Tips for eating healthy at work?

ohrandi

I spend the majority of my time and consequently my meals at the office. My last job made it very easy to be healthy. It was very low stress and I had a lot of downtime. (I even did pilates on the clock..) Well, my new job is very different. Better pay but more more stress.. I can't even bring myself to go to the gym anymore. At least I've cut back on alcohol, because by the time I get home I just want to sleep. Not even a glass of wine.
So my relatively clean eating has gone WAY downhill the past few months, but good news the weight I lost hasn't come back (thanks to portion control I suppose). I just feel crappy and would like to get back on the bandwagon. We do have a fridge, toaster oven, toaster, and microwave. (and a keurig but I've been good and cut out caffeine so I don't use it anymore!) What has made it easy for you to eat healthy at work? I'm considering a George Foreman grill to keep there, and maybe some sort of high powered blender?

Tilran

So my relatively clean eating has gone WAY downhill the past few months, but good news the weight I lost hasn't come back (thanks to portion control I suppose)

Has nothing to do with clean eating, has everything to do with calorie consumption. Are you looking to eat low calorie at work or eat healthy? They are not the same.

Low calorie is easy, sounds like you are doing ti already by portion control. Eating healthy or "clean" is different....bring fruits and veggies to work and eat those...make some chicken and bring it to work...if you can get a foremen grill to work...cook it there.

ohrandi

I never said they were the same.

I'm not low calorie, I hover between 1800-2200, depending on my activity for the day. I'm more concerned with filling that calorie goal with healthy foods. I don't eat anywhere near enough vegetables, I hate them. Which is why I was considering drinking them instead..

pugsleyjean

I love special K cracker chips. 27 of them have 110 calories and really hits the spot. I love to make salads at home with veggies, fruits, nuts and then add a little dressing when it's lunch time. Having the fridge at work helps out, just bring the healthier items to keep in there!

SkinnyMozza

What options are available to u at work if any... a cafetetaria? fast food? deli? Or do u want everything to be brought in from home?

We r lucky at my work our cafetaria can be healthy if u work hard to make the right choices...

LIke go the salad bar.. make a salad filled with greens, cucumber, tomatoe, cottage cheese, quinoa, then dress with balsamic vinegar only... no oil or mixes. No nuts, or seeds, or avocado, or meats, or prepared salads.

Oriole15

I prepare my breakfast and lunch the night before (chop veg etc) then I do last minute stuff at work. I keep vinegar, soy sauce, salt and pepper there too so if I haven't had time to pre-prepare I can buy a bag of veg and flavour them.

Most of my colleagued do the same but one or 2 buy a bunch of stuff on the Monday and keep it in the fridge and make meals as they go and if they get bored they swap (say if one buys an avocado they will share it when it's ripe 1/2 each and the other will give some of their roast chicken or half a pepper), they tend to buy bags of salad or bags of spinach and they build up with other veg and tuna or chicken or similar and seeds and dressing. They also make jacket potatoes in the microwave. Quite a few of us seem to have soup in the winter - microwave is great for that.

We have "communal" butter and milk because having 6 packets of butter in a small fridge is just silly.

The "equipment" we have is : chopping board, 1 sharp knife, countless blunt knife, a tin opener, a cheese grater, scissors, a thinggiemagig to make omelettes in the microwave + usual crockery and a mound of tupperware style boxes which seem to have multiplied over the years.

There's a hob but nobody uses it. There's also a sandwich toaster on the floor above.

ohrandi

We don't have a cafeteria or anything. If I wanted food, fast food are my only options and I don't budget for that.

I'm a picky eater, I hate vegetables. Y'all have fun with your salads, I hate that stuff. Anyone else hate them so much, they're considering or do just drink them?

SkinnyMozza

A blender is great for smoothies.. protein powder and milk or water with a banana would be good. Choco - banana with Peanut butter? yum!

If u have a toaster... try one slice of 'good' seeded rye (not crap bread... REAL bread)... with tomatoe and basil and very thin shaved cheese (not sliced.. its too thick. ASk the deli to shave it). No butter. You dont ned it if u have cheese. You can rub garlic on the toast for added flavour. and fresh pepper

Make soups at home to re-heat. or simple quinoa dishes

amanda3588

I work an office job as well, and we don't have nearly as many options with bringing in kitchen electrics so I usually eat:

Cottage cheese with triscuts
Apples or celery with peanut butter - my current favorite
Almonds
Greek yogurt
Granola Bars
Hard Boiled Eggs
Veggies and hummus
Cut up cheeses and meats

AmandaGonyer

I have the same issue. I work at Pizza Hut, and it is really hard to stay away from all the fatty, greasy food. What I normally do is bring like celery sticks to munch on or Triscuit crackers. Really, it is all about willpower because even sometimes when I have the snacks it is really hard to stay away.

