I worked in an office early in my working career. I had just finished university and, like many others, had no idea what I was going to do with my shiny new degree. Whilst some swanned off on a round the world travelling experience, I put my head down and got stuck into some 'proper work'. This lasted about 18 months before I decided it wasn't for me!

This experience, plus the countless corporate and office-based clients that I have dealt with over the intervening years has given me a good insight into just how unhealthy these environments can be.

This post was prompted by a piece in this week's Sydney Morning Herald (I stumbled across it whilst waiting for my morning coffee) which can be found here. This piece highlighted the importance of the social environment when it comes to food choices and how others eat can have a big impact on how we eat.

"Decades of research suggest other people influence our food intake and choices. If we eat with someone who is eating a large amount, we're likely to eat more too. We are also likely to eat more in a large group than when we're alone.

Psychologists explain conforming to a group norm is a rewarding experience and eating with someone else amplifies the pleasure of the experience. We eat like other people because we find it a positive emotional experience and we use norms to inform our own food preferences."

So it's understandable that if the office norm is to have 'bring a cake Monday', or 'Doughnut Tuesday' then it is hard to be the one to break the mould.

Research has found that only 6% of individuals bring their own lunch to work with them on a regular basis. Not only is bringing lunch with you generally healthier for you, but it is far cheaper. The average yearly spend on lunches in Australia is almost $900, with younger males the demographic most likely to buy lunch out most often.

After my recent rant about the glorification of junk food my message here is simple: We are getting increasingly fat and sick as a nation. It's time to wake up to the serious implications this is having on our health, well being, self-esteem, and overall quality of life. A top-down approach is needed on the one hand to stop junk food infiltrating the offices of our nations. Why do office workers need 1,000 calories-worth of doughnuts to sit still all day?

On the other hand, it's time we all took some personal responsibility for what goes into our mouths. The doughnut doesn't get there by itself! Preparing your own food requires some time and organisation. However, the implications to your health and waistline can be profound. Many clients I see cite having 'no time' as a reason why they cannot prepare their own food. This isn't true. Everyone has exactly the same numbers of hours in a day to work with. These people just haven't made it a priority, perhaps because they can't see the value in doing it.

Why is preparing your own lunch so important? Well, the bottom line is, regardless of how good our intentions may be, we aren’t very good at decision-making. This is largely due to what is know as ‘decision making fatigue’. ‘Executive function’ is your ability to intentionally override what your instincts tell you to do. Not giving in to hunger requires executive function. Executive functioning is an intensive process that fatigues with use. This is generally why people experience will-power failure at night. Over the day they have accumulated ‘decision fatigue’ which results in night time binging. You can overcome decision fatigue by awareness. The mind is plastic - it can be trained. The more often you over-ride your emotional system, the better you become at it. You can also plan your day so that you limit the number of decisions you have to make.

This second point to me is crucial: planning your day in advance to limit decision-making. For example, don't do the grocery shopping when you’re hungry & always shop from a list so that you know in advance what you need to buy. Have meals planned in advance, so you don’t have to go out at lunch time and choose your food (which may be a far worse choice if you are tired, stressed etc).

Research has found that only 6% of individuals bring their own lunch to work with them on a regular basis. Not only is bringing lunch with you generally healthier for you, but it is far cheaper. The average yearly spend on lunches in Australia is almost $900, with younger males the demographic most likely to buy lunch out most often.

After my recent rant about the glorification of junk food my message here is simple: We are getting increasingly fat and sick as a nation. It's time to wake up to the serious implications this is having on our health, well being, self-esteem, and overall quality of life. A top-down approach is needed on the one hand to stop junk food infiltrating the offices of our nations. Why do office workers need 1,000 calories-worth of doughnuts to sit still all day?

On the other hand, it's time we all took some personal responsibility for what goes into our mouths. The doughnut doesn't get there by itself! Preparing your own food requires some time and organisation. However, the implications to your health and waistline can be profound. Many clients I see cite having 'no time' as a reason why they cannot prepare their own food. This isn't true. Everyone has exactly the same numbers of hours in a day to work with. These people just haven't made it a priority, perhaps because they can't see the value in doing it.

Why is preparing your own lunch so important? Well, the bottom line is, regardless of how good our intentions may be, we aren’t very good at decision-making. This is largely due to what is know as ‘decision making fatigue’. ‘Executive function’ is your ability to intentionally override what your instincts tell you to do. Not giving in to hunger requires executive function. Executive functioning is an intensive process that fatigues with use. This is generally why people experience will-power failure at night. Over the day they have accumulated ‘decision fatigue’ which results in night time binging. You can overcome decision fatigue by awareness. The mind is plastic - it can be trained. The more often you over-ride your emotional system, the better you become at it. You can also plan your day so that you limit the number of decisions you have to make.

This second point to me is crucial: planning your day in advance to limit decision-making. For example, don't do the grocery shopping when you’re hungry & always shop from a list so that you know in advance what you need to buy. Have meals planned in advance, so you don’t have to go out at lunch time and choose your food (which may be a far worse choice if you are tired, stressed etc).

Preparing food at home can save your waistline and your wallet.

So what are your options when it comes to meal planning?

Daily Meal Planning: The advantage to this is that the food you eat is always going to be fresh & allows for a bit more variety in food choices, as you can change your food on a daily basis.
Bi-Weekly Meal Planning: This will involve some batch cooking & will result in less variety and slightly less freshness of food by the 3rd day. However, this is a far more efficient way of preparing food.
Outsource the process: There are many companies that prepare highly nutritious food to meet your specific nutritional requirements. Whilst this option may cost a bit more, it will also save a lot of time and effort on your part.

So it is clear planning meals in advance is highly advantageous. But what happens when your routine is thrown out? There will be scenarios when, despite your best intentions, you cannot prepare food in advance. For example, you may be travelling, or work may have thrown a curve-ball at you which requires you to stay in the office longer then normal. Here are some strategies: -

Seek out healthy options close to your place of work: The closest, most convenient place, may not be the best. You may have to walk a bit further to find something better.
Keep some healthy snacks to hand: Fruit, nuts, beef jerky for example.
Protein Shakes/Bars: Keeping a tub of protein and a shaker close to hand is another option when food options are limited or you have nothing prepared. Obviously, protein supplements should remain supplemental to your diet which should consist largely of whole food sources. However, they can make good meal replacements when no other options are available.
Freeze Meals: Keep a few meals you prepare in the freezer for times when you get home late and have no time to cook anything.

If your health and well-being mean something to you, then I implore you to look at your current eating habits and see if you cannot improve them somehow. Even just preparing food once or twice a week will be a step in the right direction.

Business owners/managers - nourish your clients with healthy food and snacks, don't make them fat and sick by feeding them junk.