Need motivation to eat well in an office job

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lauramccormack96
lauramccormack96 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
It's sooo hard for me to eat well when I'm at work, spending 9 hours at a desk each day makes me just pick at foods. I'm a vegetarian, what should I start snacking on? (fruit doesn't fill me up)
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  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,177 Member
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    I don't eat breakfast.

    Then I have the following during the day ...

    10:30 am - crackers and cheese
    12:30 pm - banana
    2:00 pm - lunch
    3:30 pm - yogurt
    4:45 pm - apple

    And when I get home ...

    6:00 pm - cottage cheese, cucumber slices and some rye crackers
    8:00 pm - dinner
    9:30 pm - yogurt
    11:00 pm - toast with honey

    That works for me. :)

  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,072 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I weigh out my snacks and pre-log with my meals, I have a light breakfast at work around 9/9:30am (usually weetabix plain or with some blueberries), snack again about 10:30/11am (normally 1 sweet/1 savoury around 100-150 cals each) and then don't really snack in the afternoons, this week my prepped snacks include:
    1. 30g Bombay Mix
    2. 30g Dry Roasted Nuts
    3. Homemade Protein Muffins (this week I made Lemon, Chia & Sunflower Seed ones)
    4. Cacao Mint Protein Bombs
    5. Light Babybel cheese

    You could have anything you liked really as long as it fits your calorie intake for the day. Other things that I have taken in for snacks are carrot batons with some low fat philadelphia, celery and reduced fat hummus, Olives, Bagel Thin with a little butter, Cottage Cheese with Black Pepper and Nakd Bars.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    If you have access to a fridge (and these foods fit your vegetarianism):
    • Cottage Cheese
    • Mini babybel type cheeses
    • Hardboiled eggs

    non-fridge foods:
    • Almonds
    • Walnuts
    • Peanut butter and rice cakes
    • Nuttella and rice cakes

    Note that all of these may be described as calorie dense, but that is the stuff that I find fills me up (no surprise there!) I can manage these in my daily allowance but I need to be extra vigilant with weighing these types of calorie dense foods. I have a small set of digital scales in my office drawer for this.
  • ashleighs148
    ashleighs148 Posts: 334 Member
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    I like Graze boxes but you could make up your own. Weigh out some nuts, chocolate raisins, pumpkin seeds etc. Salted pretzels are a good snack. You could make your own popcorn and take a tub of it with you, that's always a good thing to pick at. Meat substitutes too, you could cook up little chicken pieces and eat them cold or heat them up, they're surprisingly low in calories.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Having energy and concentration to do your job should be motivation to eat well.

    Looking forward to good meals should be motivation to stop the picking at foods.

    If you don't have lunch breaks, demand that you get it.

    What do you like to eat?
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    Actually, work distracts me from eating. Never had a problem with snacking at work. It's when I'm sitting around with nothing to do at home (like right now) that I might start wanting to snack. Maybe you just aren't busy enough? Try and get up and take a walk around frequently. Drink water or tea instead. Don't keep food within reach at your workspace. Make it a PITA to get to, and you'll be less likely to do it.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,072 Member
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Having energy and concentration to do your job should be motivation to eat well.

    Looking forward to good meals should be motivation to stop the picking at foods.

    If you don't have lunch breaks, demand that you get it.

    What do you like to eat?

    I should point out I have a decent meal at lunch time too (usually 300-500 cal meal), but it's eaten at my desk. That's a personal choice not something the company insists on. I would still pick at food in the morning as I can't eat a big breakfast, picking at food over the day is not necessarily a bad thing.
  • kristikitter
    kristikitter Posts: 602 Member
    edited March 2017
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    Make sure you pair your snacks - so if fruit doesn't fill you up, eat some grapes but pair with a cube of cheddar; or eat raisins but pair with almonds, etc.

    Wholegrain crackers are nice for a bit of crunch too.