Oriole15

I am always intrigued when somebody says they hate vegetables as a block of food. There are so many out there, with different tastes and textures.

My eldest and my husband like veg as much as I do except for a few (son hates parsnips, hubby won't eat raw tomatoes or cucumbers).

My youngest will only eat a very limited range of veg (the curly bit of broccoli but not the stalk, green beans, asparagus tips, kohlrabi yellow peppers, cooked tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes and aubergines) - he thinks carrots are poison.

Maybe you can help me understand my youngest's dislike of vegetables outside his "acceptable" range by telling me what it is about them you don't like, is it a texture thing, are they more acceptable if they are crunchy or if they are boiled within an inch of their life, does seasoning make a difference, are there some that taste less bad than other to you, is it a bitterness thing?

ohrandi

I am always intrigued when somebody says they hate vegetables as a block of food. There are so many out there, with different tastes and textures.

My eldest and my husband like veg as much as I do except for a few (son hates parsnips, hubby won't eat raw tomatoes or cucumbers).

My youngest will only eat a very limited range of veg (the curly bit of broccoli but not the stalk, green beans, asparagus tips, kohlrabi yellow peppers, cooked tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes and aubergines) - he thinks carrots are poison.

Maybe you can help me understand my youngest's dislike of vegetables outside his "acceptable" range by telling me what it is about them you don't like, is it a texture thing, are they more acceptable if they are crunchy or if they are boiled within an inch of their life, does seasoning make a difference, are there some that taste less bad than other to you, is it a bitterness thing?

It depends. Some vegetables I don't mind, if they're basically cooked until they're no good for you. Some, I don't like the texture of (like tomatoes, they're squishy and weird), and some I just don't like the taste. Like onions, my most hated food ever. If I even detect onion taste, I will spit out whatever is in my mouth and have to try and keep myself from vomiting.

I'll snack on carrots, if I'm desperate. It's tough to not douse them in dressing though. Same with salads. I don't enjoy them without dressing. I feel like I'd be better off with just blending them all together and chugging them.

SkinnyMozza

Well hate to break it to you... but reality check... you can lose weight by eating bread and a vitamin pill. But if you want to 'Be healthy' like your home page states... you're going to have to suck it up, and eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. There are just far too many nutrients, vitamins, anitoxidents, minerals and fibres (and dare I say even flavours) you are missing out on for you body to be healthy without them.

Rowan813

I am a nurse and work 12 hour shifts. I workout before work and bring 3 meals a day with me so I can avoid the cafeteria and not go hungry. We have a fridge and a microwave. I limit myself to eating only what I bring no matter what others bring in to share.

sportyredhead01

I only bring good stuff with me to work and stick to the plan.

Do you like vinegar? I've been doing just straight up balsamic on my salads for 10 calories for 2 tablespoons. I sprinkle my salads with italian seasoning, garlic and rosemary seasoning, crushed red pepper whatever I have to give it an extra kick. Maybe this will help your veggie issue. Also sweet potatoes are delish, good for your and you can cook them in the micro at work.

MyChocolateDiet

yeah get the juicer blender thing, it sounds like that is your favorite idea of how to get veggies. go to different smoothies places and try the one's that have veggies in them. then find out what's in them and make your own.

robeks has a green on with spinach pineapple and other things that just tastes like a refreshing pineapple

nakedjuice at the supermarket has a green drink called superfood or something that tastes yummy and you can just have in your work fridge in a big bottle or grab on the run a small bottle

starbucks has a celery containing beverage from their newest line that is yummy and lemony and refreshing.

spanish fruit places and "licuados" places make fresh squeezed juices in pre determined recipes and will also make you exactly what you want. they have combos for every ailment.

Some juicer's come with recipe's like the montel williams machine does along with instructions and tips which veggies will taste yukky if blended whole, etc. Magic bullet's also cool but I think you'll like the Montel Williams better. You seem a little high maintenance (no offence I am too) and also since you have the new job you can afford it.

Happy Juicing/Blending/Smoothie-ing.

Oriole15

I am always intrigued when somebody says they hate vegetables as a block of food. There are so many out there, with different tastes and textures.

My eldest and my husband like veg as much as I do except for a few (son hates parsnips, hubby won't eat raw tomatoes or cucumbers).

My youngest will only eat a very limited range of veg (the curly bit of broccoli but not the stalk, green beans, asparagus tips, kohlrabi yellow peppers, cooked tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes and aubergines) - he thinks carrots are poison.

Maybe you can help me understand my youngest's dislike of vegetables outside his "acceptable" range by telling me what it is about them you don't like, is it a texture thing, are they more acceptable if they are crunchy or if they are boiled within an inch of their life, does seasoning make a difference, are there some that taste less bad than other to you, is it a bitterness thing?

