Advice about snacking at work

julieh391

I pick a few snacks to take to work and pre-log them. I don't eat the crap that other people have laying around.

JesterMFP

Haha Oh no, I often dont finish my diary because when I do snack and eat poorly I have the all or nothing attitude and then tossing the day. If i track everything i always eat at least 1500 calories. I eat much more than that....maybe thats the bigger problem...

What's honestly helped me the most with this kind of thing is logging everything - everything. Making a commitment to keeping to my calorie goal (and 1500 is probably reasonable), and logging everything. Not beating myself up if I go over, but looking at it in black and white (and red!) and trying harder the next day. If I wasn't logging everything, I would have found this a lot harder. Once you stop logging for the day, then not only are you giving yourself permission to keep on eating indiscriminately, but you really don't have a good grasp of exactly how much you're consuming.

In my opinion, the "all or nothing" attitude - and I do understand it - is seriously detrimental to long term success with weight loss. It would help to stop thinking that once you've eaten that one snack, or even two... everything is lost for the day. That once you've over-eaten, you've crossed an invisible boundary, and after that it doesn't matter if you carry on. 100 calories too many is different from 500 calories too many, and different from 1000 calories too many. Try not to see things so black and white. If you have access to MFP, then as soon as you take that first snack (or even before you take it) log it, and see what effect it has on your day's intake. If snacking's your thing, they can easily be incorporated into your daily plan. But, for calorie counting to work, you need to know how many calories you're consuming. Knowledge is power!

lrcross

If you are still hungry, then your body is telling you that it doesn't have enough food.

Like you, I have a desk job; I have very brief periods where I leave and walk around. While I keep popcorn, nuts, and seeds in my desk, I also bring at least three snack foods OR a snack meals to work. Example: Snack meals--I may actually have half a sandwich with flax seed chips OR a cup of cereal and almond milk, OR even a salad with an egg. I also drink hot green tea in the afternoon.

I try to eat a snack that won't leave a hunger pain; but carry me over for at least two hours.

Snack well. )

Kelly_Runs_NC

I also have a desk job. I chew a TON of sugar free gum...try it!

skinnyforhi

Besides what others have said, I found moving my workouts to the morning has helped a ton with what I eat during the day. I'm much more conscience of my food choices because I already know exactly how many calories I can have during the day (no more "I'll burn it off later" mentality and then skipping out to work late or go to dinner with friends). It makes it much easier to plan my snacking strategy and meal strategy and once I've made the good decision to work out in the morning, I want to keep making good decisions throughout the day, including decisions about snacking. It's much easier to put that cookie down when I know how many minutes it cancels off of my morning workout!

That being said, I definitely do snack. I make sure to have a stash of fresh fruit, veggie sticks, trail mix (with a measuring cup!) and lower-calorie granola bars. I also bring a water bottle to work that I refill all day (sometimes I add fresh lemon juice) and I have a selection of teas. I also never eat "fake food" or "diet food" or use artificial sweeteners. Real food in smaller portions is more satisfying (to me, anyway!) and holds me over much better.

I hope this helps! It took me ages to figure out the combination that works for me and I'm sure that everybody is different. Good luck!

Cathleen77

I drink a lot of tea.

Oh me too!! I just walked into the staff kitchen, and there were pecan tarts on the table...... I had to leave quickly.... lol - I try to avoid things like that,, and I find making a hot cup of mint green tea helps,, so much! Its only 10:20am, and i'm on my 3rd cup...

ShortyCraig

I snack ALL DAY. literally....ALL DAY. I'm sure my office staff thinks I'm a fat*ss lol
I pre-log and break items up so I can eat.
For example:

7:30AM (home): string cheese=50
2 cups water
9:30AM (work): Breakfast sandwhich =250
2 cups water
1:00PM: Soup =140
somewhere in between I drink hot chocolate = 20
2 cups water
3:00PM: Sandwhich=150
2 cups water
5:30-6: Dinner.... whatever it may be
2 cups water
8:00-8:30= snack... 100-200

I eat more if I'm hungry (or working out) and less if not. All depends...
I usually know how much calories r in our candy, and I don't want to "waste" my calories.

I like your method. Not sure I can go from 930-130 on just 2 cups of water but I like what you've done here. Out of curiosity what sandwich are you making that is only 250 cals?

southernmaidbrat

I snack ALL DAY. literally....ALL DAY. I'm sure my office staff thinks I'm a fat*ss lol
I pre-log and break items up so I can eat.
For example:

7:30AM (home): string cheese=50
2 cups water
9:30AM (work): Breakfast sandwhich =250
2 cups water
1:00PM: Soup =140
somewhere in between I drink hot chocolate = 20
2 cups water
3:00PM: Sandwhich=150
2 cups water
5:30-6: Dinner.... whatever it may be
2 cups water
8:00-8:30= snack... 100-200

I eat more if I'm hungry (or working out) and less if not. All depends...
I usually know how much calories r in our candy, and I don't want to "waste" my calories.

what kind of sandwiches are you having at 9:30 and 3:00? This is my hardest issue finding things like this that LOW in cals! lol

LoraF83

Haha Oh no, I often dont finish my diary because when I do snack and eat poorly I have the all or nothing attitude and then tossing the day. If i track everything i always eat at least 1500 calories. I eat much more than that....maybe thats the bigger problem...

I would start to track EVERYTHING - good or bad.

And there's nothing wrong with snacking at work. It just takes some planning. I sit at a desk all day and I eat pretty much all day long. I get asked how I'm losing weight, since I eat so much.

I just plan. I bring a bag of food to work every day. I keep some back up stuff (peanut butter, granola bars) in my desk - stuff that I know I can make fit into my calorie goal. I keep yogurt and fruit in the fridge at work (which saved me today, as I forgot to bring my breakfast to work.....had a yogurt and some pineapple just waiting for me!).

Take the weekend to research some snack options that fit into your calorie goal (and maybe research BMR and TDEE so you can find an appropriate calorie goal) and hit the grocery store. 30 minutes of prep is worth it when the weight starts coming off - and you still have snacks.

Snacks that I like to eat at work:
PB and a banana
Fresh cut pineapple
Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds
Pistachios
Apples
Greek Yogurt
Cottage Cheese
String Cheese
Sugar Free Pudding (when you need some chocolate!)
Cereal & Milk
Babybel cheese
Laughing Cow cheese wedge and crackers
Mushrooms and ranch dip (make with sour cream or greek yogurt)

212ackley

My favorite go-to, keep me full snacks are greek yogurt, instant oatmeal or hot tea with creamer / hot chocolate...:drinker:

HotAshMess

Chew gum. Drink lots of water. Two things you can do with a desk job. I also keep an entire drawer full of low calorie treats....90 calorie bags and such.

joslynlpribble

I keep a huge 26 ounce water bottle at my desk and drink it when I get hungry. I probably go fill it 4 or 5 times during the day. It's a good way to get me up from my desk. I also have some of those 100 calorie snacks in my desk and limit myself to one of those a day. If you can, get up and go for a quick walk when you feel your stomach grumbling.