Weight Loss Guru

Bit of a treat today, we have a Guest Post from Ali Hale of theofficediet.com - Healthy Living for Busy People. Ali is really inspiring, here she's broken a 'day in the office' down to certain 'trigger-times', I hope you enjoy reading this... If you do, please leave a comment for Ali at the bottom. Thanks

For many of us who work in desk-based jobs, it can be all too easy for our diet to be derailed before we’ve even noticed. Whether it’s those delicious cupcakes that the “birthday boy” in your office brought in, or the buffet lunch laid on for a meeting, working life can undermine even the best of intentions.

There are various times in the day, though, where things seem most prone to going wrong … and if you plan ahead, you can easily cope with them.

8.00am - Skipping breakfast
Have you ever hit “snooze” on the alarm, snuggled back down under the duvet, and drifted back into blissful sleep … only to jolt awake at 8am, needing to be washed, dressed and en route to work by 8.10? Usually, the easiest thing to cut from your morning routine is breakfast.

Skipping eating in the morning, though, means your metabolism gets off to a sluggish start – and being hungry will make that doughnut shop on the way to work much more tempting…

11.00am – Mid-morning snack from the vending machine
By the time you’ve been at work for a couple of hours, stress may have kicked in. That snippy email from a customer, or your boss suddenly dumping a huge project in your in-tray, can make you seek out the nearest vending machine for some chocolate-coated comfort

If you’re feeling the pressure mounting up, take a short break from your desk. Walk to the water cooler, not the nearest snack-source, and get yourself a cold glass of water. Or head over to talk to a colleague who’ll be able to help you gain some perspective.

1.00pm – Buffet lunch at a meeting
Sometimes, you manage the perfect morning: a healthy yet satisfying breakfast, a virtuous apple for a snack … then a buffet table faces you at lunchtime. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that the siren call of “FREE FOOD, FREE FOOD” overrides more sensible thoughts like “Do I really want to eat that, though?” and “What would be a reasonably low-fat option?”

Through somewhat gluttonous experience, I’ve found that the best ways to deal with free buffet lunches are:

• Fill half of your plate with crudités or fruit.
• Just go for the things you really like the look of. There’s no rule saying you have to try one of everything.
• Stop after a single plateful – no “I’ll just have another of these little things…”
• Eat slowly: take your time over the meal and chat to people.

4.00pm – The afternoon energy slump
Few of us are at our most productive during the last hour of the working day. It can be very tempting to have a yawn, a stretch, a quick check of Facebook … and a sugary snack for an energy boost. If you’re genuinely hungry, try a cereal bar, a couple of pieces of fruit, or a small sandwich. If you’re just tired, a mug of tea or coffee will perk you up – if you want to cut your caffeine intake, there are lots of tasty herbal teas around.

7.00pm – Too tired to cook
When the last thing you want to do after work is cook an elaborate meal, it can be tempting to phone for a pizza or Chinese. Most of us have busy lives and don’t want to spend hours in the evenings preparing food. I’ve found that it helps immensely to plan ahead: agree with your flatmates or partner who’ll cook on which weeknights, working around your schedules. Decide what you’ll make in advance, and ensure you pop to the shops at the weekend or on the way home to work for any ingredients needed.

If you have plenty of time at the weekend, cook double portions and freeze half -- you’ll have a quick weekday supper that just needs heating up, at much lower cost and higher quality than pre-packaged ready meals.

Serves: 4-6. Cooking Time: 15-30 minutes

Be adventurous and make up your own soups with your favourite ingredients and seasonings. See what you have in the fridge or store cupboard, use leftovers and take the opportunity to buy fresh foods that are cheap and in season.

What you need: 

• 500g-1kg/1lb 2oz-2lb 4oz solids: vegetables, canned tomatoes, sweetcorn, beans, potatoes, rice, onions, garlic, pasta, etc.

• 1-1.5 litres/1½-2½ pints meat or vegetable stock, seasonings, spices and flavourings

How to do it: 

1. Simply sauté the chopped onion, garlic and any other hard vegetables in a tablespoon of oil, or soften and turn them a light golden brown, which brings out their sweetness and flavour.

2. Using a non-stick pan and covering it while you sauté the vegetables, so that they sweat as well as fry will mean using less oil, (you can speed up things by leaving out this stage and simply cooking all the ingredients together but it won’t taste as good).

3. Next add any softer vegetables (like tomatoes) and beans, rice, pasta, etc., plus the stock or water and simmer until everything is tender.

4. Taste and adjust seasonings. Decide whether you want to eat rough and chunky, blended with hand held blender bar until roughly chopped with a bit of texture, or completely liquidised until it’s velvety smooth.

Soupy Suggestions... 

• Red pepper, fresh or canned tomato and carrot with garlic and paprika.

• Squash or pumpkin chowder with onion, potato, ginger and lime.

• Pasta, potato and pesto soup – another rustic one which cooks in time it takes to have a shower!

• Carrot and coriander with onion, parsnip and lentils or a can of cannelloni beans – very filling.

• Sweet potato, onion, garlic and a can of creamed sweetcorn with fresh coriander, lime juice and paprika or chilli.

• Leek, potato and onion with chicken stock and low fat crème fraiche or quark. This can be left chunky or whisked until smooth and velvety.

• Canned ratatouille and a drained can of cannelloni beans, cooked with vegetable stock, garlic stock, garlic salt and sweet paprika pepper – a real store cupboard standby that takes less than five minutes to make.

• The quality of the stock you use really determines the finished flavour of any dish, especially in the clear soups that are more of a meal in a bowl. Noodle bars are very fashionable places to eat but it’s quite easy to cook in the same style at home. Simply cook Japanese ramen or soba noodles in good quality stock and add your own choice of flavourings at the end of the cooking process. Some suggestions might be shredded chicken or fish, spinach leaves, pak choy, sliced mushrooms, bean sprouts, sliced leeks, celery or carrot, chopped fresh chilli, ginger and coriander leaves.

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