As I’ve mentioned previously, my office provides lunch every day.  Unfortunately, it’s usually fast food such as McDonalds, KFC, or pizza.  These are food I normally would not eat because when I do eat out, it’s usually at regular restaurants, not fast food chains.

However, because it’s available, convenient, and free, I have been eating the lunches here for about two years now.  Is this a factor in my fat gain? Most definitely.

For example, lunch today was Costco hot dogs and Polish dogs.  They are, surprisingly, very delicious.  I usually eat two of these, with each hot dog containing 560 calories, 49% of your recommended fat for the day, 60% of your saturated fat, 22% cholesterol, and 75% sodium.   Yikes!  This is not counting the soda and sides we usually have with it.

I brought my own lunch in today; it was Lean Cuisine three-cheese rigatoni with vegetables.  I wasn’t expecting much so I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be really tasty.  I ate slowly and drank plenty of water as I ate, and despite the smell of the hot dogs wafting in from the other room, I didn’t give in.  Instead, I left the office and went for a 30-minute walk.  When you’re dealing with food temptations in the office, it’s best to offer yourself alternatives or simply to leave the office for a bit.

Yesterday was a struggle for me.  Lunch was Popeye’s Louisiana fried chicken.  I love Popeye’s crunchy, salty and spicy fried chicken.  I usually end up eating about 4 wings (my favorite part), which in total is about 560 calories and 36 grams of fat, more than 50% of the RDA.  I ate another Lean Cuisine entree, the butternut squash ravioli, but it wasn’t all that good nor filling.  I wanted to chow down on the chicken wings so bad, but intsead, I left the office and went for my walk.  I’m almost certain that I would have given in if I stayed.  Instead, I went for a refereshing 30-minute walk and by the time I came back I wasn’t craving the chicken as much.  There were a few leftovers though, but my officemates quickly took care of that.

Besides the daily lunches, my office does not provide too many other temptations for me.  There’s usually snacks such as donuts and pastries, but I’m lucky to not have a sweet tooth.  I would much rather snack on beef jerky or sunflower seeds.  Our kitchen is also always stocked with soda, but I’m not a big soda drinker unless it’s with a fatty, greasy meal.  Thankfully, I haven’t been having any of those.

My lunch right now is either a Lean Cuisine vegetarian entree or some sort of veggie dish that I made myself paired with a cup of light yogurt.  I tend to get a bit hungry around 3 PM, at which point I do hunt around the office looking for a cereal bar or something.  I really need to start planning and bringing in healthy snacks for myself that are filling, tasty, and for the month of January, vegetarian.  Now what could those be?

1. gC Says:
   May 23rd, 2009 at 5:53 pm

   I really appreciate the importance of eating frequently for weight loss!Recently I lost 10 pounds by increasing intake with healthy calories, adding 1000 a day.

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