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Temptation is a dieter’s greatest enemy. The holidays are over and you breathe out a sigh of relief believing the worst has passed. Think again; the workplace is riddled with potential diet calamities. Being at work is probably the worst place to be if you are trying to lose weight. Before you can bat an eyelash, a co-worker brings donuts in first thing in the morning. There is always one person in the office with a bowl filled with candy, ALL the time. Anyone ordering or going out to lunch? Maybe you want a cup of 1,000 calorie coffee from Starbucks? And, of course there might be:
- vending machines
- birthdays
- happy hour
- weekly staff meetings
There are so many diet distracters in the workplace, trying to eat healthy is close to impossible with all the temptations.
So how can you battle the bulge while trying to earn a living?
These 7 tips will help you stay on track and help you still lose weight on the job.
1. When you sit at your desk, stay there.
Make sure you have water or tea to drink and a pre-approved snack or lunch. Only get up if you want to take a few 10 minute exercise breaks. Walk, climb the stairs, stretch but do not stray into the kitchen or an area where temptation may be lurking.
2. Recruit a few colleagues to follow your lead.
There is safety in numbers. If you are not the only one trying to eat healthy, you will find it much easier with company. It also cuts down on “innocent” saboteurs.
3. Know your menus.
Nutritional information for food and beverage establishments are readily available, not knowing nutritional information is not an excuse. If someone is doing a Starbucks run, ordering a passion tea or brewed coffee is 5 calories or less. Not bad if your focus is weight loss. But there are items that can be deceiving. Iced black tea lemonade, non-fat iced caramel macchiato, non-fat cafe latte all sound safe, but it will set you back 100 sugar calories or more. If you get a crispy (means floured) chicken salad at McDonalds, you might be surprised that it is loaded with carbs, 24g to be exact. Make sure to get the grilled chicken version.
4. Eat a filling breakfast before you go to work.
This should be easy for the low carb dieter. Being full can help you avoid temptation.
5. Go to the occasional happy hour
Definitely go to happy hour because you deserve a drink and some social time with your colleagues, but there is no need to go 5 days a week. Just make sure you get a low carb beer or a mixed drink with diet coke, seltzer.
6. Keep a stash of substitutes
Bake some low carb muffins or keep a stash of low carb chocolate strawberries in the fridge just in case you get tripped up and feel the need to indulge. This will provide you with a tasty safety net.
7. Can you say, “No thank you”?
Just saying no is not as hard as you might think. Saying “no” to something that may not be good for you is empowering. Remember that feeling of strength when you are tempted to cheat and repeat that magic word as needed–in a very polite manner of course.
Use workplace temptation to your advantage. Turn temptation from an act of haste and despair to a thought out and well executed plan to indulge in a pleasurable eating experience with foods and beverages that are not wrecking balls destroying your weight loss efforts. Be prepared for on the job temptation and win the battle of the bulge.
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