Work Meetings are Keeping me FAT!
Almost 50% of my work day is comprised of meetings. As much as I hate meetings, strategic planning and tracking/reporting metrics are part of what I do and I love it. However, problems arise when meetings have snacks. And my meetings always have A LOT OF SNACKS!! Ugh! I’ve tried, and tried again, to adjust MY behavior to ensure that my daily nutrition is not compromised. But I seem to be fighting a losing battle. Here’s what has happened to me in the past few weeks:
Meeting #1:
This was supposed to be a short meeting. Lucky for me, I walked in a little late so I was hoping to return to my office fairly quickly. The moment I hit the door, I smelled the aroma. Donuts! Krispy Kreme! *faint* Danishes! Bagels! Jelly! Cream cheese! Oh my! I was completely caught off guard. Everyone offered me something, but I graciously declined. Barely able to focus on the conversation, I drank so much water to keep from eating that I had to excuse myself 3 times for the ladies’ room. Unfortunately, this “short” meeting turned into 1.5 hours. I was miserable!
Meeting #2:
Determined to be more prepared, I approached this meeting with a little ammunition. I had my grapes, a clementine, and my water bottle. Unfortunately, this meeting unexpectedly turned into a working lunch so the EA ordered sandwiches, chips, cookies, and sodas from Panera. *roll my eyes* Where’s the soup or salad and water bottles? I refused to eat those sandwiches on thick white bread, laden with mayonnaise and various cheeses. And I sure wasn’t going to eat chips (they were baked but so what), cookies (mouth watering looking cookies might I add), and liquid calories (a la soda). So halfway through the meeting, I had to excuse myself to heat up my lunch. Everyone looked at me as if I had three heads but gave their condolences (yes, they were genuinely sad for me LOL) while they chomped away at their goodies.
Meeting #3 & #4:
A repeat of meeting #2, except I gave in to the pressure and indulged on some of the offerings. At one meeting, I ate a piece of dark chocolate. At another meeting, I ate a blueberry muffin. Why are these meetings so full of sugar, salt, carbs, fat, and calories? Where are the fruit, veggies, and water bottles!
Meeting #5:
I had a meeting that began at 1pm, but I had to leave my office by 12pm in order to make it there on time. Armed with a few lessons learned, I called myself trying to be smart this time. I usually eat lunch between 12-1pm, but I decided to eat lunch around 11:30am so I wouldn’t be tempted to indulge in the meeting goodies. As expected, I arrived and saw a tray full of donuts, cookies, and coffee. For heaven’s sake! Does anyone care about what they eat around here???? Said the reformed sugar addict who would normally grab two cookies before taking her seat. I resisted the goodies, which surprisingly, was much easier than my previous encounters. I drank water throughout the meeting and had no cravings at all. Yay, my plan worked!!! Until…
By the time I returned to my office, it was a little after 3pm. Because I’ve trained my body to eat every 3 hours, I was starving! So I had my afternoon snack, which I usually eat between 4-5pm to hold me over until I get home. The problem? I don’t leave work until 6:30-7pm, I was hungry again by 6pm, and all the healthy food that I brought from home was GONE! Ugh! I had to eat something, otherwise my sugar levels would drop too low and I’d begin craving sweets/junk food.
What did I do? I went to the break room – the room I try to avoid like the plague – and took a deep breath. I approached the vending machine and just stood there like it was a Wild Wild West standoff. Vending machine in this corner. SM in that corner. Who’s going to win the staring contest?!?! LOL! Finally, I bought the ONLY thing that looked somewhat appealing and not too threatening to my waist line. A bag of Chex Mix – 1.75 oz for $1.00. They were pretty tasty. Not filling, but tasty…and loaded with 210 calories, of which 70 were from fat. Not terrible, but it wasn’t part of my nutrition plan for the day.
Junk food: 3
Single Ma: 2
*sigh*
I have no meetings today…thank God! But I’m traveling to two states next week and I must figure out something before these meetings reverse all of my hard work!
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Those of us who work from morning until evening must always be prepared. I know exactly how you feel. I eat 2 of my 3 meals at work most days. I have to be at work @ 6:00 a.m. We have a small refridge here so sometimes I keep extra fruit in there, and my overhead is stocked with Nuts, Whole Grain Wheat Thins, Trail Mix, Low/Sugar Low/Fat bars, just for those days when I get stuck. The only suggestion I have for you next week is to get a hotel room with a refridgerator, buy your food and take your lunch and breakfast with you. Because you’re in the beginning of your weight loss efforts it’s probably best to stay in routine. However, once you’ve reached your goal you’ll be able to eat half of a sandwich and a cookie and even if you indulge in a soda you won’t kill your program.
Good luck next week.
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I am so glad you, didn’t munch down all the goodies.
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Maybe you could suggest to your company health care administrator that a fruit tray could cut costs on insurance!
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Where do you work because everything sounds delicious. lol Ok, it’s probably not good for your waistline every day, but once in a while. Krispy Creme..now I can’t stop thinking about the HOT DOUGNUTS NOW sign. :)
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I know what you mean… my meetings at work are always loaded with junk food too. I use to eat them but I usually don’t have problems avoiding them anymore.
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Offsite conferences also seem the have the same problem – breakfast is all carbs and sugar, lunch sometimes has a dressing soaked salad alongside the sandwiches, and then the big dinners at night. Preparing myself for a conference in April – hoping I can navigate the buffet tables without coming home 5 lbs heavier!
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I know you don’t have much control over the off site meetings, but you can request a healthy alternative to the sugary products at every in house meeting. This would allow your stash to remain at its level. Its not fair for you to have to dip into your drawer while everyone else gets free treats.
I did this for my staff meetings and eventually everyone would let me have my choice before craving my healthy alternatives.
Good job making good choices for you, I probably would have craved to Panera :)
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Single Ma Reply:
February 26th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
I will consider asking about it. I was trying not to rock the boat since my lifestyle has so recently changed, but shoot, everyone needs to be eating healthier.
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Try Ful.l.b.ars. They really do work for me…or maybe it’s a jedi mind trick. either way, my hunger is manageabe when i eat one late in the day.
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I pack a daily snack of a handful of almonds and 20 dried dates. I take this with me to meetings and it helps because its easy to just pick at them. like people pick at cookies.
Almonds (or nuts) have the cookie effect, they crumble in your mouth, they are crunchy and they feel warm, the dates add a sweet taste (but you can swap them for raisins or cranberries or any other dried fruit you want)
I hope you find something that works for you.
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*wipes crumbs from mouth* I feel you girl. I just came from a meeting.
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Oh that would drive me crazy. I second or third the suggestion that you make a request for more healthy food options for those in-house meetings, they may not be cheaper (esp ordering from catering like Panera or some such) but it’s better than being stuck with such unhealthy options. Tho, I’m not sure their soups are much better – they might be full of sodium and butter… so I would check their nutrition menus as well. You should have a standing SM’s healthy choice order for each of the places they typically order from. :)
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