Advice about snacking at work
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I also have a desk job and struggle with snacking especially since I have access to pretty much anything I want in the building. Including a McDonald's downstairs. I bring all my snacks from home, I make sure to bring enough and I try to bring something fun and save that for the end of my day around 3pm when the snack monster hits hard! Lately I'm in love with mangoes so I bring some cut up mangoes and I am always looking forward to eating them. Make it fun and not boring, when I get bored with my snacks is when you tend to want junk.0
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Snacking at my desk is probably the reason that I gained the weight in the first place. I work from home, so no one is raising their eyebrows at me every time I get up. I definitely snack because of boredom. I enjoy my job and it's challenging, but it's monotonous. To counter this, I tell myself that when I finish xyz project, or a specific task, I will get a snack. Usually by then it's lunchtime anyway. I also no longer eat at my desk, I've declared my desk a no-food zone. It sounds strict, but it's really helped me. I also adopted this policy for myself when I do have to be in the office; no food at my desk, only in the break room (or my car if I'm not feeling social).0
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Yes, only my work station is at home and my kitchen is only steps away. To the greatest extent possible, I have banished snacking. If it's not meal time, I don't eat but drink water instead. I feel so much better about myself not being an eating machine.0
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Snacking at my desk is a problem for me too. I eat out of boredom pretty often. One thing I found recently is that drinking coffee in the morning tends to hold off morning cravings - I'm not a huge coffee drinker so I am not sure why this works, but it does for me. The afternoon is always the worst for me. I eat lunch around 11am (bc I have breakfast at 6am) so by 2:30ish I'm searching for something, usually chocolate. The Fiber One brownies tend to satisfy my chocolate craving and they are only 90 calories. I also bring a fruit cup or piece of fruit, and a yogurt just in case. But all are relatively low in calories, but satisfying. You just have to really ask yourself "am I really hungry, or am I just bored?" That seems to help me the most.0
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I bring, cheese, yogurt (chobani), dark chocolate and almonds to work for snacks
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find healthy snacks...here are some of mine!
- trail mix (I make my own with just honey sesame sticks and wasabi peas)
- dried fruit (I love banana chips...sometimes with peanut butter)
- pistachios
I'm a textural eater, so that leads to some of my snacks -0 -
i eat sunflower seeds all day long basically. one serving is alot and it takes a alot of time to crack and eat them. it may be a little uhmm messy but 1 serving of sunflower seeds seems like you are snacking on them all day. i also usually do a fiber bar or protein bar in there too. i log the sunflower seeds as my am snack but i snack on them in the afternoon too. they are a decent snack health wise.
i too sit at a desk all day. i drink several glasses of water but really snack out of boredom.0 -
I find that chewing a piece of minty sugar-free gum helps differentiate between boredom and true hunger. If after about 20-30 minutes of starting a piece I'm still "hungry" then I probably truly am and will eat something like a small piece of cheese or some almonds. A lot of times though, I realize it's been an hour or more and I'm not feeling hungry anymore.0
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I work in a large edible nut factory that also makes chocolate so Im surrounded by fresh roasted cashews,peanuts,pecans and chocolate covered everything including my favorite, chocolate almonds.
If I stray I log it right away so I have a visual of how bad Ive been. I also find that green tea helps my food cravings a lot.
The best defense is to refuse to eat it though, and I know thats easier than it sounds but it comes down to willpower and having the proper alternatives handy. I always have fresh fruit with me.0 -
I make my own trail mix and try to keep that at my desk. Like others have said, I also allow myself a treat from time to time. If I have a mini Kit Kat, I log it.0
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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.0
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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.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...
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!0 -
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.
) 0 -
I also have a desk job. I chew a TON of sugar free gum...try it!0
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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!0 -
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...0 -
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?0 -
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! lol0 -
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)0 -
My favorite go-to, keep me full snacks are greek yogurt, instant oatmeal or hot tea with creamer / hot chocolate...:drinker:0
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