Lunch At Work page

[mgardne]

Alright, I have just started the Primal/Paleo this week. It is only day 3 for me. Monday I brought my lunch into work, as I usually do. I had a spinach salad with some turkey, almonds, and balsamic vinager on top. I thought that was a good place to start. Now the problem...

Yesterday I had a meeting out of town, and one of my co-workers took us out to eat. It was a wing place, so i had 10 wings and a salad. Today, we have a bid day and 4 bids due throughout the day, so they ordered lunch in. They ordered pizza. Now, these things are not primal in any way, and this trend will not continue at all. I know Mark said it is okay to "help yourself" every so often, so this is what I am going to treat this as. I just am getting worries because 2 out of my first 3 days I havnt been able to eat a correct lunch.

Michael

[belinda]

You'll see that some PB'ers chalk meals like this up to their '20%', others will fast through meals like this and not partake at all. You may end up doing that at some point, but for now, just eat a minimal amount of 'bad' food and eat optimally when the food choices are up to you.

[Nion]

Don't sweat it, modern life gets in the way...you can always use it as an excuse for Intermittent Fasting too

[mgardne]

Thank you for responding belinda

In the future I do plan of fasting through these types of meals! I have been eating the optimal food for every other meal besides these two lunches.

[SlimIcy]

If you are able to resist temptations you can keep some emergency dark chocolate, cashews, beef jerky, etc. at your desk for when these situations come up. Then if someone asks why you aren't partaking you can just say, "Oh I'm not that hungry, just having this snack here."

But you do have to resist eating them when there arent emergencies.

[DaisyEater]

Pizza at meetings is pretty common here. I always have a lunch from home, though, so it's easy to resist. I cook in advance and keep the fridge here stocked with salad stuff and cooked meat. That way it's not subject to whether or not I had time to fix a lunch in the morning. I try to make the path I want to be on the path of least resistance.

[lssanjose]

I like the suggestion of IF during a lunch break. Just because there's a lunch break involved (sometimes, it's a 30 minute lunch; with 15 minute breaks (2) spread out), it doesn't mean one is obligated to eat. I'd take some of this time to rest eyes (especially in a white-collar setting, sitting in front of a computer for hours on end).

[wendyland]

Happens a lot at my office, too. Fortunately, I work at home 4 days a week. I've only been doing this a week and a half, but I feel that I could resist pizza now. (we'll see how I do when I actually smell it) Try to make the best choices you can. I don't think I'll make pizza a part of my normal 20% cheats. I feel that wheat is just too bad for me to have in my diet at all. It will be a very rare occasion. Maybe I would eat the toppings off, but skip the crust. I tell people that I have a wheat allergy. They all think I'm weird anyway.

[Nutritionator]

Mega thumbs up for the impromptu IF if there's definitely no alternative. I've found the lower my cheat %, the less I crave cheat foods and I feel a lot better. If I have to cheat, I do it without gluten so as unfortunate as it is, no more pizza for me. Just my n=1 though.

[Boy_Dinosaur]

I think you'll find once you get in the groove it is much easier to deal with these situations. I've only been eating Primal for alittle over a month (and 17 lbs lost) and had a piece of pizza the other day. It gave me an instant headache and I was in the bathroom within 20 minutes, so it is no longer a temptation! I agree with the IF thoughts too, though I know it can be difficult when out with other folks.