Beating the Office Binges!

I frequently get a request for a bariatric-friendly Birthday Cake that can be taken into the office or workplace for sharing when a celebration comes around. But at the same time I am also asked how to deal with co-workers who often without (but sometimes with) malicious intent seemingly make the office a war-zone food-wise.

If you’re feeling sabotaged by office junk food? These tips are sure to help:

So what’s the background to this?

Well, inevitably, we all make certain sacrifices in our personal lives for our day jobs. A few hours of sleep, breakfast with the kids, mid-week errands, dibs at a department store sale…Things have a way of falling to the wayside when we’re committed to our nine-to-fives. Hopefully, it goes without saying that your health should never make this list. Between catered lunch meetings, co-workers’ birthday celebrations, and communal sweet/candy dishes (not to mention the calorific cravings that pop up when we’re stressed, bored, or in a mood), many of us face job challenges that are both deadline- and diet-related. Here’s an assortment of strategies for beating the top 6 food foes in your office.

The Scenario 1: There’s a stash of junk food in the office kitchen or pantry—or worse, on a table smack-bang in the middle of the office.

The Solution: Obviously, it helps to maintain a ‘healthy’ distance from the danger zone. If your desk location (or weak will power) makes this difficult, try staving off the urge to snack with a hydration strategy: Every time you feel tempted to nosh on something less than stellar, drink a glass of water, wait a few minutes, and then re-evaluate your need for food. The liquid will make your belly feel fuller, which can delay your brain’s hunger signals for a while. If you need something more satisfying than plain ol’ H2O, try water with a splash of fruit juice or any flavoured, calorie-free beverage (keep the office fridge stocked). Sugar-free lollipops are also good flavour providers, and they’ll occupy your mouth while you determine if your appetite is caused by hunger or something else (stress, boredom, inability to resist glazed doughnuts/donuts, etc.) Sometimes all you need is a flavour fix to fight your midday munchies.

The Scenario 2:You and your co-workers order group lunches from nearby restaurants, but their top picks include pizza, burgers, fried foods, and overstuffed sarnies/sammies.

The Solution:If you’d rather stick with the group than lunch box/brown-bag more wholesome meals, start collecting menus from your colleagues’ favourite restaurants, highlight the healthiest options on each, and use a big, black marker to cross out the ones that are worst for your waistline. Stash the menus in your desk drawer, so when you find out what everyone’s craving for lunch each day, you can quickly skim the healthy and bariatric-friendly listings (and remain happily oblivious to the uber-cal ones). As for days when your co-workers want to spontaneously order food from a new neighborhood joint, remember: It’s 2014! Grab your smart phone, do a quick web search, and browse the new menu for salads, veggies, and meats (or other proteins) that are grilled, baked, steamed, broiled, poached… basically, any version of ‘non-fried.’

The Scenario 3: Your to-do list is so lengthy that you forget to eat lunch until 4 pm – at which point, starvation causes you to stuff your face.

The Solution: Set daily reminders in your phone or computer calendar that will alert you to lunchtime and a designated, afternoon snack time. Don’t be fooled by the idea that your distracting workload can help you lose or maintain your weight; it may actually be your diet’s worst enemy. When too much time passes between meals, your blood sugar drops and eventually sends your body on an emergency quest for fuel, making you much more likely to overeat. It can also spark out-of-control cravings and whittle down your willpower to resist them, so all the smart food choices you made that day will go out the window. The bottom line: Eat lunch no more than five food-free hours after breakfast. (You can wait longer if you have a smart snack.) This will help stabilize your blood sugar and energy levels, which, in turn, will keep your inner hunger beast on its leash.

The Scenario 4: Your social office culture involves celebrating every employee’s birthday … with a giant cake (or other sweet treat).

The Solution: Suggest that the staff celebrate birth months, rather than individual birthdays. A sample proposition: On the first day of each month (or perhaps the first Friday of each month), bring on the baked goods and sing Happy Birthday to every employee born by the 31st. This should drastically reduce the number of cakes you’ll need to dodge while still allowing you to show support for everyone in the office. If, for some reason, your coworkers aren’t keen to cut back on birthday festivities, suggest an informal rotation of celebratory foods with a little more variety. For example, if sweet confections are used to acknowledge the first employee birthday in January, consider catering the next one with a somewhat healthier breakfast spread (think: fruit salad, yogurt parfaits, etc.). Even if your cohorts insist on bringing a bagel basket or box of doughnuts/donuts, you can volunteer to supply the bariatric home-made blueberry or other muffins.

The Scenario 5: Your friendly desk or cubicle neighbour keeps a bowl of sweets/candy on her desk—and it calls your name every time you need a pick-me-up.

The Solution: Simply put: Ask her to hide it. Don’t forget ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ (A smile may help, too.) Suggest that she store the goods in a desk drawer or any spot hidden from your line of sight, and offer an explanation for your request, if you feel comfortable doing so. Alternatively, you can wait until your neighbour’s stash runs low and then gift her a bag of candy you’re not crazy about. (Surely you can think of one!) A final option: Place an empty jar on your own desk and stick a pound/dollar into it each time you successfully resist a sweet/candy craving. At the end of the week, treat yourself to something special with your savings, like a manicure (or a mani-pedi, depending on how good you’ve been). Note: This strategy does require some self-motivation and discipline, but by Friday evening, your slim figure and your beautifully polished fingers will thank you!

The Scenario 6: Your office meetings are catered with tempting but totally unhealthy foods.

The Solution: Simple: BYO. Pack a lunch box or brown-bag your lunches and snacks, and bring them to your meetings if the sight of your colleagues indulging on muffins and cakes is too tough to ignore. If you spend time preparing your meals (or spend money buying them from restaurants), you’ll feel somewhat obligated to eat whatever you’ve invested in, no matter how tempting the office junk is. If you go the extra mile to make your food delicious and exciting (switch it up often so you don’t get sick of it!), you’ll even look forward to eating your own stuff… and you won’t think twice about the pastry and sandwich platter on the conference table. Try to pack more than one yummy, low-calorie snack, too, so each time you see a co-worker munching on something sugary, you’ll have a better (and better-for-you) alternative to toss down your gullet. Stumped for snack ideas? How about some of these:

Some advice and tips courtesy of Joy Bauer

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