Plan of a snack
Working from home presents some good — and not so good — options
Working from home has brought a new sense of calm to many — no more traffic-filled commutes to and from work; no annoying dress codes; no office gossip — but for many, there’s also a not-so-welcome addition: pounds.
“I’ve put on 12 pounds since last March,” says James Rossi, an accountant in Baltimore, Maryland. “I still work out a few times a week, but I’ve become an eating machine so the weight’s coming on, not going off.”
Rossi says his eating habits for breakfast, lunch and dinner are still the same. It’s the snacking that’s putting on the pounds. “I swear I have a meal between breakfast and lunch and then another between lunch and dinner,” says Rossi, 38. “Sometimes it’s leftovers. Sometimes it’s a whole box of mac-and-cheese. Sometimes it’s a bunch of cookies. It’s out of control.”
While Rossi says he’s taken steps to cut the snacking as a part of his new year’s resolution to get healthier, but he admits it’s been harder than he thought. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m almost 40 or because I am eating some really awful stuff but it’s hard to fight those cravings, especially when things get busy at work,” he says. “I used to smoke so I’d deal with stress by heading outside for a cigarette so unless I start smoking again — and my wife would kill me — I have to figure it out.”
Stress snacking
When work gets a little dicey, it’s easy to reach for an unhealthy snack to help ease the mounting stress. Still, it’s possible to avoid snacking by replacing the quick gratification that comes from chomping on some chips with a different activity. Annie Kay, a registered dietician and author of “Every Bite is Divine” (Life Arts Press, $16.95), suggests looking for alternative ways to combat workplace stress. “Take a quick walk, enjoy a breathing break or chew on a piece of gum,” she says. “Finding non-food ways of handling stress and having a few healthy snacking options handy, can give you the strength you need to resist the salt
and sugar.”
While coffee and caffeine offer a quick pick-me-up, the immediate buzz also will be short-lived. Kay suggests eating a protein-rich snack, like a handful of nuts, a spoonful of peanut butter, a piece of fruit or a chunk of cheese.
And don’t be afraid of natural options. “Most people can always use more vegetables and plant-based foods in their regular diet,” says Atlanta-based registered dietitian Namrita Kumar.
Kathryn Scoblick, a nutrition and wellness coach in Austin, Texas, says that already-healthy eaters can swap out an unhealthy snack for fruits.
“For many, it is our snack choices that add unnecessary calories,” she says. “Decide that a piece of fruit or a vegetable is your snack instead of packaged anything.”
Kumar explains that she has made this change in her own diet because of the variety of flavors, textures and nutrients that fruits and vegetables can offer.
“Plus, they are usually less energy dense and have a higher water content than pasta or oats, for example, so you can eat a larger volume of food for the same amount — or less — calories,” she says.
Kumar suggests that you may use a spiralizer, which turns fruits and vegetables into long, thin ribbons, to make zucchini, yellow squash, beets, broccoli, butternut squash, cabbage and carrots into substitutes for pasta or add to rice or grain bowls or salads.
Bad habits
Brad Thompson, a graphic designer who recently moved from Niles, Illinois, to Sarasota, Florida, said he has developed some bad habits since he began working from home in 2017. “I was eating garbage all day long. I have two sons in high school and they can put food away like you wouldn’t believe and never gain a pound. We buy them every frozen snack under the sun — pizzas, taquitos, chicken fingers — and it seems like there is always something cooking in the oven,” says Thompson, 49. “Since I started working from home, I put on nearly 30 pounds and at my age, it’s hard to take off.”
Thompson says one of the reasons he and his family made the move to Florida was to be closer to his wife’s mom but also to improve their habits. “It’s just easier to stay in shape when you can get up and take a walk anytime,” he says “I’m outside in January, walking the dog for about 45 minutes every day. That’s new.”
And when Thompson gets back inside his house, he says he doesn’t snack as much as he used to. “Just because there’s food around, it doesn’t mean you should eat. I’m learning that but it is definitely a lifestyle change. We buy healthier food now. If I do snack, it’s a few carrots. I can’t say I like them as much as Oreos, but they do the job.”
Fighting the urge
Snacking doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In some cases, there are actually paybacks to eating small amounts of food between meals.
Rather than wait for your hunger to surface and scramble to find a sugary snack to fuel you for that afternoon meeting, plan ahead. Schedule your day to include a wellbalanced breakfast and lunch, with a healthy snack later in the day, says Valerie Waters, a Los Angeles food coach and fitness trainer.
“Learn to have healthy alternatives stashed in a desk drawer,” Waters suggests. “If you know the office kitchen is a magnet for leftover sweets, take another route to your next meeting. Pre-emptive strategies for your biggest pitfalls will make it easier for you to stay on track.”
Some healthy afternoon snack ideas: trail mix and/or dried fruits and nuts; high-fiber, low-sugar breakfast cereal; instant oatmeal; tuna salad kit; low-fat crackers; naturalstyle peanut butter with crackers, bagels, or fruit; low-fat yogurt with fruit; and low-fat cottage cheese with fruit.