Top 10 Easy Diet Tips at Work
1. Missing out on Breakfast
Leaving home without breakfast…
This may haved seemed like a good idea at the time to just save calories, but research shows that people who skip their breakfast tend to be fatter and heavier than people who eat it. Breakfast skippers tend to overcompensate during the rest of the day, either by eating bigger portions or crushing hunger with fatty and sugary snacks. You should always eay breakfast, you’ll find it easier to lose weight whilst having more energy to help you concentrate at work.
2 . Biscuits
They are there at nearly every meeting…
By having a plate of buscuits or bountiful colleagues that buy M&S mini flapjacks and chocolate rolls, these are one of the biggest office temptations – and you can’t just leave them at one. To prevent you from even thinking about having any, why don’t you offer to take the minutes at meetings – it’s hard to eat and write at the same time. Research shows that the more visible sweets are – the more we want to eat them, so keep them all as far away from your desk as possible (and preferably out of sight). Meanwhile, try swapping coffee and tea for low-calorie cup-a-soup – chocolate digestives and tomato soup don’t taste good together!
3. Vending Machines
Can’t leave the vending machine alone…
Having it filled with chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks can leave you frequently thinking about them. Try to take a route that doesn’t involve walking past them and if you can’t resist, choose diet drinks or water. You could ask the human resources department about the possibility of getting healthier options, too, such as fresh fruit or low-sugar cereal bars. Healthier workers mean a healthier profit for the company, so it’s in your boss’s best interest to help keep you healthy.
4. Birthday Time
It’s someones birthday nearly every week…
Birthdays at work means there’s always plenty of cake in the office. Ask for a small piece and leave as much cream filling and icing on the serviette as possible. You could offer to cut the cake yourself so that no one will see if you only have a slither. Otherwise, simply work the calories into your daily allowance – a small sliver of sponge cake contains around 250 calories.
5. Leaving or celebratory drinks and nibbles
New jobs, engagements, weddings and moving house…
Big events in our lives often get celebrated with a few drinks and some high-calorie nibbles. White wine from a paper cup can give you an excuse for having just one sip at the office special occasion. You could offer to buy the supplies yourself, so you can add lower-calorie drinks and choose Twiglets, breadsticks and fruit rather then crisps and peanuts. Subsequently, a boozy night in the pub after work will be far more critical so, swap high-calorie bottled beer, alcopops and cocktails for dry white wine and soda or spirits with slimline tonic. Make sure you don’t have more than two to three units if you’re a woman and three to four units if you’re a man.
6. The Canteen
It may be a great place to sit back and relax…
Many of the dishes will be high in calories and fat – think of the bacon butties, puddings with custard, chips and creamy pasta! Fortunately, there are usually some healthier options, go for soup and a wholemeal bread roll, low-fat sandwiches, salads (without mayo or dressing), jackey potatoes with low-fat fillings and fruit salad. If there aren’t many “healthy” options on the menu, ask the catering manager whether it’s possible to provide more. He can only say no!
7. Pub Lunches
Eating out at lunchtime…
Pub lunches can pile on the calories, so it’s important to choose carefully. Don’t feel pressured into having all three courses when you’re out! It’s perfectly acceptable to skip starters and desserts and have the main course only – or order two starters and have one in place of the main course – saving you calories and money! A busy afternoon or staff meeting gives you the perfect excuse for choosing water rather than wine. Avoid all the extras like a bread roll and butter, chips, salad dressing, coffee and cream – they can easily add up the calories before you’ve even started your meal. Finally, compensate for your large meal from lunchtime by having a lighter, lower-calorie dinner – and try to skip snacks on the days when you’ll be eating out.
8. Afternoon Munchies
Towards to end of the day…
We all feel low on energy – and that’s when we’re more likely to be tempted to snack! Don’t head straight for the vending machine or biscuit plate, get round this by keeping low-calorie “finger” foods such as grapes, strawberries or cherry tomatoes on your desk to snack on. Or have a couple of crispbreads with cottage cheese. But if you leave food in a communal fridge or cupboard, label it with your name – and prepare for it to go missing from time to time!
9. Home Time
After a busy day…
Hunger is more then likely to kick in, making it all too easy to buy crisps, sweets or chocolate for the journey home. The best solution is to keep sugar-free gum in you bag to chew on to keep your mouth busy.
10. Buying your dinner on the way home from work
When you’re tired and hungry…
Buying comfort food and treats when you pop into the supermarket on your way home from work is very tempting. At the weekend, get organised, make sure you have enough ingredients to make a quick, nutritious meal every night of the week. Otherwise, make a list of what you need, use the same store so that you get to know the layout. That way you can get in, do your shopping and get out quickly without having to go “searching” in the aisles that are packed with fatty and sugary foods.
