6 ways to curb your snacking while in the office

6 ways to curb your snacking while in the geschftszimmer6 ways to curb your snacking while in the officeThis year, you decided youd go through a painful, difficult breakup. You knew it wouldnt be easy, but you were prepared for the separation anxiety. The onset of tears. The rumbling in your soul. You didnt want to, yet your waistline was begging you to cut the cord with the unhealthy snacks at work. Doughnuts, pizza, bagels, candy, cupcakes - ugh and oh my.Its all too easy to let your diet fall lower on your priority list at work thanks to a slew of factors, according to Gabriele Geerts, a registered dietitian at Green Chef. Whether it be break-room snacks, vending machines down the hall, or a lack of planning, mindless snacking is especially easy at work.The feeling of being hungry can be influenced by things like stress, boredom, and fatigue, which means a mid-afternoon craving may not even be triggered by legitimate hunger, she continues. Avoiding mindless snacking is especiall y difficult when food is accessible and free, making us mora likely to eat and continue to overeat.To prevent you from going back to those habits that are toxic and terrible for you, try these effective hacks from nutrition prosReplace your snacking habit with something more productive.After you down your salad, health bowl or veggie-rich soup, you instantly want something sweet. So you poke around the kitchen at work, grab something, down it - and then suffer the consequences a few hours later. It might not seem like much of a routine, but it is nonetheless, according to nutrition expert Jen Silverman. Much like quitting smoking, to get yourself out of this rut, you need to replace this action with something productive.Walk away from your workspace and find something more productive than consuming unnecessary calories. Whether its sipping hot tea, taking a 10-minute walk, or making a quick call to your mom, break the habit. You could also read that NY Times article you were eager to get through, listen to music, get some fresh air, take a walk, she continues. Clearing your head is more beneficial to your wellbeing and it wont leave you with a brain-fog or afternoon fatigue.Rate your hunger on a scaleMonica Auslander Moreno, MS, RDN, a nutrition consultant for RSP Nutrition,urges professionals to take a long hard think about why they are reaching for a snack. How? Rating their hunger on a scale of one to ten, with one being starving and 10 being terribly full.Sit back. Turn off your digital distractions. Go outside the building or in the hall, alone, if you have to. Assign yourself a hunger number, she recommends. Think about when and what the last thing you ate was. What number would seem appropriate for you to begin eating? Why are you at that number (did you eat too much/ too little at your last meal?) What number do you expect to get to after your snack?Dont be afraid to speak upSilverman shares sometimes it isnt about lack of willpower - but rather, wor kplace culture. If every single time you walk into a meeting there are cookies, cupcakes or another type of sugar or carb-heavy snack, its worth speaking up to your manager or human resources. You might be surprised by how responsive and receptive they are to the feedback.Companies are willing to invest in their employees health and productivity. They understand that sugar-laden, nutrient-poor food have negative effects on workplace efficiency, Silverman shares.Plan aheadBefore you leave your homestead, Geerts suggests eating a well-balanced, fulfilling breakfast that will hold you over for at least a few hours. And to save money - and help you resist temptations - pack a satisfying lunch. A fueled mind and body is more likely to focus on work, not excessive snacking. Make your meals count and focus on a healthy ratio of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, she adds.Remember You cant have just one biteIf no one saw you take a big ol bite out of the brownie - did it ever happen? Sorry, but it did and even a single nibble can impact how well you perform in the office.The minute the tasty treat hits your lips - even if its as small as a Hershey kiss - your blood sugar spikes and it signals your brain and hunger hormones ghrelin, Silverman explains. Suddenly, you want more Believe it or not, its actually easier to refrain entirely than it is to have a small piece. Youre better off refraining altogether.Refrain from eating while you workEspecially when youre under the gun on a deadline, chowing down while you get through emails, proposals, and projects. It may seem efficient, but its actually the opposite, according to Geerts, if you want to stay healthy. How come? She explains whether it is a snack or a meal, its important to pay attention to your food and enjoy it, so you dont overeat.As she explains, studies show the snacking decreases significantly when its near you- or in your desk drawer.