    ETA: I started an office job at 135lbs, am now 189lbs. If THAT isn't motivation for you I don't know what is! Catch it before you get fat like me.
  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
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    Yeah, eating at work is not my idea of a good time. I mean, we have space and equipment to have or make a meal, and I bring my lunch from home 99.9% of the time, but just grazing in the office doesnt appeal to me - too many people in and out of the area, with their germy little hands and their sneezing and coughing and god knows what else. And our office is down the hall from a walk in clinic - gack!!! Its a super effective deterrent for me to snacking at work.
  • Stella3838
    Stella3838 Posts: 439 Member
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    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    I pack all my food in the morning to cover lunch and snacks, and it's all prelogged. If it's in the box, I can eat it. If it isn't, I don't.

    Unless it's free cake. I reserve the right to make exceptions for free cake.

    But if I have to pay for it, I'm not eating it.

    Usually.

    All this +1. I got a large lunch tote and pre-pack, measure/weigh, and log everything I put in it (breakfast, 2 snacks, and lunch). That's my allotment at work. But, yeah, the cake.....
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    I log all my food into MFP in the morning, pack it, and that's all I eat at work. I don't go out for lunch and I rarely eat the treats other people bring. If I do want to eat something someone else brought, I check my log and see if I want/can make room for it. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    I brown bag my breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the day...I stick with what's in my large food tote for the most part.
  • KirbyFortin1
    KirbyFortin1 Posts: 49 Member
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    I work 10 hours a day at a desk job. I have (what my co-workers call) my 'snack drawer' that is full of healthy snacks like turkey jerky, some granola bars, some protein bars, nuts, etc. I try and only buy things that come pre-packaged; like a won't buy a giant bag of trail mix or nuts because I would just sit there and eat handfuls at a time but it is a conscious effort to have to open a second bag/helping of something!

    I usually have a protein shake and coffee for breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, and an afternoon snack at work and eat dinner once I am home. I find eating smaller portions spread throughout the day helps me to feel full. I usually don't eat any treats that people bring in (again, except for maybe cake! :# lol but that will usually replace a snack and I will eat a smaller snack for the second snack that day or skip it all together to fit it in!)!
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
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    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    I log all my food into MFP in the morning, pack it, and that's all I eat at work. I don't go out for lunch and I rarely eat the treats other people bring. If I do want to eat something someone else brought, I check my log and see if I want/can make room for it. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

    Wow I simply cannot tolerate this kind of restriction for myself. To me, this akin to a mental prison!!!!

    Today some coworkers brought in donuts for everyone. I'm thinking about having a second (much much later when extra left) :)

    I almost never pack lunch from home. It's hard enough to deal the drudgery, repetitiveness of work/life, I don't need to promote it.
  • NattySchmatty
    NattySchmatty Posts: 103 Member
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    I eat all day long. I measure out serving sizes of fruit, veggies, hummus, toast with peanut butter, cheese and yogurt. I eat my veggies raw or sometimes I steam them in the microwave if I want something hot. I also like to make veggie soup broth and drink it from a cup. I pretty much eat every hour and don't usually feel hungry. Good luck!!
  • fallingwave
    fallingwave Posts: 108 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I work in an office environment, too. THANKFULLY I work at home 3 of the 5 days. I swear... they are always eating. I actually just got this message earlier:

    NEXT THURSDAY the 16th is our All Department meeting. It has been suggested that we have a hot dog extravaganza. With a toppings bar and sides of bbq beans, coleslaw, potato salad, and chips and dips and dessert...thoughts? anyone want to volunteer for a topping?

    My tip? AVOID it. I know it sucks... but it all adds up! I just don't participate. Occasionally we will do something "healthy" like a salad potluck, but 90% of the time it's junk and it's hard to track and I need to be able to be held accountable... a dip here, a bite there... ruins my day.

    So, I keep these staples in my drawer to keep me from indulging/giving in:

    Protein powder
    Protein bars
    low sugar oatmeal packets
    flavored tea
    crystal light
  • WafaeGettingFit
    WafaeGettingFit Posts: 13 Member
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    I make sure all my meals including snacks are prepared for in advance. We have a fridge at my work place, so I keep tuna, bread, olives, tomatoes (sandwich ingredients lol), I also keep Greek yogurt in the fridge. I keep protein bars and other snacks in a drawer in case I get hungry. That way I do not get tempted by the vending machine or office food.

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