Work: A Weighty Obstacle?

If special occasions and birthdays at your office seem to roll around quicker than you can say “no more chocolate cake” then you need some good strategies for dealing with them. Some weight loss know-it-alls might suggest avoiding temptation altogether. While this could work, do you really want to miss out while the rest of your colleagues socialize?

Try these tips instead:

• Get your day's eating habits off to a good start with a filling, high-fiber breakfast before you start work - or even at work if you're running late. This will help you avoid snack temptation throughout the day.
  
  
• Resist overindulging when cake is around. Have just one small portion - enough to enjoy the occasion but not blow your diet. Don't forget to take these extra calories into account.
  
  
• If it takes just one taste for you to want to eat the whole cake, have a filling, low-calorie snack beforehand and avoid the birthday food. If you're full already, it's a lot easier to keep your willpower strong.
  
  
• Practice saying no and be prepared with some good excuses such as “It looks delicious, but I've just eaten,” “No thanks, I can't eat gluten,” or “Thanks, but I'll pass - believe it or not, I'm not a 'cheesecake person'."
  
  
• Don't make food the focus of the celebration. Stand away from the food table and focus on the conversation!
  
  
• If you're in charge of the occasion, try bringing along healthy treats instead of the usual chocolate cake. You can guarantee that you won't be the only one pleased to see lowfat options. In fact, you might even start a new trend in your office.

When 3pm rolls around, are you scrounging for coins for the vending machine? You know you shouldn't give in, but a chocolate bar will pick you up, right? While you might feel a temporary lift, you can bet your king-size Mars Bar that your energy levels will soon crash again once the sugar leaves your blood stream.

If you are genuinely hungry between meals, try a healthy snack. If you're eating the right type of snack and don't develop “snack amnesia,” you can incorporate a healthy snack into your day.

Try these strategies:

• Eat a substantial breakfast and lunch to reduce your need for snacking throughout the day. Don't use snacks to replace meals.
  
  
• Bring a healthy, low-calorie snack to work with you. If you don't plan in advance, you risk resorting to the vending machine when you start to feel peckish. Eating a healthy snack when the hunger pangs start can quickly and quietly stop a diet blow out.
  
  
• Keep your snack “out of sight and out of mind” such as in your desk drawer or in the office fridge. If you keep food on your desk, you can bet that the more you look at it, the “hungrier” you'll feel.
  
  
• Track your snacks. Snack calories do count and can add up over the day. Aim to “spend” about 150-200 calories per snack.
  
  
• Choose wisely. Remember that candy or chips can waste up to 400 calories – and still leave you hungry!
  
  
• Don't mistake thirst for hunger. Try having a drink of water instead of eating. Wait for 10 minutes and see if you still feel hungry.
  
  
• Watch your portion sizes. Just because a snack is “healthy" doesn't mean you can eat it by the bucket-load. Buy portion-controlled snacks, or serve out the amount you wish to eat and put the rest away.
  
  
• Are you actually hungry? If you are, then go ahead and enjoy your snack. If you're just bored or stuck on a difficult task, go for a walk, or do something else, rather than eating to take your mind off the problem. Remember food is for giving you energy and nutrients, not for solving your problems.
  
  

Try some of these healthy snack ideas to stave off the 3pm munchies:

The key word to remember for Friday after-work drinks is "moderation." There's no harm in having a beer or a glass of wine to wind down after the busy work week - the problem comes when you're still out draining your (ninth) glass at 2 o'clock the next morning! You can guarantee that your “healthy eating” motto will have truly gone out the window.

• Offer to be a designated driver - that way you're restricted to one drink, if any, and you've got a great comeback to peer pressure. No one can argue if you're driving them home, right?
  
  
• Before you leave your desk and head to the local watering hole, eat a filling snack. This means any alcohol you drink will be absorbed more slowly into your blood stream. It will also help you to resist the unhealthy snacks and appetizers that tend to accompany drinks.
  
  
• Don't forget that although they contain no fat, most alcoholic drinks have at least 100 calories or more. These are empty calories, with no nutritional value at all. Keep these extra calories in mind when you're counting your day's calorie intake.
  
  
• Alternate your drinks with water or diet soft drinks, and choose diet drinks as mixers.

If you work at a desk, you probably feel like you spend your whole life sitting down. To avoid this becoming true, the trick is to build more opportunities for exercise into your working day.

Try these quick tips:

• Use the stairs rather than the elevator
• Get off the bus or train a few stops early and walk the rest of the way to work
• If you drive to work, park the car a five-ten minute walk away from the office
• Keep your snacks in the office fridge, or even on another floor, rather than at your desk so you have to walk to get them
• Organize a break-time "power walk" with a co-worker or two (keep a pair of your athletic shoes in a desk drawer to change into)

If you're worried about work getting in the way of your weight loss goals, make sure you eat carefully at work and make an effort to add a little extra exercise into your day. You might find your weight loss efforts are well-rewarded when you have to buy a smaller sized suit!