Did you decide to start a diet to lose a few kilos? You won’t believe us, but your number 1 enemy is the office! From snacking throughout the morning to skipping meals for long meetings, but there are many more factors that can ruin your diet and make you gain weight in your workplace. 
The situation becomes even more difficult for those who carry out any of the jobs that, compared to others, tend to favor the accumulation of extra kilos. Research has identified some of these. In the first position is the administrative assistant, then the engineer, the teacher, the nurse, the IT manager, the judge, the laborer and the scientist.
The solution? Read the advice from the nutritionists of the ManzanaRoja app, your personalized diet to avoid falling into them! Discover the traps that are hidden behind the desk, learn to avoid them and lose weight better!
Sit at the desk
- Unfortunately, we are almost all in the same boat! Every day we spend hours and hours sitting behind a desk and although our brain works hard, sitting is not good for the physique or for the figure. In addition, the fact of staying still unconsciously prompts us to constantly snack to get the feeling of doing something or to concentrate better.
- How to solve it? Take a break every hour and get up to stretch your head and legs. You will see that your performance will improve and you will be able to concentrate without having to stretch out your hand to find something to put in your mouth… If you really feel that your stomach is making noise, anticipate your snack or snack for half an hour (fruit, yogurt, cereals).) which, of course, you will have brought from home… Walking is good, but not to the vending machine!
Eating due to stress
Can’t stand your colleague? Has your boss irritated you or been overwhelmed by uncontrollable anger since you returned from vacation? Do you belong to that category of people who compensate stress with food? You should know that the feeling of calm that you feel when eating is only apparent! The psychologist Floriana Ventura explains to us, in fact, that eating against anger and stress is a mechanism that does not help, on the contrary, it only makes you gain many extra kilos and great feelings of guilt.
How to solve it? Distract yourself and work your breathing, closing your eyes to release stress: negative emotions are like black clouds that go away, wait for the storm to pass and you will notice that it was just a moment of discouragement. Get up from your desk, do gymnastics in the office, stretch like a cat to get rid of tension or buy a stress ball!
Business lunches every day
- Business lunches with the boss or with clients are detrimental to the line, but obviously they cannot be refused! The problem is that you spend a lot of time around the table eating and talking about work and, when you’re on a diet, it’s not easy to control yourself because there’s always someone ready to tempt you, from the boss to the waiter who serves you a glass of wine or who invites you to choose a not very light dish.
- How to solve it? It’s better to clear things up right away and say you’re on a diet, there’s no shame in it! Choose a light starter from the menu and a light second course because with the single course you would finish your lunch before everyone else and, watching them eat, you would not be able to resist the bread and you would start snacking non-stop! Remember: eat slowly because fast eaters eat more, chew each bite and drink slowly. Stefania Giambartolomei, nutritionist explains to us: “Eating slowly helps digestion because the well-mashed morsel is more easily attacked by gastric juices, which can further demolish the ingested food and start proper digestion.”
The many temptations of the office
Your colleague bringing home-made biscuits or a box of chocolates is just one example of the many temptations present in an open space… it’s hard to resist this pressure all day!
How to solve it? You can’t always say no. Stefania explains that sometimes it is better to satisfy the desire to eat something because otherwise it will reappear and once you reach the allowed food it will cause you to overdo it. The solution: try to get ahead of your colleagues and bring dry fruits or light sweets or green tea to offer to everyone in the office or, once a week, a light sweet… maybe that will help them change their habits! and to understand that there is a lot of tasty, healthy and low-calorie food!
Skipping lunch due to lack of time
- Do you feel overwhelmed by work? Do you feel like you don’t have enough time to do it all? Prefer to skip lunch and snacks in order to focus and get rid of the mountain of work that has accumulated on your desk? You should know that, by doing so, you risk snacking all day to compensate for the fast… fatal habit for the line!
- How to solve it? RedApple reveals two simple rules to follow: never avoid lunch and try to eat around the same time so you don’t arrive at the table hungry. Organize, then, your day and your work to give yourself a break of at least 20 minutes and enjoy your lunch. If it happens that one day you don’t have much time, a sandwich can be a good solution: fast, but healthy and balanced.
Parties in the office
- Birthdays, births, thanks… The occasions to celebrate are numerous, especially if you work in a large office! You can’t turn down the invitations lest you risk being ostracized or appear arrogant or obnoxious, but you also don’t want your stomach to suffer for these extravagances!
- How to solve it? Moderation is the keyword! Join the celebrations, but have a bite and nothing else! It’s a mind thing!
The peers who push
- Befriended a generous and passionate food and wine partner? Someone who doesn’t miss an opportunity to feed you good food or try to talk you into trying new restaurants for lunch? If you’ve started a diet, common sense tells you to decline his invitations, but you’re afraid of offending him and you always end up accepting, to the detriment of your line!
- How to solve it? In order not to lose his friendship, explain to him that you really like the food, but that you have to lose a few extra kilos to feel better. If it’s a person who loves you, maybe it will help you stick to the diet.
Friday’s cane
- Every Friday afternoon the same ritual is repeated: after leaving the office, a pleasant and dynamic colleague organizes a date in a cool bar to have a beer or go for tapas. This weekly date is perfect for you to relax and get to know your colleagues better, but it is not ideal for your diet.
- How to solve it? These moments are very important for harmony in the office and promote complicity between colleagues, so don’t deprive yourself! To cut calories, try to go for low-alcohol cocktails because they are less caloric, cut out the nuts, and enjoy the conversation. Golden rule: never arrive hungry at your appointment, so be careful not to skip anything on Friday!