Avoiding junk food at work! HELP!!!!

franjamieson8131 · July 2017

Hey everyone,
I am having a very hard time controlling what I eat at work. I work in childcare and I am required to eat lunch with the children (if I don't eat it, then they don't have to.) I also find that everywhere I turn there are unhealthy foods being left out for staff to enjoy. I have been working very hard at avoiding them but I sometimes find myself accidentally eating them as I am talking to fellow co-workers on my break. I am wondering if anyone has any strategies that I could try to help me overcome this obstacle.

Ready2Rock206 · July 2017

Just because there's food out you don't have to eat it. Work on your self control. We used to have a lot of treats at my work. You know there's probably at least some that aren't worth the calories. Don't eat those. Save it for the times something really good and special is out. Once you find yourself accidentally eating something you can always toss it in the trash and not eat the rest. Same for anything that doesn't taste as good as you'd hoped.

AFGP11 · July 2017

I hope this doesn't come off as horrible as it probably will but I think a lot of us ended up here because we were very immature about our approach to food. For little kids it is normal to have no self control around things they like. I think overweight adults often were not taught or did not learn that taking care of yourself involves self regulating and saying "no" to pleasure sometimes (or most of the time to be honest). Our society prizes staying "young forever" but there are a lot of bad side effects to that "do whatever you want" attitude everyone has now. Our society also tries to convince us that junk food is self love and self care. The reality is that eating excessive amounts of junk is actually self abuse and sabotage and that moderation and exercise are true self care practices.

Again, I was once in the same boat myself and still struggle to say no from time to time. But at some point I had to stop blaming everyone around me and admit that I hadn't taken responsibility for my own choices and that was the real reason I always succumbed to temptation. I had to parent myself in a way that no one had when I was a kid. Now that I am reaping the rewards of this, I will never go back to my old ways, but it can be a struggle for sure.

crewgirl86 · July 2017

I am an elementary teacher so I understand the struggle. The most important thing is to be prepared. MEAL PREP! Plan exactly what you're going to eat, and enter it into My Fitness Pal ahead of time. Then, grocery shop and spend a couple hours cooking and putting everything into baggies and containers. I cut up baggies of veggies, which are very low calorie and put them in my work bag. I eat veggies all the time in front of my students! They are always curious what I am eating and I think it is a healthy approach to model for them.

Also, make sure you are eating a lot of protein. I've found when I am lower on protein, I tend to crave more and have more moments of weakness when there's a big cake or something in the teacher's lounge. Best of luck.

toxikon · July 2017

Workplace treats aren't the problem. They're not preventing you from sticking to your calorie goal.

If you want a workplace treat, work it into your daily calorie allotment. Plan ahead and track everything.

Breakfast is provided at my workplace on Fridays, and you can bet that I'm in the kitchen checking ingredient labels and immediately logging it into MFP and eating a smaller lunch/dinner to compensate.

Not logging and not holding yourself accountable is the big issue here.

ToothlessJoe · July 2017

I've found that logging has been the biggest factor in eliminating the workplace grazing. Knowing that eating a fun-size snickers would then make me have to go back to my desk, login to MFP, search the database for a snickers in the right size, etc. makes me think "Ugh, eating this is not worth the hassle." Call it wasponized laziness.

Edit: Spelling is hard.

franjamieson8131 · July 2017

Thanks everyone for your tips, and AFGP11 you didn't come off as horrible at all. It was the blunt truth of the matter and I respect that. I have started to only eat the vegetables with the children and having my own lunch when they are at rest. I am going to work on logging everything I eat. As you said ToothlessJoe it really is a pain to log everything and I can see how that would prevent you from eating it in the first place.

cerise_noir · July 2017

toxikon wrote: »

Workplace treats aren't the problem. They're not preventing you from sticking to your calorie goal.

If you want a workplace treat, work it into your daily calorie allotment. Plan ahead and track everything.

Breakfast is provided at my workplace on Fridays, and you can bet that I'm in the kitchen checking ingredient labels and immediately logging it into MFP and eating a smaller lunch/dinner to compensate.

Not logging and not holding yourself accountable is the big issue here.

This.

There are no "good" or "bad" foods, just good/bad habits and diets. Weight loss can be achieved with a balance of nutritious and treat foods.

edlanglais · July 2017

I've found that eating an apple really helps my sweet tooth. I do my best to pre-plan my snacks.

missnolder890 · July 2017

I have the same issue at work. I'm always reaching for that after lunch sweet snack or find myself grazing on junk when I know I shouldn't be. I have come to find that going for short power walks on my breaks actually tends to curb my appetite and I don't reach for the junk (or any food for that matter) nearly as much.

TonyB0588 · July 2017

franjamieson8131 wrote: »

Hey everyone,
I am having a very hard time controlling what I eat at work. I work in childcare and I am required to eat lunch with the children (if I don't eat it, then they don't have to.) I also find that everywhere I turn there are unhealthy foods being left out for staff to enjoy. I have been working very hard at avoiding them but I sometimes find myself accidentally eating them as I am talking to fellow co-workers on my break. I am wondering if anyone has any strategies that I could try to help me overcome this obstacle.

