Staying healthy and on track with weight loss can be challenging at times, and being in an office or on a shop floor can make it so much harder. At work, you are often surrounded by tempting goodies, sugary snacks, and quick on-the-go meals, which make sticking to a diet regime much harder. Not mentioning any special days where colleagues bring cakes and treats into the workplace, such as a birthday!
Whether you are hoping to lose a few pounds or you want to continue the steady weight loss journey you’re on, you can get over the weight-loss hurdles that you face when you’re on the job, so you feel healthy and happy at work. The tips below will help you to do so, without making you feel like you are depriving yourself and missing out on tasty treats.
Bring healthy snacks with you
When the stresses of your work get the best of you, it’s easy to reach for whatever unhealthy snack takes your fancy on that particular day. Perhaps a stressful morning has you reaching for a chocolate bar, or you find solace after a long meeting in a can of sugary soda. While these less healthy options are okay every so often, frequently indulging can derail your weight loss progress.
Also read: Encourage Healthy Breakfasts To Fuel Work Productivity
The snacks on offer in the vending machines at your workplace are almost certainly packed full of empty calories, the type of calories you need to avoid. These calories do nothing for your health but can lead to weight gain. The snacks you should avoid include cookies, cakes, pastries, candy bars, chocolate, and bags of chips, all of which are often readily available in most offices and vending machines. While it’s easy to turn to these, especially if they are on-site and don’t have time to pick up a healthy lunch or snack, avoid the vending machines. Instead pack your lunch box full of healthy office snacks, from carrot sticks to dried fruit to low-calories treats, like non-butter popcorn. Of course, this means preparing and packing your lunch for work every day, but planning your meals in advance is key to helping stay on track with your weight loss plan. Plus, when you pack your healthy meals for work ahead, that’s one less item on your to-do list.
Get moving around the office
Sitting all day does nothing for weight loss or health, so don’t stand for it. Instead, stand up and get moving around your office! Take the stairs instead of the elevator and even do a few sets of running (or walking) the stairs on your lunch break. Or, you can stand at your desk instead of sitting all day. While it may take some getting used to, standing has many health benefits.
Also read: How To Avoid the Health Risks that Come with Desk Work
Don’t skip meals
Surprisingly, one of the reasons you are not losing weight while you’re at work might be because you’re not eating at regular intervals or at all. Skipping meals is one of the most common ways of gaining weight on a diet. When you skip meals, will likely give in sooner or later, and when you do give in, it’s more likely that you’ll stray from your healthy meal plan and straight into the unhealthy, high-calorie snacks and comfort foods. Additionally, skipping meals can send your body into ‘starvation mode,’ which causes your body to slow your metabolism in order to conserve energy.
It’s simple, don’t starve yourself throughout your working day, as doing so will make your weight loss dream more harm than good. Instead, set yourself a meal plan, and bring the meals that you plan to eat along with you to work.
What with all the stress and all the temptations generally found in the workplace, it’s not hard to understand why so many people fail at their weight loss programs thanks to their 9 to 5. However, making changes to how you eat at work and find time to sneak in exercise can help you stay on track with your weight loss.
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