I did have a "regular" job in the past and I never felt my work was affected by my weight.  I should say that while I was overweight when I got that job, my supervisor, who hired me, was heavier than I was and I was not as heavy then as I was by the time I left that job.  So maybe under other cir****tances it would have been more of an issue.  And it was not a very physcial job, most of my time was spent sitting down, so my weight did not make it hard to perform any job duties.

Well, yes and no.  I am an elementary music teacher.  I teach grades K-5, about 470 students a week.  When I was heavier I was able to do my job, but now that I'm a lot thinner I find I can do it a LOT better in so many ways.  I have more energy and stamina now.  Also, I am not restricted by my weight like I used to be.  I can hop and jump around the room with my Kindergarteners now!  I can do fast paced circle dances.  I am more sure footed and my balance is better.  My feet don't hurt halfway through the day.  I can breathe deeper and therefore sing better.  I can sustain a tone longer with my voice.  I can set a small xylophone in my lap to demonstrate something, whereas I had NO LAP before.  LOL!   I am not as restricted in my choice of clothes, so I can dress more professionally now.  This has been a tremendous boost to my confidence among my peers at work too.

 I am also an elementary music teacher and direct two choirs.   I also do various and sundry gigs as a pianist and am a church music director.   I could have written your post word for word!  Also, I don't mind having my SKINNY ASS facing the audience now!!!

you made me smile!

The only way it affected me was when I was walking up stairs (I would run out of breath easily) or walking through the 300,000 square foot warehouse. Again, running out of breath easily. Last summer, I injured my knee and back, so my mobility became affected. But until then, it was business as usual.

My weight had zero impact.  It has not held me back from receiving various promotions over the years from different bosses and since I have a sedentary desk-job, my weight never prevented me from performing any aspect of it. However, keep in mind that I have worked for same company for the past 25 years (various positions).  Luckily, I had managed to survive multiple take-overs, new bosses and company layoffs.  I think they saw beyond my size and were more concerned with my worth ethics and contributions.

But since I was not looking for a job at my highest weight, I really don't know if I would have been discriminated against.  Unfortunately, some people can't see beyond size, race, color, age, etc.  There are so many perceptions out there when someone sees a "fat" person ... we have heard them before ... lazy is probably the one that comes first to mind.  I am anything but lazy on my job.  Work too much in the opinion of my boss and co-workers. Lazy???  I think NOT.

Saw this article, thought it might be an interesting read for you on this subject.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/health/16essa.html

Like Incredible Shrinking Woman, I've been at my company for a long time, 18 years, basically office work.  I have been promoted over the years and have also survived layoffs and a major takeover three years ago, as my weight went up and down, mostly up.  At my highest weight, I typically would turn down opportunities to be visible as a "contributing team member" such as working trade shows.  (I work in Marketing, doing the creative execution for all our collateral, so attendance at a trade show isn't mandatory like it would be for the local sales staff.)  When I did attend trade shows I was simply miserable because convention centers are gigantic and have concrete floors.  Talk about pain!  I also have done a lot of general traveling for my job, and I would avoid it where possible.  These days of course, traveling is much easier now. 

All that said, I was 60 when I had my surgery, 61 now, and not looking for promotion opportunities any longer.  That's strange to say, considering I was fairly ambitious in my younger days, even as heavy as I was.  These days I'm a middle-manager with three direct reports. I like what I do and would very much like to continue doing it another five years and then retire.  (Before the economic meltdown my plan was to retire at 62, but THAT's out the window.)  I had surgery in part so I could continue to work, because I couldn't see myself holding on for another five years at that weight and in that amount of ill health and pain.

I have always been obese and I was hired over the phone based on my resume and a recommendation.  I've worked at the same job for over 20 years.  I don't think it has affected me negatively in terms of getting hired or getting promotions. 

I know I had more sick days before WLS.  It's amazing to me that I've only had one cold in the last year and that's been my only sick period.

Sometimes I think my weight helped me - sometimes I see women in higher positions not like thin, young, pretty women, etc.. Maybe my weight gave me a weakness that was very visable that made the higher ups more comfortable with me.  Maybe crazy - but I always thought it. 

My weight didn't impact my ability to do my job but it impacted how people viewed me. They didn't take me as seriously IME. Then, when I lost weight, a bunch of them got jealous and started stabbing me in the back.

I am a teacher, and I did not feel as though my job, my acceptance as a professional, etc was EVER affected by my weight.

I did have one coworker who always rubbed me the wrong way. I got a sense of no acceptance of my professional experience and opinions on anything, but I just thought she was an uptight person with issues, it never even crossed my mind that she might have a perception of me as a fat person that made it impossible for her to accept that I was very good at my job.

Fast forward to when I was down to a normal size, and I was shocked and confused when this same coworker treated all of my opinions with profesional courtesy, took my suggestions, and otherwise treated me like the professional I am, and was before I was thin.

It finally struck me that she had a fat bias going, and it made me sad for HER. I know my work is very worthwhile so I don't need her approval or lack thereof to know I know what I'm doing. But I am certain that her bias limits her in her own life far more than my fat ever limited me. Part of it, I think came from the fact that she is one of those people who is excessively thin and who has to literally eat many times a day to even begin to keep on the weight. In her mind, I am sure, she translated her own metabolism over to fat people nad must have thought that we strap on feedbags and are constantly consuming food 24/7 to get as fat as we are. Not intelligent enough to understand that there are differences in metabolism and genetics that means that a person can be overweight while not eating more than a thin person.

I think that when my being fat was a big deal to me it affected my work a lot more than when it didn't matter to me..... and it mattered to me when I weighed a lot less than my maximum weight.