Wouldn't life be so much easier if your workplace was geared up to support your healthy living efforts?
Instead of having a vending machine stuffed with chocolate and an unhealthy cupboard in the kitchen, the Ideal Dieting Office would have free fruit and vegetables, a sparkling clean fridge, a host of supportive colleagues and a boss who'd let you take a two-hour lunch break to go to the gym …
The Ideal Dieting Office might be a fantasy, but there are some ways to bring your workplace a little closer to being perfect. Here's how:
Kitchen
The Ideal:
You walk into a sparkling clean kitchen. The cupboards are full of nice plates, bowls, mugs and cutlery. The fridge is huge and shiny, with a freezer compartment for frozen treats. The washing-up has always been done.
The Reality:
Okay, so your office has to make do with a tiny little kitchen, and no-one has ever stocked it with fancy crockery. The fridge is crammed with forgotten sandwiches and out-of-date meals. Whenever you try to leave something in there for more than a few hours, though, it somehow goes missing…
What you can do:
- Get those rubber gloves out, take a deep breath, and give the office fridge a good clean . Sure, it's not quite in your job description, but everyone will love you for it! (Or just pay someone to do it for you)
- Label all the food you keep in the fridge – not just so other people don't steal it, but so you don't accidentally take theirs too.
- Buy yourself a cheap plate, bowl, knife, spoon and fork to keep at work.
Snacks
The Ideal:
Tempting fruits and sugar free snacks are always on offer – for free! Your enlightened boss believes that healthy workers are happy and productive workers, and makes a point of providing plenty of healthy snacks.
The Reality:
Your boss's eye is firmly on the bottom line, and you know that any suggestion of free food would not go down well. The only snack source near your office is the vending machine in the corridor – packed with chips and evil chocolate bars.
What you can do:
- Stock up on snacks . Stash some of your favourite snacks (Sugar free cookies or chocolate) in your desk drawer.
- Get together with a colleague or two and take it in turns to bring some healthy snacks.
Hours
The Ideal:
You're getting better results than ever at the gym, because your boss lets you take a two-hour lunch break to fit in a full session mid-day. And you and your office mates are performing so well, you're allowed to leave work early to beat the traffic and make it home with plenty of time to cook dinner.
The Reality:
You're lucky if you get a lunch break at all – usually you just grab a sandwich and eat it at your desk. You often end up working late, which means you tend to live on delivered meals.
What you can do:
- Make a point of taking your full lunch break and go for a walk: you'll be much more productive in the afternoon.
- Find some easy, quick recipes to cook in the evenings.
Colleagues
The Ideal:
You love your colleagues and see them all as good friends. They're all really supportive about your diet, and several of them are trying to eat healthily too – so there's plenty of encouragement in the office. When it's someone's birthday, the focus is on having fun and joking around rather than a huge cake.
The Reality:
Most of your colleagues probably don't know you exist. Those who do aren't interested in your diet – or make fun of you. When cookies are going round, people act hurt if you don't take one.
What you can do:
- Learn how to refuse a cookie without causing any offence
- Tell your colleagues about your diet
- Get office friends to be supportive for when your motivation is low
Good luck bringing your office a little closer to the ideal.
There'll never be a perfect time or situation in which to diet – so make the most of what you've got, and go for it now!
