As always, my writing and topics are changing with the different routes I take. Being a full time writer, I’m not plopped in a cubicle for 8 hours a day. This has been a very different contrast to my previous job where I was running around for 10 hours a day and constantly eating.
Since I’ve been working, I’ve been trying to find the right balance of what to eat when I’m sitting on my butt all day and not actually burning any calories or exerting any physical labor other than typing at alarmingly fast rates.
I think a lot of people work in an office, and if you don’t feel like getting moving when you get out… aka working out, taking a walk, going for a run, you want to feed yourself good, fat burning foods throughout that day that will keep you healthy and satisfied. Snacking on the cheeto’s that sit in a bowl in your office kitchen is fine, but not everyday and does not substitute as a meal.
Some ideas I’ve been researching and creating are as follows:
For breakfast, I like to have something simple that won’t over-fill me but keeps me moving until between 9:30am and 10:30am. Some easy options:
- Smoothie and egg– you’re getting protein and fat from the egg, but some carbs and your vital vitamins and minerals are in your smoothie. I like to make my smoothie with milk and cinnamon. This makes it creamy and the cinnamon helps your body absorb the nutrients.
- Oatmeal and fruit — oatmeal is my favorite option because it keeps me full for so long, and though you might not guess it, the components in the fiber of oatmeal make it another fat burning option. I am definitely not reaching for morning snack until 10-10:30 when I start with that.
Basically I like to accompany any breakfast I have with fruit. It gets you started on getting your full requirement for the day. Though citrus fruits are often sited as fat burning fruits, most fruits perform the give the same fat burning advantage, not to mention they’re just plain good to eat!
For mid-morning snack I always have fruit. As you know, I like to eat a whole foods diet, so snacking on a power bar or crackers isn’t an option. The additives in these foods are not good for your body.
- Try a banana and peanut butter. This will give you an energy boost if you’re feeling slow after your two cups of coffee.
Basically any fruit works for me, whatever we have in the fridge. What you’ll like about having fruit for a snack is that it fills you just enough, without feeling heavy after.
For lunch I usually bring left overs from the night before and a salad. The trick here, though, is to split them up. If you eat everything all at once you’ll be full and then hungry 2 hours later.
- Start with your salad, however you like it. This gives you a good fill of veggies and you can eat a lot without being full.
- Move to your “entree” if you will as you get hungry a little later. IF you don’t have leftovers every morning, try making a big batch of something at the beginning of the week:
- Cous-cous with veggies. You can even throw this together in the morning, because cous-cous literally takes 5 minutes to make.
- I love my tofu. You can make a whole blog of tofu and it will still be good to warm up throughout the week.
- Rice is another one that will stay good for an extended period.
Mid-afternoon snack I like to have my homemade popcorn. SO easy to make, and great for a light snack after lunch and before dinner.
- Put a large pot on the stove with some butter.
- Put in maybe 1.5 handfuls of kernels… a little makes a lot, so experiment.
- Put your cover over the pan and slide it back and forth over the burner so everything is coated and gets the same amount of heat.
- Continue moving it back and forth until it begins popping. Once it’s about half done I remove it from the heat so the rest can finish without burning.The beauty with popcorn is it’s so versatile. Right before the kernels start popping you can sprinkle ontop:
- Chili Powder.
- Salt.
- Garlic powder.
- Cinnamon.
Literally any sort of seasoning that you like.
Best of luck to all you office eaters out there! 🙂
Will Run For Food 