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When you're trying to diet in secret in a busy office, says Dave Briscoe, a researcher from Surrey, the trick is to accept each treat that is offered – but only one chocolate, and the smallest piece of cake. Accept less, and you'll be suspect. Accept more, and your plan is scuppered. "That was the rule I kept to," he says, "to avoid people asking awkward questions."
當你想在繁忙的辦公室秘密節食，戴夫‧布里斯科說，一位來自薩里郡的研究者，技巧在于接受他人提供的每一次招待——但只吃一塊巧克力，以及最小的那塊蛋糕。少拿了，你會被懷疑。多拿了，你的計劃就泡湯了。“這是我一直保持的規則，”他說，“為了避免人們詢問一些尷尬的問題。”
Briscoe (not his real name) isn't the only man who has dieted in secret. A survey of more than 600 men, conducted for the home delivery brand Diet Chef, found 90% wanted to lose weight, but almost one in three wouldn't tell anyone about their diet plans – even friends and family. It seems that a surfeit of shame still exists around weight and a good proportion of people at any one time are likely to be dieting secretly. But this issue seems to affect men and women in different ways.
Briscoe (化名)并不是唯一在秘密節食的人。一個由送貨上門品牌Diet Chef進行的對超過600人的調查發現90%的人想減肥，但幾乎三分之一的人不會告訴任何人關于他們的飲食計劃——即便是朋友和家人。看來，飲食過度的恥辱仍然對體重存在影響，大多數人任何時候都可能在秘密節食。但是這個問題似乎以不同的方式影響著男人和女人。
Phil Mundy, a food and diet writer, says many men are unwilling to say they are on a diet because it involves admitting they have a problem in the first place. This isn't helped by the fact that "the term diet, for decades, has been associated with women", and for men of a certain age it's therefore considered emasculating. He thinks there might be more willingness among younger men to discuss weight in public – but the problem is, if they do, says Briscoe, it's still considered acceptable "to take the piss out of them, in a way you never would with women. It's seen as just a part of office banter, but for men it's equally upsetting. Why wouldn't it be?"
菲爾•曼迪，餐飲作家，說很多男人都不愿意說他們正在節食，因為這涉及承認首先他們存在問題。這并不是得益于這樣一個事實，即“術語節食幾十年來都一直和女人有關”，對于一定年齡的男人來說這有可能會被認為是自虐。他認為年輕男性可能更愿意在公共場合討論體重，但問題是，如果他們這樣做，Briscoe說，它仍被認為可以接受“他們被嘲笑，以一種你從未那樣對待女性的方式。這僅被視為辦公室幽默的一部分，但對男人也同樣困擾。為什么不是呢？”
Bob Baker (again, not his real name), from Brighton, says the moment it becomes possible to discuss weight is often when a secret dieter has shifted a good few stone, and feels proud of their achievement. At that stage, Briscoe agrees, men will often start talking about it, "but in my experience they'll make it sound simpler, more sensible and easier than it probably was. They just cut out a certain food, or stopped eating after a certain time. They won't be telling the whole truth; just a version. They won't be saying: 'Actually, this has been quite a big part of my everyday thoughts.' They want to portray it like a DIY problem. 'There was a problem, and I fixed it.'"
鮑勃•貝克(再一次，不是他的真名)，來自布賴頓，說有可能談論體重的那一刻通常是當一個秘密的節食者已經瘦下來很多同時他們為自己的成就而感到自豪的時候。在那個階段，Briscoe同意男人通常會開始談論它，“但根據我的經驗，他們將會讓它比原來聽起來更簡單、更明智、更容易。他們只是杜絕一種特定的食物，或一定時段之后停止進食。他們不會告訴你全部的真相，只是一個版本。他們不會說：’實際上，這是我每天所想的大問題。’ 他們想將其描繪成像一個像DIY那樣的問題。’有問題，同時我解決了。’”
There are mixed outlooks on whether it is healthier to be open; support from family and friends can, of course, be helpful, but divulging your diet to anyone who might respond with fat jibes could prompt a sorry descent into comfort eating, says Mundy. When it comes to this subject, we probably all just need to grow up, so it can be discussed honestly and clearly. It's not an uncommon problem – and it shouldn't be an unspeakable one.
關于是否更健康的公開前景模糊；來自家人和朋友的支持當然是有幫助的，但向嘲笑脂肪的人泄露你的飲食可能導致功虧一簣從而陷入安慰性飲食，曼迪說。當談到這個問題時，我們可能都只需要長大起來，所以它才可以被誠實而清晰地討論。這不是不尋常的問題——它不應該成為不能言說的秘密。
