Advice for work cafeteria
50andfabu
Posts: 112 Member
Any advice for dealing with the work cafeteria? I know I could just bring my own food, but here's the thing - it's free! (perk of the job) I can get breakfast and lunch free at work so why pay to bring my own food. Breakfast is cereal or toast and the lunch is a different meal every day. Part of me says bring my own lunch and just don't go to the cafeteria to avoid temptation, but then my budget is tight. Actually, I work in a food-centric place - always donuts and candy around. Right now I am on vacation for a week, so I am really trying to plan a strategy for when I return.
This worries me because I read a study online about willpower being a finite resource. (https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf) For example, if you manage to avoid the food temptation, you may not have enough willpower to go to the gym after a long day. Part of me wants to say baloney to this, but it looks like it was done by serious researchers.
This worries me because I read a study online about willpower being a finite resource. (https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf) For example, if you manage to avoid the food temptation, you may not have enough willpower to go to the gym after a long day. Part of me wants to say baloney to this, but it looks like it was done by serious researchers.
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If you weigh the cereal once,you should have a good idea what you're getting. It's almost always the little boxes or those big bins that portion out a certain amount.
Personally, I'd eat the free food and log my best guesses. If I didn't lose, I'd tweak my guesses on the food until I did.
No reason to turn down free stuff! Make it work for you!
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Any advice for dealing with the work cafeteria? I know I could just bring my own food, but here's the thing - it's free! (perk of the job) I can get breakfast and lunch free at work so why pay to bring my own food. Breakfast is cereal or toast and the lunch is a different meal every day. Part of me says bring my own lunch and just don't go to the cafeteria to avoid temptation, but then my budget is tight. Actually, I work in a food-centric place - always donuts and candy around. Right now I am on vacation for a week, so I am really trying to plan a strategy for when I return.
This worries me because I read a study online about willpower being a finite resource. (https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf) For example, if you manage to avoid the food temptation, you may not have enough willpower to go to the gym after a long day. Part of me wants to say baloney to this, but it looks like it was done by serious researchers.
If I worked someplace where the only breakfast options were cereal and toast, I would start an awareness campaign about the importance of protein and a petition to get higher protein options, and abstain from the free food until that happened. High carb/low protein meals make me sleepy and thus affect my productivity. Petitions have better success with employers if they are productivity-centric.
We used to have Mandatory Saturdays a few times a month at work. Our employer bought us lunch. We'd get pizza or high carb and calorie meals from Chipotles and be in a food coma after lunch and thus only truly productive from 10-2.0 -
...This worries me because I read a study online about willpower being a finite resource. (https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf) For example, if you manage to avoid the food temptation, you may not have enough willpower to go to the gym after a long day. Part of me wants to say baloney to this, but it looks like it was done by serious researchers.
I wouldn't have the energy to go to the gym after work if I ate poorly all day.
What are some of the lunch choices?
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Be conscientious and use moderation.0
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There will always be those days where you can't be bothered to exercise, or you just want to munch doughnuts and crisps. You can either give in, or grit your teeth and just get through it. I have found that once you do get into it, however, even on those days where your motivation does wane, it is easier to just say no.
I used to be in your position, but i still bought my own food in because i wanted to lose weight that badly; sure, it may have only been value noodles or something, but it was still less calories than anything in the cafeteria. Question is, how badly do you want to lose the weight? Because to do that, you need to stop making excuses and take control of your own situation!
If you really want to eat at the cafeteria, then just eat smaller portions to keep within your calories; however, especially if it isn't nutritionally great food, you may find yourself getting hungry and struggling.0 -
What are some of the lunch choices?
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Lunch choices are meat (chicken in sauce, meatloaf), potatoes or rice, boiled veg. Pasta with meat sauce. There are limited quantities of vegetarian options (usually pasta or an egg dish like quiche).
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Temptations will be around every where you go, every day, every minute for the rest of your life.
You need willpower, you WON'T run out of it, unless you chose to. Just by finding that article tells me that you're already looking for reasons to fail.
You have to want it. When you want it, you will get it.
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What are some of the lunch choices?
Lunch choices are meat (chicken in sauce, meatloaf), potatoes or rice, boiled veg. Pasta with meat sauce. There are limited quantities of vegetarian options (usually pasta or an egg dish like quiche).
Wow, calorie bombs. Go for salads when you can or any meat without the sauce, so you can add your own.0 -
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HerkMeOff2 wrote: »Temptations will be around every where you go, every day, every minute for the rest of your life.
You need willpower, you WON'T run out of it, unless you chose to. Just by finding that article tells me that you're already looking for reasons to fail.
You have to want it. When you want it, you will get it.
QFT0 -
As much as possible, although as I read more about losing weight and the importance of protein, I am thinking of adding it back.kshama2001 wrote: »
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HerkMeOff2 wrote: »Temptations will be around every where you go, every day, every minute for the rest of your life.
You need willpower, you WON'T run out of it, unless you chose to. Just by finding that article tells me that you're already looking for reasons to fail.
