Question: I love working from home, but I have one
complaint: I'm snacking my way through the day, and my
waistline is growing. How do I keep myself away from the
cupboard?
Answer: While some find it easier to maintain a healthy
weight at home, away from vending machines, doughnut pools and
heavy power lunches, you're not the only homebased entrepreneur
who has found yourself packing on the pounds when the kitchen is
just down the hall. Here's what we suggest:
1. Take note. Awareness of what and when you're
eating is the first step to breaking a bad snack habit. So keep a
log of how often you snack, and pay attention to what and when you
eat. Deepak Chopra, physician and author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, advises eating
only if you're actually hungry and never eating mindlessly.
Snack consciously instead.
Content Continues Below
2. Recognize your snack pattern, and find substitutes. As
you take note of when you want a snack, also note what's
motivating your desire to snack. Some people are stress eaters.
Others are boredom eaters. Eating doesn't actually solve either
of these problems, so you'll quickly become hungry again if
these are your motivations. The best protection against snacking
too much is to make sure you enjoy your work to the point that you
forget about food until mealtimes. But also find other ways to
avoid and reduce stress. Many people discover that taking a walk
outdoors or talking on the phone with a friend are actually more
energizing and rewarding than eating between meals.
3. Have a plan. What are the parameters you want to set
for snacking? How many snacks make sense? Some people don't
snack at all. Others like to keep the standard morning and
afternoon break pattern of the corporate workplace. Still others
savor preserving the traditional after-school snack they used to
have around 4 p.m.
4. Rethink your break activities. We tend to think there
are only a few things we have permission to take a break for, and
eating is one of them. So take advantage of the fact that you have
more flexibility with your schedule when you work from home, and
use your break time to relax or energize in your favorite ways,
whether it's playing with the baby, walking the dog, shooting
some hoops or working in the garden.
5. Keep food out of sight, out of mind. Not only is food
at the desk risky for your electronic desktop, but when it comes to
food, out of sight is out of mind. It's easier to overlook the
fact that you've nibbled away a whole bag of potato chips when
you're working than if you have to go into the kitchen, sit
down at the table and have an official snack. Here are a couple of
other habits some entrepreneurs use to avoid raiding the
fridge:
- To keep from walking in and out of the kitchen all
day for a cup of coffee, where you may invariably grab a cookie to
eat along with it, set up a coffee maker in your office. Keep all
the necessary supplies-cups, bottled water, coffee and so on-in a
small cabinet.
- Close the kitchen door on your way to work, and
think of the kitchen as a restaurant. It's only open between
noon and one, and after five o'clock.
6. Toss the junk food. Unlike office vending machines,
your kitchen cabinets can be filled with whatever you choose. This
is another plus for working from home. So fill your cabinets and
refrigerator with healthy, low-fat, low-calorie, whole foods. If
nutrition is what your body is seeking, whole, unprocessed foods
like an apple or a bowl of strawberries with raw nuts is far more
satisfying than a bag of salty chips or sugary cookies. Junk food
not only packs on the pounds with empty calories, but its salty or
sugary nature also leaves us wanting more.
Should you think "I'd rather not eat than have
something healthy like that," chances are, you aren't
really hungry. You need something other than food. Find out what,
and treat yourself to that.
7. Make sure you get enough contact with people you
enjoy. However busy you are, make time in your workday for some
kind of interpersonal contact. An office with other people provides
stimulation, company and colleagues to share problems with. Working
at home can be lonely, but the loneliness doesn't have to lead
to overindulgence. Instead of heading for the kitchen, head for the
telephone. Call someone. Schedule lunch with a colleague. Visit a
neighbor. Invite someone to come by.
8. Exercise regularly. Working from home is usually
pretty sedentary, and sluggish bodies don't metabolize food
well. Having more time and flexibility to exercise is yet another
advantage of working from home. So discover your favorite forms of
aerobic as well as anaerobic activity. You might choose going to
the gym several times a week, bicycling, jogging, yoga classes,
tennis or the classic favorite, golf. Or why not set up a home gym?
Step machines, mini-trampolines, treadmills, weight systems, and
even rowing machines come in home-size models.
9. Treat yourself. People often bribe themselves into
overworking by overeating, so instead, schedule a variety of
nonwork activities away from the house each week. They should be
things you can look forward to, such as going to a movie, playing
or attending sports activities, doing things with your family,
volunteering for community projects or attending cultural
events.
By adopting work-at-home habits like these, chances are
you'll feel better and healthier at home than away. Many people
actually drop unwanted weight and even reduce their blood pressure
by working from home.