How to Handle Tempting Holiday Goodies in the Office
Well, it’s the time of year when the chocolates and holiday gift baskets 
of food have started to appear in offices. Last week it began for me … a Harry and David Chocolate Tower was sent to the doctors office where I have my nutrition practice. Has anyone ever seen this tower? It is unbelievable - contains Moose Munch, Chocolate Truffles, Chocolate Covered Cherries, etc. For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you know I am a chocoholic. And the same thing is happening at the hospital where I work … cookies, chocolates, candy, etc. are at all the nurses stations. You try to control yourself, but everywhere you go, you see some kind of tempting goody. I bet many of you are faced with the same challenge.
Tips to Handle Tempting Goodies or Gifts of Food:
1. In your office, keep them in another room out of your sight. Try to avoid the room where they are kept as much as possible. The more you see them, the more you will want to eat them! For example, if I know there is a box of my favorite chocolates at the 5th floor nurses station, I try to avoid this area of the hospital.
2. At home, keep them in a container (not a see through one) and put them out of sight. Studies have shown that we eat significantly more candy/sweets if they are placed in a clear container versus an opaque container.
3. Allow yourself 1-2 of your favorite holiday goodies a day (maybe 150 calories). Choose what you really want, eat it slow and enjoy it. Then stop!
4. If eating these goodies opens the floodgates and leads to uncontrolled eating, then you will really need to avoid them. Check out my interview with Christy the Sugar Addict. Don’t even start with foods that “get you going”. Bring in healthy snacks from home to have when everyone else is munching on fattening cookies.
5. Think about all the calories your co-workers will be consuming!
6. If you do overindulge, get back on track at the next meal or next day. Don’t beat yourself up or let the overindulgence fuel thoughts of “Well, I blew it, so I might as well keep on eating”.
7. If you get a tempting gift of food , consider giving it away - perhaps to your doorman or let your significant other bring it in to their office. Better to have the calories on someone else’s hips! I’ve been given holiday gifts of cookies and chocolate and have learned the hard way that I’m not very good at controlling my intake of these foods, so I now know to give them away before I even open the package. Check out my previous post called “Can Nutritionists Control Their Intake of Sweets?” to get ideas of how other nutritionists deal with problem foods.
So the next time your neighbor (pictured at the right) shows up at your apartment with a fresh baked batch of cookies or another food basket arrives in your office, plan ahead as to how you will handle it.
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