You have to want it. When you want it, you will get it.
Thank you. I needed that. You're right.0 -
I bring a lunch and snack bag to work each day. There are raw veggies, a couple of tomatoes, some cheese, a high-fiber crisp bread, and some olives for a morning and an afternoon snack. I'll bring a piece of meat or fish plus some veggie combination (like home-made ratatouille) for lunch, sometimes a half an avocado (you could bring a vegetarian protein alternative); if I go out for lunch, I choose wisely most of the time.
I turn away from the donuts, cakes, etc. that people lay out in the kitchen. If I do this often enough, I find it becomes a habit. I've internalized the belief that the short burst of enjoyment I'll get will be gone in a few seconds, and then there'll be nothing but regret. However, I won't beat myself up for choosing to indulge -- but only if it's something really good. Crappy donuts or grocery store cake won't do it for me, they're not worth the calories.0 -
Why would you waste precious calories on high calorie cafeteria food anyway? I don't get it. It's just not worth the calories. Get a cup of plain pasta and a lot of veggies or something.0
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It may be cheaper to eat there, but if the food choices aren't in line with your nutritional goals, then you're pitting financial savings against weight loss and health success. I don't know how much you depend on that free food financially, but if it is plausible to make your own food, I would. Maybe make a compromise: two days eating in the caf, three days eating breakfast at home and packing snacks and lunch. You might also look at some of the college threads. Students who live in dorms and have meal cards often have no choice but to eat in the cafeteria, and they have shared their strategies on here in the past.
I bring snacks and my lunch to work daily. I do a big prep of lunches on Sunday to make it easy. It helps that the only food options at work I'm not allergic to are string cheese and peanuts, though; I really don't have an alternative.0 -
I work in a school and used to eat in the cafeteria every single day. When I started my weight-loss/health journey, I started bringing my own lunch. Lunch (for me) is a BIG bowl of salad (lettuce, spinach, tomatoes), with olive oil and balsamic and 6 oz of grilled chicken thighs (reheated). I bring everything in on Monday that I anticipate needing for the week and put it in the refrigerator in the back stockroom. I don't think I stepped into the cafeteria more than once or twice last year! These aren't budget breakers at all -- especially when I buy the family-pack size of chicken thighs (boneless, skinless) and it makes 4-6 meals.0
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As much as possible, although as I read more about losing weight and the importance of protein, I am thinking of adding it back.kshama2001 wrote: »
You've presented me with an interesting dilemma. I'm not a vegetarian, but applaud those who are for ethical reasons, so advising you to go back to eating meat in order to eat Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation meat would conflict with my own ethics, and possibly yours, but I also understand the lure of free food, despite the quality, when one is on a very tight budget.
You could bring in foods like beans to add some protein to the pasta, but then would have created a very high carb meal. (I do know a lot of vegetarians and vegans who are fine with much higher carb than would work for me.)
Or nuts, although they add a lot of calorie bang for their protein buck.
Or hard boiled eggs? These are cheap, convenient, and last for a week in the frig after being cooked and a few days without refrigeration.
When I lived in vegetarian communities, the meals were designed around providing non-meat protein. Yours are likely designed around having any vegetarian option without much regard to your nutritional needs. I think your healthiest option is to try to make bringing in your own meals fit into your budget, but your most practical option is to bring in some protein to supplement the vegetarian options your employer provides.0 -
I'd have skip the cereal or toast because I'd be starving an hour later & blow it out at lunch. It does sound like your lunch options are calorie laden, as well. I think I'd have to bring my lunch because I like to save my calories for dinner. You can meal prep on Sunday & have your lunches for the week in about an hour.0
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We have discounted breakfast, brunch and lunch in our cafeteria. I go rarely (it's been a few years) because I would rather bring my own food. Food from home is cheap and easy to carry -- chic peas, raisins, nuts, yogurt.0
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I know. That's why if she has to eat there, the high calorie stuff isn't going to be worth the calories anyway, so it shouldn't require such willpower to go for the healthier options.0 -
This is what I would do: I'd split between free food and my own food.
Breakfast: I'd bring 1-2 hard boiled eggs and eat them on a piece of toast. Maybe with a tomato or bit of avocado. I'd drink the milk that is meant for cereal.
Lunch: not vegetarian so I'd bring a salad if that wasn't an option in the food hall and eat it with the protein option and a price of fruit. I would ignore the starchy side dish. Or mix in half a can of rinsed beans into a half serving of pasta.
I would also make friends with the cafeteria Staff and work towards a situation where they would set aside some non-sauced protein for me.0 -
Go with the vegetarian options, the veggies and occasional small amounts of the other things. Log it based on best guess (guess high) and then when you have dinner at home get your protein in and prepare dinner based on what you have left in your budget. Cereal with milk can be a perfectly fine breakfast. Milk has plenty of protein. Bring a bit of fruit and almonds to round it out.
I wouldn't walk away from free meals when they can help you with saving money either.0
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