Eating lunch with the children seems to be a good opportunity to set good examples for the children. Just stick to structured meal times and don't snack on any of the "unhealthy foods being left out for staff to enjoy".

I usually eat breakfast at home before work, then hardly ever snack on anything before lunch. Then I work again (without snacking), until finally I eat when I'm back at home. Yes I see others snacking during the work day, but that doesn't force me to snack.

Interestingly enough, I share an office with two quite different persons - one just like me who eats three structured meals per day at home, and the other who nibbles all day in the office.

WendyLeigh1119 · July 2017

Nabisco 'Nilla Wafers! Kids love them, you can slowly munch a few with the kiddos, and you can have 8 for 140 calories.

Unknown · July 2017

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Packerjohn · July 2017

franjamieson8131 wrote: »

Hey everyone,
I am having a very hard time controlling what I eat at work. I work in childcare and I am required to eat lunch with the children (if I don't eat it, then they don't have to.) I also find that everywhere I turn there are unhealthy foods being left out for staff to enjoy. I have been working very hard at avoiding them but I sometimes find myself accidentally eating them as I am talking to fellow co-workers on my break. I am wondering if anyone has any strategies that I could try to help me overcome this obstacle.

Sorry in advance for another blunt post. "Accidentally eating" is not an accident. An accident is when an asteroid falls from the sky and hits you. Looking over and picking up something and eating it while talking to co-workers is decision you are making.

Own your actions (just say no, pre-log, etc) instead of playing a victim and you'll be much further along in fixing the issue.

Best of luck.

Rocbola · July 2017

Make sure you fill up on good food before you leave your house, and have some quality snacks around for you to eat. There is no harm in snacking on sugar snap peas instead of whatever cookies or donuts might be served.

Bonny132 · July 2017

You can always plays the IBS card. Strict diet, or your tummy will misbehave.

cwolfman13 · July 2017

franjamieson8131 wrote: »

Hey everyone,
I am having a very hard time controlling what I eat at work. I work in childcare and I am required to eat lunch with the children (if I don't eat it, then they don't have to.) I also find that everywhere I turn there are unhealthy foods being left out for staff to enjoy. I have been working very hard at avoiding them but I sometimes find myself accidentally eating them as I am talking to fellow co-workers on my break. I am wondering if anyone has any strategies that I could try to help me overcome this obstacle.

Most office environments, etc are going to have this going on...you don't accidentally eat anything...it's called not being mindful of what you're doing.

Mindfulness and self control are practiced arts.

When I logged, I pre-logged...I brought my breakfast, lunch, and snacks to work with me and for the most part, my rule has largely been that this is what I have for food for the day. As things went along I felt more comfortable indulging here and there and these days I have little problem taking a piece of candy from the big bowl outside my office in the common area and maybe not taking another one for weeks.

JeromeBarry1 · July 2017

Suck your thumb while on break. They'll understand. Once you master the act of doing something on purpose that is outside of your normal habit, just don't graze.

amtyrell · July 2017

My rule is I can't eat it until I log it. This forces being aware of what I am eating. With kids I bet the menu is out a week in advance plan your foods and portions.

RaeBeeBaby · July 2017

Do you really HAVE to eat what the kids are eating? That sounds like an odd rule. What if you're allergic to something? Lots of people are lactose intolerant or gluten-sensitive.

When I decided to take charge of what I was eating the first thing to go was office snacks including birthday cake. When you work with 50+ people there's almost always a birthday, promotion, retirement or some other event not to mention the daily snacks. For whatever reason co-workers want you to "enjoy" the same thing they are having even if you don't want it. My mantra became something like this, "Sorry, but I can't have that right now due to some health concerns." I never had anyone ask me what kind of health issues, but it helped me to control the snacking a whole lot.

rachelcalsbeek · July 2017

I struggled with this, too. My work always has doughnuts, cakes, cookies, bars, cupcakes, muffins, you name it. In the weeks after deciding to log my food and be more conscious of what I ate, I had to say no A LOT. I even made a comment to a co-worker that we'd had a lot of food brought in recently. She said, "no, it's always been that way; you're just noticing more since you're saying no". Very true! Eventually, people stopped asking me, since I always say no, and my manager even started ordering fruit when we have dessert celebrations. It gets easier, but you just have to stick with the plan -- bring your own food and prelog.

OhMsDiva · July 2017

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

Just because there's food out you don't have to eat it. Work on your self control. We used to have a lot of treats at my work. You know there's probably at least some that aren't worth the calories. Don't eat those. Save it for the times something really good and special is out. Once you find yourself accidentally eating something you can always toss it in the trash and not eat the rest. Same for anything that doesn't taste as good as you'd hoped.

Totally agree with all of that. Not as much now, because no one was eating it but one of my co-workers was always bringing in donuts, cupcakes, muffins. After a while they realized no one was really eating it so they stopped. I would just make up my mind that I did not want it and I moved on. It is not that I do not eat those things, but if I do, I want to make sure I have planned and it that it is something that I really want.

Avoiding junk food at work! HELP!!!!

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