It depends. Some vegetables I don't mind, if they're basically cooked until they're no good for you. Some, I don't like the texture of (like tomatoes, they're squishy and weird), and some I just don't like the taste. Like onions, my most hated food ever. If I even detect onion taste, I will spit out whatever is in my mouth and have to try and keep myself from vomiting.

I'll snack on carrots, if I'm desperate. It's tough to not douse them in dressing though. Same with salads. I don't enjoy them without dressing. I feel like I'd be better off with just blending them all together and chugging them.

Your best bet is probably soups then - youngest will eat most veg if they are in soup (as long as we go easy on the carrots because they are the root of the devil as far as he is concerned). They are nice and easy to reheat.

Since the veg texture is part of your dislike you could make a big batch of the veg part (peel + chop + cover with boiling water + cook till mostly tender, doesn't have to be mush since you are going to blend it), you can vary the "thickening" agent, potatoes and red lentil work best in my experience, about a couple of handful generally do the trick but put more if you think it's too runny for your taste. If you struggle digesting lentils, try to find asafoetida (shops which sell curry ingredients should have it in the spice section), it does something to the lentils to make them more digestible but beware, it's very pungent so less is more, a tiny little pinch is enough.
Once you have your blended "base", you can vary it by adding different extras, like chilli sauce, shredded chicken or pork, a handful of tinned chick peas, grated cheese, whatever you fancy really to add flavour and texture and make it more of a meal. I don't know if you eat bread but a nice slice of toasted sour dough goes well with it.
If you add pearl barley, make sure you don't add it straight to the big batch of base as the soup won't keep as long in the fridge. It has a tendency to ferment so unless you are a fan of the sour style you get in Turkey and Eastern Europe its probably best not.

Are you ok with garlic? If you are, tzatziki will overpower almost any salad veg and makes an alternative to dressings, although your colleagues will probably not thank you if you make the whole place smell like you are hunting vampires.

deksgrl

Yogurt & cheese sticks & fruit like apples/bananas. Almonds in my drawer. These are my breakfast, and sometimes if I'm too busy to go out for lunch, I'll snack on any combination of these for lunch too.

dandelyon

I bring in a week's worth of food every Monday and prepare it daily. Of course, this week my boss treated us to Olive Garden a few times so I ate half portions of that all week But a wrap is easy to do - yes, it's got veggies, but I also put hummus and sometimes cheese in my wraps, and of course you could put meat in there.

shannashannabobana

I make a weeks worth of food on Sundays because I don't like to cook when I get home from work. I eat out a lot at work, but I do bring stuff in sometimes.

I am always intrigued when somebody says they hate vegetables as a block of food.

Yeah, i don't get that either. I just think people probably haven't had them cooked properly. Most veggies need a bit of fat. I'm quite fond of roasting them (especially cabbage, broccoli, etc). I could'nt do salads every day.

ohrandi

Well hate to break it to you... but reality check... you can lose weight by eating bread and a vitamin pill. But if you want to 'Be healthy' like your home page states... you're going to have to suck it up, and eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. There are just far too many nutrients, vitamins, anitoxidents, minerals and fibres (and dare I say even flavours) you are missing out on for you body to be healthy without them.

yeah.. not trying to go without. Just looking for an alternative for getting them down, as raw as possible. I feel it's not even worth my time when I go all Paula Dean on my vegetables then proceed to cook the crap out of them. It's easy for a vegetarian to say to suck it up and eat your vegetables..

yeah get the juicer blender thing, it sounds like that is your favorite idea of how to get veggies. go to different smoothies places and try the one's that have veggies in them. then find out what's in them and make your own.

....

Some juicer's come with recipe's like the montel williams machine does along with instructions and tips which veggies will taste yukky if blended whole, etc. Magic bullet's also cool but I think you'll like the Montel Williams better. You seem a little high maintenance (no offence I am too) and also since you have the new job you can afford it.

Happy Juicing/Blending/Smoothie-ing.

haha the high maintenance part made me giggle. I can't afford anything too ridiculous. I was looking at a Vitamix, I just don't know if I can justify it.. $500 on a blender.. or $500 to finish my car's HID retrofit.. the car will always be first lol! I may just dig up my little old blender thing and use that until it won't work anymore. A george foreman would be nice to have at work.. I'd be more compelled to eat a salad if it involved grilled chicken

For the record I am a huge fan of fruit. Pretty much any fruit. I love bread, but with how crappy it makes me feel I think I may have gluten sensitivities. ah well.

andiroot

every Sunday night I make lunches for the week. one week its chicken & zucchini, sometimes pork chops & broccoli, and sometimes its tuna salad with crackers & baby carrots. I portion out enough for each day and store it in the fridge at work so I am not tempted to eat out. i even have a pack of turkey bacon in the fridge and a box of plain oatmeal in the cabinet. simple.