给公司白领的健康饮食建议

If one of your new year’s resolutions is a healthier diet, one of your greatest obstacles may actually be your office, most of us spend more time at work than we do at home, so how supportive or unsupportive your office environment is maybe what makes or breaks your success. Here to offer her tips on this topic is our resident food coach and register dietitian Cynthia Sass.

Hi, Cynthia , it’s good to see you.

Hello, you too, thanks.

So, you’re absolutely right. We spend so much time in our office, so the office environment is crucial to our strategy for losing weight.

Yeah, some of my clients eat three to four meals a day at their office, so really can make break it.

Absolutely. Now you say one of those most important things is to negotiate that landmine of office treats, (yes),’cause it seems like every week there can be a new plate of donuts out or cakes or whatever, (kisses),kisses exactly, try to make a designated treat zone. Is that right?

Designated treat zone, so require some cooperation from your co-workers, maybe from your boss, so you’re gonna pick one spot where all of those things are gonna go. Hopefully it’s somewhere that’s a little bit out of sight, out of mind. And if you do that, it can really make a big difference, because when those are all around, we mindlessly motion grab them and we don’t even really realize that we’re doing it, so if you can just cut even a hundred calories a day, that snowballs into ten pounds, from, a year from now, you can be ten pounds lighter just from (Absolutely) a hundred calories a day, so…

What about all those office birthdays, because you don’t wanna appear to be a salad person, not partake and everyone celebrations?

Yeah, start a new tradition, ask your boss and your co-workers to commit to celebrating the birthdays within a month, just once in a month, so maybe the first of the month, the fifteenth of the month, so you’ll have one cake or one set of cupcake, so whatever it is, instead of three of four birthdays throughout the month. So you feel like you wanna take part and you wanna celebrate with your co-workers, and it’s really hard to resist it when it’s there, so if it’s just once, it can really make a difference.

Great idea, so some of these is gonna require some office cooperation, right? People have to really come together and agree to do some of these…

Yeah, but you know what, this is the best time of year to do that, because it’s top of mind for everyone right now, they wanna feel better, maybe they're feeling a little lethargic, their pants are fitting a little bit tight.

Oh yes.

So they might be on board.

Absolutely. Now also you say, really consider how valuable it is to bring your meals from home.

Yes, when you do that, you invest it, you’re taking the time to buy the food, to prepare the food, to bring it with you, so you’re probably less likely to get derailed by someone, you know, there's pizza, or a takeout or someone going down the street for fast food and invite you to go with them. The toughest thing I think is to get into the routine of making your lunch or snacks and bringing it with you. I think the best way to do that is when you’re making dinner, make a separate lunch or dinner, put it into the refrigerator. Sometimes my clients will tell me that, because they’re not in the routine of doing this, they forget their lunch, (oh, no), well, I say, take your car keys, put them into the refrigerator, that way you can't leave without that lunch.

What are some great, sort of make-at-home lunch ideas that you think will be quick and easy and fast?

Well, bread and sandwiches are always great. You know, whole-grain bread , half of a whole-grain pita, put some lean protein in there, put some vegs on the side, maybe some balsamic vinegar to kind of spice it up a bit, very quick and simple.

You’re right.

Takes five minutes to make and put together.

Absolutely, now you also say it’s helpful to recruit a lunch buddy, someone in your office who’s also interested in scaling down.

Yes, this provides two key things that we need, support and accountability. When we have those, we tend to do better with our resolutions, if you’re just kind out there on your own,(right), you might throw it out of the window, but if you have someone that you’ve committed to doing this with, you can make the same meals and eat them together, or you can do sort of a potluck, potluck lunch, where you bring a part here, she brings a part, and that way you share, and that’s really nice, that’s a really kind of something that look forward to, and it makes healthy eating more of a social thing as well.

Right, now, what about a little friendly competition, is that something that effective to this, or you say just make it about support?

I think it’s about support.

Yeah, alright. Now also you say, remember that office kitchens do have some aspects to them that you can turn into healthy things.

Yes, specifically your freezer, your refrigerator, and the microwave, and also you cupboard. So I say, start frozen veggies in the freezer, frozen food too. But frozen veggies are fantastic, they are just nutritious as fresh, and all you need to do is microwave them or toss them with something like pasta which can keep in a refrigerator, a little bit of flavoring, even saucer is great with a broccoli or green beans and then also the microwave, popcorn is a whole grain, you can pop it up in a few minutes, it’s a great healthy snack. Instant oatmeal, that’s unsweetened, you can sprinkle some cinnamon in there. And for the cupboards, keep something like an apple slicer or a colander where you can wash some fruit. When you have those on hand, you’re more likely to use them.

Great idea. Cynthia Sass , thank you so much for all those great office tips.