Is Working In a Office Sabotaging Your Fitness Goals?
by Jon Coulson
There are probably thousands and thousands of people who work in offices that are frustrated at not being able to reach their goals of lookin’ good nekkid. They spend hours every week in the gym, busting their butts to try and lose just a few more pounds and then get disappointed when the scale doesn’t go down. Or the scale shifts a few pounds down and before they know it, their weight is back to what it was.
Does it sound a familiar story?
One of the biggest culprits I have found is other office workers sabotaging your hard efforts. I’ve been in offices where nearly every week someone has a birthday or celebration and they bring in the obligatory cakes, chocolate and biscuits. Or, god forbid, the current chocolate supplies in the office are running low so someone HAS to buy in more. Before you know it, you’re mindlessly walking by them and taking a handful here; a handful there or just feeling peckish and think “what harm can it do?”
Now, before you start agreeing too much that it’s other peoples fault for bringing the junk food in. Reread the last sentence in that paragraph, more specifically “you’re mindlessly walking by them and taking a handful”. YOU, yes YOU are the one deciding to eat that crap that others are bringing in. It’s time to start taking responsibility for your own actions.
Another way to think of the situation is that you’ve probably bought fitness and diet books and DVD’s; you’re a member of a gym; you read a few fitness and nutrition blogs, and you workout several hours a week. Think about all the time and money you have invested in trying to get the body you want and you’re flushing that down the drain because you can’t control a few cravings for junk with next to no nutritional value. When it’s put like that, does it make you pissed with yourself? It would me.
Editors note: F**k me for the Hershey bar miniature candy I just gobbled. Damn you Coulson, DAMN YOU!
It’s time to start exercising some self discipline and self control of your own, take responsibility for your own actions. When it comes to getting the physique you want, YOU are the person ultimately responsible for getting there, whether you like it or not. It’s time to man or woman up and grow a proverbial pair, no excuses.
With the tough love out the way, I will share some tips I have learnt. If you decide to use them, it will help to stack the deck in your favour when those cravings come around, it might even get rid of the cravings.
The Mental Aspect
The first tip is something I picked up from Alwyn Cosgrove. You all know how to set yourself a specific goal i.e. you want to lose 20 lbs in 3 months for example. Now, before you go to eat that slice of cake you have been eyeing up, simply ask yourself “will eating that get me closer towards my goal?” If the answer is No (which would be the correct answer) then don’t eat the cake. In short every action is either bringing you closer towards your goal or taking you further away. The more actions you do which bring you closer to your goal the better.
The second tip I have picked up from reading NLP books is about emulating someone already successful in what you want to do. Find someone who already has the physique you want for example a fitness competitor and every time you get a craving to eat some chocolate, ask yourself “what would **** do?” Then do the same. Hint: The answer should be they wouldn’t eat the chocolate!
Finally, it pays to get into a smug and slightly superior frame of mind at being able to resist eating the chocolate and cakes when your co-workers keep eating away at them. Remind yourself how much better than them you will look because you will only touch decent food. It will also pay to keep that attitude to yourself, otherwise you could just look like the office arse!
It’s easy to forget about those tips in the heat of a full blown sugar craving, especially if it hasn’t been ingrained as habit. What you could do is put a post-it note on your monitor or desk with either a phrase or keyword such as “Goal” or “What Would **** Do?” and look at it when that craving next comes around.
The Nutrition Aspect
The biggest difference maker I have found when it comes to helping cravings throughout the day is your breakfast. I know I know, the internet warriors have heard that countless times. It’s nothing new, it’s not sexy etc etc. Well I don’t care, it’s said countless times for a reason – it’s true. Recently I have been short on time in the morning, which is my own fault, and have had a bowl of cereal to get me going. A few hours later I’m starving and could easily start snacking on whatever is at hand. On the mornings when I wake up properly and make myself an omelette and throw in some cheese, avocado, bacon and pepper I find I don’t have any cravings (thank you Precision Nutrition for that idea). Eat a proper breakfast and you’ll be amazed at the difference.
The second biggest difference maker is drinking enough water. I could write this tip as just “Drink more water: Nuff said” but that isn’t always helpful. Unfortunately, when working in an office you get so caught up in the work that you don’t think to have any water until you feel really thirsty. By which time it is too late. It’s always better to be proactive than reactive when it comes to your water consumption. I am now in the habit of setting myself a reminder on my electronic diary every day to remind me hourly to drink water. By setting a reminder for myself it means I never fail to forget to have water constantly throughout the day.
Sometimes you fancy drinking something a bit different to just water, in which case I would recommend green tea. I have been drinking it for quite some time and have seen nothing but good reviews about it. What can put a lot of people off is the taste of green tea. Firstly, only buy the pure green tea i.e. you don’t want any “enhanced” ingredients in it. Secondly, don’t over brew it. I have figured out how to make a fairly decent cup of green tea; I didn’t learn it from some mystical green tea wizard with secrets handed down from generation to generation and can be yours for just $9.95. I just read the instructions on the box. In short, don’t let the kettle reach boiling point, leave the teabag in for about 2 – 3 minutes then add some cold water. If you like your tea stronger, leave it to brew for longer but be prepared for a more bitter taste.
Even if you do all the above, you will have the inevitable craving that won’t go away. If it does strike, always keep healthy snacks on hand to eat instead of chocolate. They’ll be more nutritious, will fill you up and help to keep you on track with the fat loss. My favorite snacks are apples and some mixed nuts and berries such as almonds, walnuts and goji berries. In fact, I mix them up in a bag and have a handful throughout the day anyway. It really helps to keep me feeling full up.
Hopefully I provided some tools here to help you through the working day to beat those cravings. The choice is with you as to whether you use them or not. Sometimes, even if you do all the above you will still get some cravings. Just man up and resist it, remember YOU have the ability to say no.
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This article was written in full by Jon Coulson. You can find out more information on Jon Coulson by going to http://joncoulson.blogspot.com/
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