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How to Eat Better at Work
Photo: Dan4th/Flickr
John Rossheim/Monster.com Senior Contributing Writer
August 03, 2009
Why is it so hard to eat right? “When you’re hungry, you’re not a philosopher,” explains Dr. Daisy Merey, a physician and authority on eating habits.
Indeed, food — and especially the lack thereof — brings out our animal nature. And when we homo sapiens find ourselves in the artificial environment of the workplace, complete with its stresses, catered temptations, psychosocial dramas, smelly refrigerators, bureaucratic tedium and, yes, vending machines, we are animals who eat badly more often than not.
“You’re sitting in a room with no windows for hours, and sometimes you just get bored and eat,” says Natalie Davis-Runyan, a regional vice president for staffing firm Todays Office Professionals. And if you eat what’s within reach, such as cafeteria food, high-calorie snacks and so on, you’re alarmingly likely to develop health problems.
What can you do to improve what you eat at the office, which for many of us is the bulk of what we consume all day? Here are a few approaches to better nutrition in the land of heartburn and the pizza-sized chocolate chip cookie.
NMc
3 months ago
2144 comments
I'm not much into sweets, but I'm a carb fan. What I've found is that it really boils down to counting calories and exercise....whether I like it or not.
TonyAKAMrClean
3 months ago
72 comments
The best way (The way that I lost 70 lbs):
Split your meals! Eat 6 meals a day not surpassing 1700, 2000 or 2500 calories (accordingly). Between 5 or 6 meals and 3 snacks, you can consume less than 2000 calories and the best part: You get to eat ALL DAY! Seriously, your jaw will be sore and you'll be tired of eating. :P
The most important part is eating right though, still. 2000 calories worth of birthday cake will ruin you regardless. Whole grains and protein is always the best approach. Eating cereal as a snack and half portions (of at least mildly healthy foods) twice as often really gets your metabolism working to fix years of abuse. The energy you get from the same amount of food is awesome.
Count your calories to start out to help yourself get a feel for what's in what and what you can allow yourself to have to stay within your caloric range. You'll naturally find yourself drinking more water as well. It's really not so hard to do though! You'll be surprised! Try it :)
3much
3 months ago
374 comments
Did someone mention pistachio's? Hmmm, yum. But they can be quite expensive though.
Ur_VA_IT_Guy
3 months ago
32 comments
Nice tips. My problem is boredom and remembering to put the fork down late at night.