Eating healthy doesn’t just apply to what you do for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even if you’re the healthiest lunch-eater in the office, all of those salad greens and turkey sandwiches on whole-grain breads won’t amount to much if you’re noshing on junk between meals.
Denise Cole, RD, a registered dietitian at Cleveland Clinic, suggests trying to pre-plan your snacks for the work week. Here are some tips:
- Plan your snacks and portion them out for five days at a time. “It makes it much easier when you are overworked, overstressed, and overscheduled,” says Cole. She suggests making up some individual containers of watermelon to take to work.
- Spend a few minutes Sunday night cutting up celery to munch on at your desk. You can even bring along a tablespoon of peanut butter for dipping.
- Snack on fruits with skin on them. They’ll provide extra fiber and help you feel fuller longer.
- Bring options that won’t quickly spoil. Consider high-fiber cereal bars, a cup or two of a healthy dry cereal and/or a can of tuna. Keep a can opener and some tuna in a drawer. “Right there you have yourself a lunch if you get stuck at your desk unexpectedly for the day,” says Cole. “You don’t want to skip eating. That’s another bad thing to do when you’re trying to maintain your weight.”
If you get hungry after lunch, a glass of water will help fill you up, too.
