Tired of meetings and office get togethers where the only food on offer is cake, Danish, pizza, biscuits and other high fat snacks?
There's no need to feel unsociable or avoid these gatherings while you are trying to lose weight, if you plan ahead. Keeping nutritious snacks at the office can help you achieve your weight loss goals while everyone around you is letting their guard down.
Here are some ideas about what to keep handy :
Water Bottle :
Most offices these days have water coolers where you can get yourself a glass of cool refreshing water whenever you want. The problem is, that sometimes you get so busy that you can go hours without filling your empty glass.
Drinking water is far too important to your overall health and weight loss aspirations to leave to chance and having a decent sized bottle of water at your desk all the time will help insure you're getting enough.
The other great benefit of using a large bottle instead of glasses or cups of water is that you can easily track how much you've consumed during your day. Having plenty of water within your reach at all times will keep you well hydrated and help you avoid the office munchies by keeping your stomach nice and full.
Fruit :
Each couple of days, bring a bag of fresh fruit to the office and store it at your desk. Try to be adventurous; don't just stick with the common fare of apples and mandarins. Berries, grapes, mangos and kiwi fruit will keep for several days, more if you have access to an office refrigerator, and provide variety to whet your appetite for something other than chocolate biscuits.
If you have a blender, take it to work with you and create a wonderful smoothie or fruit cocktail made with banana, pear, apple, pineapple, strawberries, orange juice and ice. Store it in the office fridge and it will stay good for a whole day or more.
Nutritious Snack or Protein bars :
You can also use these as meal replacements, but be careful to read the labels. Many "nutritional bars" are nothing more than candy bars in deceptive packaging. Stay well away from those with high levels of sugar and fat.
Vegetables :
Bring a couple of small ziplocked bags of sliced carrot, celery sticks or your favorite veggies.
Low-fat cottage cheese / low sugar yogurt :
Small containers of these on hand will provide nutritional meal options.
Ricecakes :
A bag of low-sodium ricecakes tucked away can satisfy a need to eat something crunchy. Just stay away from the ones loaded with flavored sugar coating.
Toothbrush / Mouthwash :
Apparently, this is an age old competitive bodybuilding trick. During pre-contest dieting, some bodybuilders attempt to deflect the temptation to eat blacklisted foods within reach by brushing their teeth. As you can imagine, the last thing they would want to do after brushing with minty toothpaste or gargling with mouthwash would be to eat a piece of chocolate or lollies. Not bad for keeping your breath fresh, too.
Utensils :
Make sure you have a serving or two of utensils at your desk, along with something to cut your food if needed.
Thermal - Lunch - bags :
If you don't have a fridge or cooking facilities at work, take an insulated lunch-bag or thermal to work. The lunch-bag will keep your fruit, sandwiches and other nutritional snacks safe and fresh until your ready to eat and a thermal is perfect for taking healthy vegetable soups to work for that perfect winter snack.
The first step to staying on track with your eating program, particularly at work, is planning ahead. You don't have the power to control what your co-workers bring into the office, but you can help ward off temptation by stocking up on a few items of your own.
Remember, the point is to not make your own desk resemble a supermarket aisle, but to have enough options on hand in order to substitute for the really bad stuff should the need arise.
There's no need to feel unsociable or avoid these gatherings while you are trying to lose weight, if you plan ahead. Keeping nutritious snacks at the office can help you achieve your weight loss goals while everyone around you is letting their guard down.
Here are some ideas about what to keep handy :
Water Bottle :
Most offices these days have water coolers where you can get yourself a glass of cool refreshing water whenever you want. The problem is, that sometimes you get so busy that you can go hours without filling your empty glass.
Drinking water is far too important to your overall health and weight loss aspirations to leave to chance and having a decent sized bottle of water at your desk all the time will help insure you're getting enough.
The other great benefit of using a large bottle instead of glasses or cups of water is that you can easily track how much you've consumed during your day. Having plenty of water within your reach at all times will keep you well hydrated and help you avoid the office munchies by keeping your stomach nice and full.
Fruit :
Each couple of days, bring a bag of fresh fruit to the office and store it at your desk. Try to be adventurous; don't just stick with the common fare of apples and mandarins. Berries, grapes, mangos and kiwi fruit will keep for several days, more if you have access to an office refrigerator, and provide variety to whet your appetite for something other than chocolate biscuits.
If you have a blender, take it to work with you and create a wonderful smoothie or fruit cocktail made with banana, pear, apple, pineapple, strawberries, orange juice and ice. Store it in the office fridge and it will stay good for a whole day or more.
Nutritious Snack or Protein bars :
You can also use these as meal replacements, but be careful to read the labels. Many "nutritional bars" are nothing more than candy bars in deceptive packaging. Stay well away from those with high levels of sugar and fat.
Vegetables :
Bring a couple of small ziplocked bags of sliced carrot, celery sticks or your favorite veggies.
Low-fat cottage cheese / low sugar yogurt :
Small containers of these on hand will provide nutritional meal options.
Ricecakes :
A bag of low-sodium ricecakes tucked away can satisfy a need to eat something crunchy. Just stay away from the ones loaded with flavored sugar coating.
Toothbrush / Mouthwash :
Apparently, this is an age old competitive bodybuilding trick. During pre-contest dieting, some bodybuilders attempt to deflect the temptation to eat blacklisted foods within reach by brushing their teeth. As you can imagine, the last thing they would want to do after brushing with minty toothpaste or gargling with mouthwash would be to eat a piece of chocolate or lollies. Not bad for keeping your breath fresh, too.
Utensils :
Make sure you have a serving or two of utensils at your desk, along with something to cut your food if needed.
Thermal - Lunch - bags :
If you don't have a fridge or cooking facilities at work, take an insulated lunch-bag or thermal to work. The lunch-bag will keep your fruit, sandwiches and other nutritional snacks safe and fresh until your ready to eat and a thermal is perfect for taking healthy vegetable soups to work for that perfect winter snack.
The first step to staying on track with your eating program, particularly at work, is planning ahead. You don't have the power to control what your co-workers bring into the office, but you can help ward off temptation by stocking up on a few items of your own.
Remember, the point is to not make your own desk resemble a supermarket aisle, but to have enough options on hand in order to substitute for the really bad stuff should the need arise.
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