The Office

(NOTE: I think I lost 3 lbs! I attribute that to a serious increase in physical activity this week. Yay!)

My sorority sister and I were chatting today about the challenges of being healthy in your work environment. She told me how the "pink box" stared at her menacingly from the office kitchen while she was in there putting hot water on her natural oatmeal.

"I came around the corner and even before I walked in the room, I saw it," she told me, "The pink box."

I totally echoed her sentiment. Sometimes it can be hard to eat healthy at work. Sometimes it can be hard to eat unhealthily at work. Either way, for those of us that spend most of our time in an office, it is amazing how much it influences our eating habits.

I have worked in a variety of jobs and I think I've seen the gamut. One job, I worked with a bunch of foodies. Foodies are annoying. They are those people who take a bite of something and say, "Is that cinnamon? No, it's definitely vanilla." These are the people who will not go with you on a run to Wendy's and who frown when you bring in a Big Gulp. I appreciate a healthy work environment, but not when it is STIFLING. And foodies at work are totally stifling.

On the other hand, it sucks when you work with people who don't pay attention to what they eat. One internship I had in graduate school, every Friday we had doughnuts (the freakin' pink box). Boy was it hard to diet when you had the doughnut fairy visit your desk every Friday . . .

Then there are places where you "celebrate." It doesn't matter what it is - birthdays, weddings, promotions, boob jobs - they celebrate EVERYTHING. And celebration usually equates to CAKE. This isn't the worst kind of environment, but it does promote the idea that dessert/unhealthy food = rewards. And that is problematic thinking for someone like me.

I try to avoid Cake Time, as we call it at work, these days. Normally I'd be first in line next to the birthday girl/bride/new father for a slice of whatever. And technically, sweets every now and then aren't bad. However, I recognize that I'm not good with the self-control.

So for now, I hope my coworkers are not offended when I don't celebrate their escrow or new kitten with them and some cake.