Week 4 of National Slimming and Cosmetics Clinic’s Little Black Dress Challenge is focusing on curbing cravings and dieting at work. For many of us, the biggest challenge when losing weight is trying to battle those food cravings, especially at work where snacking on unhealthy foods as you work turns out to be a seemingly unbreakable habit.
These easy to achieve tips on how to overcome your food cravings will make this battle no longer a test of willpower:
- When you’re hungry, your food cravings only get worse. Try keeping your energy levels high with healthy high-fiber snacks like fruits or cereal bars.
- Drink some water! Drinking water and hot drinks can trick your body into thinking that it is full.
- Try distracting yourself when food cravings strike. You can do this by going for a walk, phoning a friend or reading may help, and you could find after about half an hour of distracting yourself, your cravings will have stopped.
- Chew some sugar free gum, brush your teeth or use some mouthwash to make your mouth feel clean, minty and fresh to help curb a craving.
- Be strong! When you go to the supermarket, don’t buy any unhealthy snacks such as crisps or chocolates, so you won’t be tempted to eat them.
- If you are still craving and the desire won’t go away, have a small portion and reduce your calorie intake later on to stay on track.
Make your workplace eating healthier by following some of these top tips:
- Eating breakfast in the mornings helps you feel full and energised until lunchtime. If you aren’t used to eating early in the morning, then you can take it into work- don’t skip it! This will lead to snacking throughout the morning and unwanted calories.
- Bring your own food into the office. It’s a lot cheaper than buying your lunch every day and you will be able to have control over exactly what goes into your food and are more aware of the calorie and fat content. Be prepared to cook a little extra the night before in order to take a portion to work the following day.
- Drink water, you should be aiming to drink about six to eight glasses a day. This will help you keep hunger pangs at bay.
- Switch your white bread to wholegrain as you will feel fuller for longer as well as reaping the health benefits it offers.
- Try switching certain foods for ‘low’ products, such as low fat mayonnaise, reduced fat hummus or lighter cream cheese to help your meals still stay delicious but healthy.
- Switch your crisps for either baked varieties or low-calorie popcorn or rice cakes over fried snack foods.
- Switch sausages and bacon for leaner meats such as turkey, salmon or tuna. They contain less fat and salt and are just as tasty.
- Plan for hunger pangs and have a healthy option in reach rather than eating chocolate or crisps. Try eating some carrot, pepper and celery sticks with a reduced fat hummus as a tasty, low calorie alternative.
- Make homemade soup for lunch. This is great because it’s easy to make and lasts for up to a week. You can add whatever low calorie vegetable options you like to keep you feeling full as well as boosting your recommended 5- a –day intake. You can view the recipe for curried lentil, parsnip and apple soup from our The Slimming Clinic blog here.
If you would like some more ideas for workplace dining, you can view our article on healthy and delicious Al-Desko Dining here.