• Home

    • About Let’s Move QC

    • Meet Our Bloggers

  • Success
    Stories

  • Get Fit

  • Eating Smart
    with Jeni

  • Battle of
    the Bulge

  • QC
    Outside

  • Activity
    Calendar

    • What To Do

    • Where To Go

  • Why I
    Move

  • What
    Moves Me

  • ORA
    Health Tips

    Tips on staying in shape, eating right and taking care of your body so you can keep moving.
    • Better Training

  • Home

    • About Let’s Move QC

    • Meet Our Bloggers

  • Success
    Stories

  • Get Fit

  • Eating Smart
    with Jeni

  • Battle of
    the Bulge

  • QC
    Outside

  • Activity
    Calendar

    • What To Do

    • Where To Go

  • Why I
    Move

  • What
    Moves Me

  • ORA
    Health Tips

    • Better Training

HomeEating Smart with JeniIs Your Job Sabotaging Your Diet? 4 Tips to Fight ...
Previous Next

Is Your Job Sabotaging Your Diet? 4 Tips to Fight Back!

Workplace-Food-Photo-for-september-jeni-column

By Let’s Move Quad Cities Nutrition Blogger Jeni Tackett, RD, LD

If your workplace is undermining your diet, you’re not alone. I have worked in health care facilities for 21 years, and even hospitals and fitness facilities reward staff with unhealthy foods!

When it’s your birthday, coworkers bring in cake or take you out to lunch. When the company does well, you have an ice cream social or a pizza lunch.

Take control! Resist workplace temptations. Lead the brigade to change the culture of eating at work!

I have a recent example from my own experience. A coworker was heading to the cafeteria for a mid-day snack and asked me if I would like a cookie.  I responded, “No thank you, I’m trying to eat healthy.”  She came back to the office with a healthier snack!

You can make a difference!

Common workplace temptations and solutions:

  • Donuts: Resist the urge to begin your day with a sugary, high-fat donut. Often when you start your day with something unhealthy, a snowball effect occurs and you eat poorly the rest of the day. Fight back! Eat a healthy breakfast before work or bring healthy foods with you. If you feel satisfied in the morning, you will be much less likely to cave to the box of donuts calling to you from the break room.
  • Pizza: Ordering pizza during the work hours is a bad idea. Pizza is high in calories, fat, and sodium and low in fiber. A single slice of cheese has 240 calories – and most people eat at least 3 slices! If you do succumb to pizza at work, limit yourself to one slice and supplement your meal with a piece of fresh fruit, a big salad that is light on the dressing, or some fresh carrot sticks.
  • Candy: Candy dishes are commonly found on desks throughout workplaces. Arm yourself with information! If you know that 9 Hershey’s Kisses have 200 calories, you may think twice before eating so many in the afternoon!
  • Potlucks: Celebrating events such as retirements and holidays with a potluck meal is a frequent occurrence at workplaces. But, watch out! Potlucks often result in mindless overeating. Fill your plate with foods following the “choose my plate method.” Dedicate 1/2 of your plate to fruits and vegetables, 1/4 of your plate to a protein (lean meat, beans, or tofu) and the final 1/4 to a whole grain (whole wheat pasta or quinoa salads are great choices). Limit yourself to one plate of food. To ensure healthier choices, bring healthy foods to the potluck!

Change your workplace culture!

Try changing the culture at your workplace from the bottom up. Encourage coworkers to make healthy choices, and do not tempt others by having a candy dish on your desk. Instead of ordering pizza or other unhealthy foods, encourage ordering foods from restaurants that offer healthy choices. Finally, when celebrating with food, bring a healthy option that everyone can benefit from enjoying.

Jeni Tackett Headshot
 Meet Jeni Tackett, Let’s Move Quad Cities Nutrition Blogger. Jeni is a registered and licensed dietitian for Rock Valley Health. Jeni counsels her clients on weight loss and nutrition. You can read Jeni’s bio and other blog posts by clicking here.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Rate This Post!
Assistant Editor Is Your Job Sabotaging Your Diet? 4 Tips to Fight Back! May 29, 2019
User rating: 3.4 (3 votes)

Tags: candy at work, diet tips, donuts at work, healthy eating at work, Jeni Tackett, pizza at work, potlucks at work, Quad City dietitian, Quad City nutrition blog, Quad City nutritionist, workplace diet

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Stories

  • Chasing the “Runners’ High” since the 80s March 22, 2021
  • Keep the Spring in Your Step March 20, 2021
  • QC Baseball & Softball: Preventing Injuries in Kids March 19, 2021
  • Crafter Celebrates Spring Thanks to 3-D Shoulder Replacement Surgery March 18, 2021
  • Wildcat Den State Park “A Gem at Our Doorstep” March 11, 2021

Receive Our FREE Newsletter

Sign Up Now
Click here to receive the monthly
Let's Move Quad Cities e-Newsletter.

Trending Topics

Alan Sivell Aryn Lloyd Beth Davis Bettendorf bicycling Biking Chelsey Bowermaster Cody Lichthardt Davenport Dr. Andrew Bries Dr. Steven Boardman Dr. Waqas Hussain General Orthopedics Hip Replacement Jeni Tackett knee arthroscopy Knee Replacement Nahant Marsh Nutritionist Blogger Jeni Tackett ORA Orthopedics qc dietitian QC dietitian Jeni Tackett QC nutrition expert Jeni Tackett Quad Cities Quad City dietitian Quad City nutrition expert Quad City orthopedic surgeon Quad City personal trainer Quad City Sports Medicine RAGBRAI Rock Island Rock Valley Physical Therapy Rolling Reporter Shoulder Arthroscopy Shoulder Reconstruction Shoulder Replacement Spinal Stenosis Sports Medicine St. Ambrose communications professor St. Ambrose professor St. Ambrose Professor Alan Sivell Total Joint Replacement Wade Ellett Walk with a Doc Wapsi River Center
© Copyright 2019, ORA Orthopedics
  • About Let’s Move QC
%d bloggers like this: