Eat Healthy at Work
It’s Monday morning, 10am. Your boss just called a company-wide meeting. You enter the room and are greeted by a gigantic silver platter of doughnut heaven. Your tummy says “yum!” but your mind and sore muscles know that if you cave you’ll undo all of your hard work at the gym this week.
Alright, you made it to Tuesday afternoon without undoing your healthy eating habits. You said “no” to those Monday morning doughnuts, but now you heard that delicious sound of your coworker’s soda opening. You guzzle water and pretend it is soda.
Now it’s Thursday afternoon and your coworker’s daughter just brought her mom (who happens to sit next to you) a stack of just-baked cupcakes for her birthday. How can you say no? You don’t want to be rude so you take one. Plus, they’re your favorite kind. Wow! You had forgotten how good cupcakes can be! “Ok,” you say, “one slip is not so bad”. But a little voice says, “I want another one”. You know that on that plate there are more cupcakes than the department can eat. “I want another one” says that voice. You pretend to go to the bathroom, rationalizing that you’re just going to look at them on your way out. But, on the way back you end up grabbing a second one (“I hope no one saw”). Since you already broke your diet, you figure, how bad can eating another one be? So you eat a third one when half of the department has gone on break. Then you eat a fourth one, pretending it’s only your second, when you go on break. Meanwhile, all of the hard work you did at the gym unravels.
I know that this has happened to many of us before, but unlike “before”, this time we are not going to devour four cupcakes in thirty minutes! “How?” you ask? By learning about alternatives to cravings and knowing the best healthy snacks for work.
How to deal with cravings:
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UNHEALTHY FOOD CRAVING
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HEALTHY ALTERNATIVE
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Soda
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Iced tea-teas will give you the same caffeine and sweetness boost plus provide antioxidants
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Frappes, mochas, lattes, etc.
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Have a regular cup of coffee but cut back on the cream and sugar.
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A regular cup of coffee
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You really shouldn’t drink so much caffeine during the day as it will disrupt your sleep pattern, but if you have coffee, switch to low-fat milk as creamer and try cutting all of the sugar.
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Sweets
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Yogurt with a bit of honey. Sweet fruits (cantaloupe, watermelon, etc.).
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Chips
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Apples and peanut butter- still enjoy the saltiness and get the added bonus of protein. The Nabisco 100-calorie snacks are great too!
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Sports drink
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Coconut water- contains more electrolytes, has less sugar, and is more hydrating
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Fatty foods
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Can eat in small portions, but add vegetables and fruit in the mix. Ex: Carrots and celery with dressing, apples with cheese.
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Chocolate
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Two to three 1oz. squares of dark chocolate
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To learn more about what foods to snack on at work click here.