May 26, 2010

Avoiding Office Junk Food Temptation

Vegetarian
29 comments

Hello friends!

I had another super delicious 5 minute leftover special lunch today at work!

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The star:003

Major yum!

I started with a huge tupperware filled with mixed greens.

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And then tossed in whatever random leftovers I had in my fridge 🙂

Kidney beans:

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A serving of the aforementioned rice mixture:

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Yellow pepper and cucumber:

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Feta (obviously):

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And avocado!

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Topped with some cracked pepper to maximize deliciousness:

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A tip: to keep avocado looking fresh, store it with the pit still inside. This will help stop it from turning brown!  016

 

 

 

 

I tossed a baggie with a serving of Newman’s Own Balsamic Vinaigrette into the tupperware to top the mixture with when I was ready to eat:  021Grabbed a blueberry Chobani:

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And a kiwi (I eat them like apples!):

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And I was out the door! See? It really doesn’t have to take forever to pack a healthy lunch 🙂

 

 

 

 

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I also enjoyed a Kashi trail mix bar at work as one of my afternoon snacks. My company’s kitchen is STOCKED with all sorts of snacks — most of which are junk food. But recently, I’ve inspired them to purchase some healthier options, too! We now have Kashi bars, roasted almonds, and dried fruit next to the Twizzlers, candy bars, chips, and soda. It’s a start, right? 🙂

Does your office provide snacks? Are there any healthy options? If not, do you think they would be willing to order some healthier options if you asked?

I used to find it really hard to resist junk food at work, but since I started packing decent meals (both lunch AND snacks), I’m not even tempted! I’ve found if I’m hungry and I don’t have enough healthy snacks on hand, I’m much more likely to dive headfirst into the junk food — even though I know it will probably make me feel icky later! It’s always best to be prepared 🙂

