Primal in the Workplace page

[Megatron]

I'm typing this as I'm getting ready for work. I have not had too many struggles and setbacks in eating primaly at home, but work is another story.

I sit with the 'snack basket' right behind me. It is full of chocolate, sugar candy, and 'healthy' foods like Special K crackers. Every half hour or so, someone will come in, say, 'OoooOooh! I SHOULDN'T!' and proceed to mmm mmmm mmmm right in my ear.
I know eventually the craving for sugar will go away, but as of right now, it's very difficult.

The bi-weekly meetings are catered by a very good pizza place here in NYC, all vegetarian pizza and salad. There is no way to get away and get my own food during this time, and I am thinking of going to my boss and appealing to his health-nut nature. (He is a vegan who went raw for a while.) Before pizza we are distracted and starving, afterwards, sleepy and unfocused.
Lunch meetings are dumb.

And the birthday parties. And farewell parties. And baby showers. These are all accompanied by Magnolia or Crumbs. Everyone sitting around, goading others into taking more. I swear weight loss and fitness goals could be so easily reached if everyone around you just shut up and didn't try to justify their own behavior.

So, sorry this turned into more of a rant. How do you do primal in the workplace?

[Richard Seekins]

I think its different for everyone. Once I set my mind on things other peoples actions have little influence. I'v had ( and continue to) people eating junk in my office all day long, even goading me to eat piza and buns etc.

It never bothered me enough to break and do it, and now iv been on this road for 4 months now I'm simply not interested in junk. I could bath in Pizza and coke and not touch the stuff. I look at it as poison now.

Take a look at the fat people stuffing their face..do you really want to be like that and have all the future health issues to go with it?

Make your lunch at home and take it to work..simples.

Make a stand and be strong..rise above the SAD diet that is messing people up.

I have loads of like pages on face book that post inspirational images and quotes all the time..all fitness pages and workout stuff. They work for me. Some of the quotes really hit home..my fav is...

If you want something bad enough you will find a way..
If you don't, you will find and excuse..

Good luck

[Rip @ MIPWID]

I have had strong sugar cravings in the past.

When I started eating breakfast on a daily basis - that's two rashers of thick bacon and two gluten and cereal free sausages - the cravings disappeared pretty much instantly.

To the point where I could walk past racks of chocolate in the supermarket without being remotely compelled towards buying one. Where I could look at a bar of chocolate and not only have no desire to eat it but being happy to ignore it. Where even the habit of eating chocolate out of boredom was broken.

I know others have spoken about there being no need for breakfast and that your body can feed off your stored calories. I get that. It makes sense.

However, if eating breakfast has eliminated my cravings for sugar and made it easier to eat real food exclusively throughout the day, then it's breakfast every day for me - and that's non-negotiable.

That is where I suggest you start.

[Megatron]

I have had strong sugar cravings in the past.

When I started eating breakfast on a daily basis - that's two rashers of thick bacon and two gluten and cereal free sausages - the cravings disappeared pretty much instantly.

To the point where I could walk past racks of chocolate in the supermarket without being remotely compelled towards buying one. Where I could look at a bar of chocolate and not only have no desire to eat it but being happy to ignore it. Where even the habit of eating chocolate out of boredom was broken.

I know others have spoken about there being no need for breakfast and that your body can feed off your stored calories. I get that. It makes sense.

However, if eating breakfast has eliminated my cravings for sugar and made it easier to eat real food exclusively throughout the day, then it's breakfast every day for me - and that's non-negotiable.

That is where I suggest you start.

This has been a huge help for me, because I am literally not hungry until noon. In my no breakfast or I'll-just-have-a-diet-yogurt-thanks phase, I was STARVING by 1030!

And I agree, there's no excuses, just ignore the temptations and power through. Still, it's so hard.

[Narcolepticjenn]

Everyone sitting around, goading others into taking more. I swear weight loss and fitness goals could be so easily reached if everyone around you just shut up and didn't try to justify their own behavior.

This. I's hard for people to grasp that you don't actually WANT to eat whatever treat they are trying to shove in your face. Even if you want it in that instant, you don't want to deal with the effects later -- like the sugar crash and the panicky hunger that will follow in an hour. You LIKE being in control of your mood and your meals. They probably would, too, but they've never tried it.

[qqemokitty]

The workplace can definitely be a minefield, especially if you are in one of those modern 'we're all friends here, let's celebrate!' type workspaces, as I am and it sounds like you are. xD

There is catered lunch from some local place plus birthday cake once monthly. I eat the food if it's primalish (greek, asian, chicken wings, etc) and skip it if not (pizza/pasta) and I sing happy birthday but skip the cake unless it is one I happen to really like (red velvet or ice cream cake). I have no problem turning down cakes I don't care for, even though people try (repeatedly) to force it on me. :P But then, cake has never been my weakness. Then of course there is the weekly parade of donuts, chips, candies, and so on. Lastly the selling of things for Campfire, Girl Scouts, baseball, marching band, etc.

