Working Well

Eating healthily at work can be a challenge – birthday celebrations, vending machines, the afternoon ‘choccie run’, fundraising drives and eating out can put a strain on our diets and on our hip pocket.

Look Before You Leap
Most fast food restaurants and restaurant chains post nutritional information about their food offerings on their web sites – check them out. If you decide what you can and should order before you arrive, it will make it easier to avoid the less nutritious, higher calorie options.

Keep Healthy Snacks In Your Draw
Healthy snacks such as fresh fruit, low-fat muesli bars, nuts - such as raw almonds or walnuts - dried fruit and low-fat yogurt all make for great, healthy snacks and may make you less tempted to binge during lunch or after work.

Plan Your Lunches
Preparing lunch at home can not only be a healthier option, but more friendly on the finances. Making salad at the beginning of the week can provide for a few days or a large pot of soup for the colder weather. Taking in store-cupboard ingredients at the beginning of the week, such as tuna, salad vegetables and crackers, is also a healthy option.

Avoid The Office Birthday Cake
Office celebrations, such as birthdays, farewells and other events, can all impact upon how much we eat and when - sometimes, we may feel obliged to eat a piece of cake, even when we don't want to, just so we are not rude. In order to avoid a blow-out from too much cake, simply state you aren't all that hungry because you have already eaten or that you simply wish to pass this time.

Eat Mindfully
Mindful eating means paying attention to what you eat, savoring each bite and choosing foods that are both nourishing and enjoyable. Being mindful about food also means eating until you are not quite full but not one bite more — things that are hard to do if your attention is elsewhere. Mindful eating relaxes you so you digest better, slows down the pleasure and makes you feel more satisfied.

'Undress' Your Food
When choosing, be aware of highly caloric additions such as salad dressings, cheese, sour cream, etc. Sometimes, making your choice healthier is as simple as removing the condiments. For example, ask for a grilled chicken sandwich without the mayonnaise.

Make Careful Menu Selections
Many cafes and restaurants indicate healthy choices on their menus, fast food restaurants now offer a wider range of healthy choices and most will provide nutritional information on all of their offerings by request.

Don't Be Afraid To Special Order
Most cafes have plenty of things that are good for you but they are served in heavy sauces. Ask for your vegetables and main dishes to be served without the sauces. Ask if things are fried or cooked in oil or butter –  if they are, see if you can order them in a more healthy way.

Share
Sharing entrees, appetisers and desserts with colleagues is a great idea. It allows you to sample something that you really want to have while also helping you avoid the temptation to overindulge. It is still important to make good menu choices but sharing might make dessert (or something else indulgent) more of an option.

Order Sauce And Dressing On The Side
If you ask for sauces and dressings on the side, you can control the amount that you eat. Often you can use less than is normally used and still enjoy the same taste.

Article: Eating Healthy At Work - How Hard Is It For You?
At an office where I work occasionally, there's an interesting attitude to lunch. At exactly 12.30pm everyone stops work and gets together to eat. Often it's something brought from home and pretty healthy - a salad or leftovers from last night's dinner. Anyone still glued to their keyboard is urged to stop, have a break and eat.
 
Read more ...

References

Helpguide

The Age