- anne

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29 comments
  • We have a mix of healthy and not so healthy. When we're working late, we get our food from "Food Matters" in Alexandria. Their focus is on healthy seasonal products that are local.
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  • I love your 5-minute lunch packing series :-) Pretty awesome girl! Where I work now, they don't provide snacks to staff BUT, as an intern, I get access to their lunch free everyday. It's awesome because, surprisingly, they do have healthy options like a full salad bar and they always have soup (although I avoid the creamy stuff). It is hard because while they have healthy options, they still have very UNhealthy options like their dessert. It's so hard to resist! Occasionally, I'll have a bite of a brownie or something. I don't like depriving myself. Great post!
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  • My office has a CANDY ROOM. I kid you not. An entire room filled with every candy, nut, munchie thing you can imagine. It is sooo hard to resist it some days.
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    • Good lord, a whole room?! That's awesome/scary. Ha
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  • My company offers pop, juice and water, plus an espresso machine to make lattes and silk tea bags. No snack food to speak of. People keep candy jars everywhere. I keep extra fruit (oranges, apples) in my drawer for the week. I love your salad!!
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  • That looks great. I'm trying to be better about packing lunch and snacks because I've found the exact same thing--as long as I have enough food for the day, I don't need to eat junk food. I'm the wellness coordinator at my office, and we get lunch once a month for staff meetings, so we've been working on healthier options, but every now and then something like pasta with cream sauce sneaks in. Oh well. Baby steps, I guess :)
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    • It's definitely a step in the right direction to even have a wellness coordinator in your office! :)
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  • My office provides snacks too. They are making an effort to be healthy -but Chips Ahoy 100 calorie packs aren't exactly what I call healthy. :) However, lately we've been getting fruit and veggies trays, which are awesome. I like to have my own snacks on hand- just in case. If I don't, I usually get sucked into eating nuts- which would be fine, but these ones are roasted and salted and always have me coming back for "just another handful." I try to stay away because once I start eating them I can't stop.
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    • I hear ya - those things are addictive!
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  • You are an inspiration to us all! And a great example!
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  • I work in an office, too so I know how hard it can be! Bringing my own lunch and snacks helps SO much! I'm really not tempted at all anymore. :)
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  • What a delicious looking salad. Great advice on the avocado. I love bringing salads like this to work. We don't have a lot of snacks at work, but we have a 7-11 next door and sometimes it is so so hard in the afternoon to eat the healthy snack I brought rather then running next door for a less healthy snack. The other thing is we sell cheese at my store so I find myself snacking on that a little too much.
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  • I guess my office is too cheap to provide ANY snacks (just coffee and tea!). That said, people are really fond of dumping their junk food in the faculty lounge. Thankfully, it usually gets consumed in a matter of minutes, and I always have my own snacks to eat anyway!
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  • My office only provides treats on birthdays, but around the holidays our clients send goodies by the truck load. No joke - the cookies and chocolates last us through February at least. Coming prepared with heathy snacks is the only way I can be sure I'll still be able to zip my jeans come spring!
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  • That lunch looks great, mine for today is similar. My office always orders lunch for faculty events and then there are tons of leftovers, like HUGE cookies, chips etc. Just eating what I brought for lunch helps, that way I am not hungry and am less tempted.
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  • That's so cool that they listened to you & got some healthy snacks! Way to spread the good word :) My company doesn't buy snacks, but my 8 person department has a candy bowl that we refill regularly. I bring in my own (personal) healthy snack everyday, but if the bowl is calling to me, I use this mentality: "I don't need to resist the entire bowl. I just need to resist the first piece." I'm very much an all-or-nothing girl, with binge tendencies, so saying no to just 1 candy is much easier than stopping myself mid-way through the day!
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    • Great idea :) That mentality really does make it seem more manageable!
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  • you know, it's funny...we have 2 kitchens in our office, and the only one that has healthy snacks is for the upper-level management offices on the second floor. doesn't that seem a bit off? like those of us that don't have a ton of money to spend on snacks have to settle for the crap while the ones that have a ton of money get the good stuff? it's eerie how similar that is to the rest of the world...the good stuff is expensive and therefore only reaches people with extra cash, and the rest of the world is stuck with the junk food (sorry for the rant!) all that to say, it's awesome that they have healthy snacks for y'all now!
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    • That's messed up! You should talk to HR or something... maybe they will be willing to somewhat change/adjust the offerings?
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  • The places I hang out are starting to provide fruit as well as cookies and the other usual snacks. Takes a lot of encouragement to get that done, however, and we've got to keep pushing!
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  • I love these 5 minute lunch posts too! I work 40 hrs a week away from home, in a not very healthy food atmosphere (at a hospital-go figure!) we have snacks available but unfortunately not the most healthy ones (there are a few healthy options but as many as there could be). It was better when we weren't off-site from the hospital itself, because then I could frequent the hospital cafeteria which was actually low cost AND healthy. Now our offices are on the other side of town. It's best if I can pack a lunch but I don't always have/make the time-its great to have these posts for ideas and I definitely do better managing my weight when I pack healthy lunches and snacks. Fortunately there is a very nice, Whole-Foodsish local supermarket nearby so I can go to their salad bar for a healthy lunch if I don't happen to pack one.
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  • We have no snacks in our office...not even a vending machine! It's pretty annoying when I'm in a pinch! When someone does bring in something to share though, it gets ATTACKED :).
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  • I find that the more prepared I am the better I eat too. Days when I pack all of my meals for a long work day I eat much cleaner. We have vending machines at work, with slim healthy pickings in them obviously :)
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  • Lunch looks great! Do you not find it hard to peel the kiwi while out? I pack my lunch and snacks every day to prevent having to even glance toward the vending machine. Even though the company I work for is all about employee wellness there are still some "evils" in that machine. ;)
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    • I just eat kiwis like apples, skin and all! :) I just eat around the nubs on the end. Try it! Just wash it well first :)
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  • I know it's a really obvious idea, but thanks for posting throwing the dressing in a baggie in the tupperware with your salad. I've been packing a second small tupperware for my husband and I to take with lunch salads and they are such a pain, they leak, we forget them in our lunch bags, etc. Super good idea! My office doesn't stock snacks, but they do have two FREE pop machines on every floor which I try to steer clear of. I keep flavored unsweetened tea in my desk for afternoon "flavored beverage" cravings. My old office stocked soup mixes, granola bars, and that sort of thing in the break room.
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  • Your lunch looks SO refreshing!! I love it! Thanks for the avocado tip! I always end up having my rot before I finish the whole thing :(
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  • Your food blog looks good and refreshing!! OMG! If I have craving for sweets, would have granola bar, and keep some nuts on hand..
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