How to Navigate Workplace Food Obstacles like a Boss

You’ve mastered food-shopping, eating at your favorite restaurants, and cooking healthy and delicious meals at home. But when you get to work, pizza parties, birthday cupcakes and vending-marching visits can contribute to unnecessary food stress.

Here are five common obstacle and how to stay in control:

1: The food landmine

That bowl full of your favorite chocolates, the bagels or pizza left over from a meeting… you get the picture.

GAME PLAN: 

  • Bring cut-up fresh fruit and veggies or low-fat cheese.
  • Keep premeasured snack options like reduced-fat popcorn on hand, but only enough for a set period of time so they remain fresh and you can’t dig into a huge stash.

2: The working lunch

If your calendar is filled with lunch meetings, you might be facing an endless stream of take-out or catered meals.

GAME PLAN:

  • Plan to snack on something nutritious beforehand. You can eat with the pack, but keep your portion sizes small and focus on salads, fruits, whole grains and lean proteins.

3. Celebrations

Doesn’t it feel like every other day there’s a party of some sort? You don’t want to miss out or seem like you’re being antisocial.

GAME PLAN:

  • Pop in and celebrate the person of honor without indulging especially if the spread doesn’t really call to you.
  • If its your favorite flavor of cake though, it just might be worth it to eat just a small portion.

4. The Vending Machine

Tempted by that machine full of high-calorie, unhealthy, but easy-to-access snacks? Is it sometimes your only option when the hospital cafeteria is closed?

GAME PLAN:

  • Don’t even consider window-shopping. Bring your own snacks!
  • Stay hydrated. Sometimes thirst disguises itself as hunger. Bring a water bottle to work with you and drink out of it throughout the work day.
  • Determine whether you want to include a particular snack from the vending machine in your weight-loss plan. Maybe there’s one you’ll decide is worth it.
  • Not enough healthy options in the vending machine? Let our Well-being Champions Team know!

5. Ordering Lunch In

Split take-out portions in half before you start eating. Enjoy one half, then save the other half for another meal.

GAME PLAN:

  • Split take-out portions in half before you start eating. Enjoy one half, then save the other half for another meal.
  • Or, split a portion with a coworker– it’ll be fun, and cheaper!