Keeping clear of temptation can ensure you don’t pile on the pounds while you’re on the job.

Whether you’re trying to lose pounds or maintain a healthy weight, chances are your workplace isn’t helping. Between the candies on the receptionist’s desk, the homemade muffins in the break room, and the high-calorie luncheons, temptations abound.

“It’s hard enough to stick with healthy choices at home, but at work you often have no control over the presence or kind of food that’s available, which makes resisting extra calories that much harder,” says Suzanne Farrell, M.S., R.D., a Colorado-based spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

While it’s difficult to avoid gaining weight at work, Farrell says, it’s possible.

“A solid plan is key,” she says. “Without one, it’s simply too hard to stick with choices that can help you reach your goal—whether it’s losing 10 pounds or maintaining a healthy weight you’ve worked hard to reach.”

Here are some essential elements of a strategy:

• Don’t eat when you’re not hungry. “This is really the answer to avoiding break room treats or the front desk candy bowl,” Farrell says. “Eating something just because it’s there is not a good enough reason to blow your diet.” Assess your hunger level before you pop something into your mouth. “This is a good exercise because it clues you in to feelings of satiety, which can help you break a habit of overeating.”
• Watch your coffee. If you’re into café mochas, macchiatos, lattes, and the like, you could add 400 calories per coffee break. Having one every day could leave you with an extra 20 pounds a year. The solution? Keep it simple. Order your coffee black, or with nonfat milk.
• Bring your own stash of competitive options. “By this I mean healthy, low-calorie snacks that can satisfy your cravings,” Farrell explains. “It’s the idea that celery sticks won’t do the trick if you’re lusting after chocolate candy, but a small container of nonfat chocolate pudding or a white chocolate yogurt might.” Portion-controlled choices help keep you from overdoing it.
• Have the “real deal” once a week. If cookies, cakes, and doughnuts are an everyday thing at your office, go ahead and have a piece of birthday cake with the gang—but only once in a while. “Enjoying a delicious dessert every so often can help you stick with your plan,” says Farrell.
• Check out restaurant Web sites before you go to lunch. Many restaurants publish nutrition information online. That lets you select a healthy meal ahead of time.
• Keep a variety of healthy snacks in your desk or office fridge. Examples: dried fruits and nuts, veggie sticks and nonfat ranch dressing, energy bars, grapes, and apples.
• Get more exercise. “Regular exercise plays a crucial role in weight loss,” Farrell says. “If you drive to and from work and have a desk job, you are basically sedentary unless you make a concerted effort to be physically active.” Walk to lunch, take the long way to the water fountain, use the stairs, park at the far end of the parking lot, or walk to a colleague’s office instead of sending an e-mail.

  “Wearing a pedometer and keeping track of your steps each day is a great way to track and assess your activity level,” Farrell explains. “For example, if you log 3,500 steps or less, you’re sedentary; 7,000 steps a day is active, and 10,000 is highly active.”

Barbara Floria spoke with Suzanne Farrell, M.S., R.D., a Cherry Creek, Colo.-based spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. For more information, visit www.eatright.org.

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