One thing that has really helped me is to tell all my work-friends about my food sensitivities and preferences. Most of them don't know I am paleo, I simply tell them I am intolerant of wheat and sugar particularly, these things can make me feel very ill! For most of them, they remember this info after some repeating and refrain from offering me such things. One friend (bless her heart) made me gluten free brownies with sugar free frosting for valentine's day - the brownie itself was tasty but the frosting HOLY CRAP i could smell the chemicals before they were even in my mouth but I downed it anyway and thanked her kindly. She tried so hard for me!

[qqemokitty]

Oh and as far as ways to cope - I drink about 70 ounces of water through the course of the work day, and I keep almonds and beef jerky in my desk as well as bringing my own breakfast and lunch to work with me. I also have a set number of lunch items I can get from the places around work that I have trained into making perfectly for me, like a salad from the cafe downstairs (took ages to get the idea of no croutons to stick) and so forth.

[Annieh]

Sorry you are finding it so hard right now but you hit the nail on the head when you say the craving for sugar will go away. It will, and you will be left with so much willpower you won't believe it. It won't even feel like willpower, just that you actually really do NOT want that stuff.

So hang in there, and follow the advice about eating a hearty breakfast. It does help.

[Rip @ MIPWID]

Sorry you are finding it so hard right now but you hit the nail on the head when you say the craving for sugar will go away. It will, and you will be left with so much willpower you won't believe it. It won't even feel like willpower, just that you actually really do NOT want that stuff.

So hang in there, and follow the advice about eating a hearty breakfast. It does help.

That's how it felt for me pretty much straight away. Stick in there and this feeling of inner peace (which is the only description with which I can do it justice) will be yours.

[MattyH]

Been there - hope some of my failures will help you avoid them. There are two parts to this problem: how to turn your back on yummy treats, and what to say to other people. For the second part, I'm personally comfortable with "white lies" and "partial truths". I say "wheat makes me feel sick" and "I can't eat grain." then I much on the salad, pizza tops, at least enough to keep me going until I get home, and hold a cup of hot tea in front of me like a shield. Amazing that no one even noticed for YEARS that I was "scalping" pizza toppings (been low carb longer than primal) - really, everyone is paying attention to themselves.

For the first part, I'm going to indulge in posting a longish letter I found on a blog last year that started me on my (now 21 pounds) success. All I can say is, it worked for me, thank goodness!

===== How Did Anna V. Lose 72 Pounds Overnight? =====

I was a chubby kid. One of my earliest memories is of my dance teacher saying, “My god, that one is completely earthbound.” Looking back, she might not even have been talking about me (but I bet she was). I grew up thinking of myself as a fat, earthbound blob. I had at times gone through those self-image exercises, dutifully repeating those positive affirmations: “I am thin and sexy, I move with beauty and grace.” But the way people looked at me, the way my mirror reflected back at me, kept reinforcing the message “you are a fat, earthbound blob.” I just could not resolve the contradictions between these two images: how I wanted to see myself, and how I knew others saw me. Every time I tried to diet, I would either get angry at being controlled by other people’s view of me, or I would get depressed at the slow progress not matching up with my internal view of me.

On night, lying in bed, I realized what I needed was not a “positive” self image, but a “right” self image - an image that had both an inside and an outside. Like a feral alley cat, I thought. They look soft and fluffy, although maybe a bit scruffy, on the outside – just like an ordinary blobby, domestic house cat. But on the inside they are fierce, free and a little wild. Inside they are sinew and lean muscle, they are fast as lightning when provoked, and laser focused when sighting on a mouse (or any other goal). Yes, I thought, this is me!

I didn’t wake up the next morning with any intention of dieting or losing weight, but somehow fruit and yogurt just suited my feral image. Later in the day some cookies appeared in the office, and the thought “feral cats don’t eat sugary junk” just came to mind, rather than “I shouldn’t eat that if I want to lose weight” or “I might as well eat it, I’ll always be a fat, earthbound blob”. Eventually I picked a diet that fit my lifestyle and I’ve had no trouble sticking to it, for the first time in years! Once my image of myself changed, making healthier choices happens without me even being conscious of it. I would no more eat sugar than I would eat a bar of soap. Me – the patron saint of cream cheese frosting from the spoon! When I walk into a room, others may see a fluffy outer kitty (less so 72 pounds later), but I know there’s a lean, muscled inner animal as well.

My new image felt right as soon as I thought of it. I don’t know if it needs to be instantaneous to work, but if your image takes a lot of getting used to, and a lot of conscious effort, I suspect it won’t work. Maybe my problem was I never did really see myself as a ballerina! And not everyone’s problem is how others see them: I know someone who’s now losing weight, his image is “I am a man my father would be proud of.” The day I knew this would work was the first time I felt depressed about something and thought of curling up with a bowl of ice cream. My inner thoughts immediately replied, “Huh? How does that make sense? Cats don’t eat sugary junk.” In other words, I realized I would actually have to violate my own self-image, and how would that make me feel better? I have a goal to become strong enough to walk up all the stairs in my hospital in one go, and I know it will happen, because us feral cats, we get the job done.

I hope this helps you a little – we all have to find our own path in the end.
Nurse Anya V.