Is your job making you fat?

Eating at your desk

Have you ever noticed that a bag of chips or bowl of popcorn seems to disappear while you are watching TV? That’s because if you don’t focus on the act of eating and savouring your food, you end up falling prey to automatic eating. This is eating that happens without you realising that you are eating or how much you are eating, resulting in an excess of kilojoules taken in. It can also happen while you are sitting at your desk at work. Therefore, take the time to focus on and enjoy your meal, eating slowly so that you are better able to tell when you are full.

Snacks on offer

Pastries and chips are often a workplace snack option during meetings, or your place of work may have a vending machine packed with unhealthy, high-sugar, high-fat options. Having some of this every now and then is alright, but relying on these foods to give you energy every day will result in weight gain. It’s much better to choose nutrient-dense foods instead of kilojoule-dense foods to fill those gaps and at the same time give you vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Choose nuts, a little dried fruit, fresh fruit or yoghurt as a snack instead.

Falling into this category are also foods that your colleagues may have baked or cooked and bring to the office to share – if you really want to try some, have it when you are hungry or just taste a small amount.

Sight and smell of food

The smell or sight of food can make you think that you are hungry. Sight and smell are sensory cues which start the digestive process by making your mouth water − but ask yourself whether you are really physically hungry or not. If not, give yourself a minute for the false craving to pass you by. If you are physically hungry, choose a well-balanced option.

Choices for meals when going out for lunch or at a work function

If you often eat out for meals, choose options that are grilled instead of fried, choose a balance of salad/vegetables and rice or potato instead of always choosing the fries, choose tomato-based sauces instead of cream-based sauces and go with lean meat or fish options as far as possible.

Often having to eat from buffets can also lead to weight gain because of the type of foods on offer, not to mention the empty kilojoule alcoholic drinks that usually go hand in hand. Don’t starve all day before a buffet because you will be ravenous when you get there and then eat too much. Rather eat normal, balanced meals and see the buffet as just another normal, balanced, decent-sized meal. Take a plate and fill it with the things you want and choose some vegetable or salad options too, making sure to keep the amount of food to what you would eat in a normal situation.

Not drinking enough water and relying on high-sugar drinks for energy

Water is the best drink for hydration. Relying on fizzy drinks or a lot of fruit juice to hydrate you will in actual fact just up your total kilojoule intake and still feel thirsty. If you do have fizzy drinks or juice, try diluting it with water, gradually mixing in more water than the fizzy drink or juice. If you are not a fan of the flavour of water, you can mix in lemon wedges or lemon juice, mint leaves, ice, lime juice or dried rosemary.

Sources
Tailoring your Tastes (Linda Omichinski, Heather Wiebe Hildebrand)
www.intuitiveeating.com