Emotions If you must talk about politics at work, a trauma expert tells you how

Emotions If you must talk about politics at work, a trauma expert tells you howEmotions If you must talk about politics at work, a trauma expert tells you howThe topic of politics hasalways come up in theworkplace, and, for years, many of us have been able to control our emotionsand engage in respectful dialogue. But the recent election season and the current U.S. presidency havesome of us so on edge that defensive debate and discord are coming to the forefront more than ever before.Different people deal with political stress in different ways.Some may identify like-minded colleagues and find solace deep in theirred or blue camps. Some may leidtalk about issues in the office- and thensilently engage on social media. And somemay avoid conflict altogether.Regardless of political leaning or approach to political issues at work, its clear whats going on in our country hasdeeply affected many of us.Now, more than ever, it feels like many Americans fundamentally and strongly disagree on de eply held core values. More and bigger issues seem to be at risk. Put together with never-endingnews coverageand Twitter feeds, and we have a potentially combustible combination.According to a recent surveyby BetterWorks, 87% of employees read political social media posts at work, and 49% have seen political discussions turn into arguments. Out of the 500 survey respondents, 29%said theyhave been less productive since the election.As a psychologist, Ive worked for years to help people feel heard and help them listen to one another. Inunterstellung particularly contentious times, with people experiencing limited energy and feelings of hopelessness, it can be hard to conjure up the skills to survive politicalinteractions at work- let alone master them.Here are some things you can do when politics come up in conversation at work.Be a good listenerIts easy tolet conversations go off the rails. But you can learneffectivecommunication skills.Theseinclude active listening (making a conscio us effort to hear and really understand the message), paraphrasing (repeating back succinctly your understanding of what the person just saidin your own words), making good eye contact, and exhibiting open voice tone and body language (e.g., not having your arms crossed in front of your chest).Take a step backWhat underlies some of these conversations is a staunch belief that were right.We often assume the worst about the other person, and we try hard to persuade them to see our point of view.Then we want, expect, and demand that our colleagues change- without exerting energy to try to understand their side.It can be helpful togain a healthy distance and remember that everyones perspective is different and that everyone has the right to have theiropinion heard.Dont focus on negative emotionsHeated debates can leave us feeling threatened, rejected, or defensive. At best these interactions are stressful and unproductive. They can make usdread going to work the next dayand make us not want to see- let alone work with- our colleagues. These feelings can bleed over into our productivity and sanity.Negative emotions are a part of life. Pushing these emotions away as soon as we feel them often has a boomerang effect. If emotions are not experienced, they can leak or burst when we least expect them to. But if we allow ourselves to feel these emotions, they often come in and flow out like a wave.If negative emotions persist over a period of time, then seeking ways to process those emotions, such as meditation, physical exercise, or talking with a friend or therapist, may be necessary.Stop trying to win argumentsWere not moving forward when were arguing. Whenwe engage in adversarial posturing, digging our roots into the earth and daring our colleagues to try and move us,it doesnt makefor effective and efficient workplaces, let alone ones we want tobe in.In Difficult Conversations How to Discuss What Matters Most, Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen of the Harva rd Negotiation Project advise that mutual agreement should not necessarily be the goal. Rather, we might want to change our aim to a better understanding of others perspectives and offer an invitation for joint exploration.Put yourself in the other persons shoesPeoples choices are complex, and political views recently seem particularly tied to peoples identities and beliefs.Rather than judge others, can we encourage or even challenge ourselves to actively listen and try to understand others? Its easier said than done, for sure. But it can be worthwhile.Be respectfulLife can be hard, and not every person we come into contact at work or in our home community is someone we will click with or understand. We need to decide for ourselves which relationships we need to invest in or make sure theyfunction well enough.Sometimes, despite our best efforts and intentions, despite our restful sleep and good communication and emotion-regulation skills, we have to realize that some things may not ever get sorted out. Sometimes we are going to have to walk away. And the best we can do is to respectfully agree to disagree.Dr. Joan Cookis a psychologist, an associate professor at Yale University and an Op-Ed Project Public Voices fellow.

What its like pumping at the office  from women who did it

What its like pumping at the office from women who did itWhat its like pumping at the office from women who did itWhile you might be one of the lucky ones who absolutely adores what they do for a living, ask any parent and theyll be the first to tell you nothing quite compares to the love of a child. That being said, the transition from two to three isnt easy for eitzu sich party, but for motherbeis, the hormonal shift is just the start of the changes. Especially for women who want to and choose to return to the office after giving birth, figuring out how to maintain a pumping schedule for breastfeeding is one of the biggest hurdles. (That and all of the feelings when you receive a picture of your baby from the sitter or caretaker at home and wish you could jet back to snuggle him or her)The month of August celebrates breastfeeding in an effort to bring awareness to the tough, flexible and problem-solving women who earn six figures, run teams and multi-million dollar companies all w hile raising a family, too. Whew. Here, successful working mothers share how they transitioned back to work, mastered the difficulty of pumping and how you can, tooPump when you can - and get creativeCreator and owner of The Cookie Cups Nicole Pomije put it best when she says breastfeeding, in general, is challenging for any mother, and for working mothers, a whole other layer of stress is added. And if youre an entrepreneur? You might feel like a one-woman show - and not always in a fun way. Recently, when Pomije finished her maternity leave and returned to work, she was operating a business on her own with one bathroom.Throughout the past four months at the store, Ive pumped about twice per day- in between customers, conference calls and well, actually baking, she shared.And since sales can be an unpredictable business, shes learned to expect interruptions to her schedule I go to pump when there seems to be a lull at work, get my pump set up and a customer walks in, she shares.S o how does she make it work? Pumping whenever she gets a second, even during digital meetings. If theres the conference call you have to be on, but wont do much talking, I take that time to pump as well. It only doesnt work when someone on the line asks for you and you quickly go to shut off the pump power so you can quickly engage, she adds.Be strategic with your schedule to maintain work productivityWhen co-founder and CEO of YouEarnedIt, Autumn Manning became a first-time mother at the age of 26, she wasnt just juggling children - but her budding business and plenty of travel, too. To make nursing work for her, Manning had to get smart about her schedule and allow herself much-needed breaks to provide for her baby. In addition to planning and mental preparedness, she also became a mastermind of travel schedules. Specifically commuting to and from business meetings, figuring out anywhere and anywhere she could stop, pump and go.It was surprisingly rare to find a mothers room so I would use any place that was available the car, customer bathrooms, conference rooms that would lock- or whatever I could find, she explained. While not the rosiest of situations, considering the concept of mothers rooms is still a growing industry, many women are forced to make due with whatever location they can scope out.Plan aheadFounder of Majka and Bloguettes Lorena Garcia says the moment she became a mother, her whole world changed. Everything she thought she knew was much different - and harder. And it took a bit of trial-and-error to figure out how to make motherhood and pumping work for her. On her first day back to work, she wore a sweater with no nursing bra, forcing her to ahem, completely undress to pump, leaving her exposed. While they might have been okay if she was alone, she noticed an open window giving people in the building across the street a full view.That was a nice little reminder to be more prepared before heading out the door for work. I started laying o ut my clothes the night before so I would make sure that I wore the appropriate clothing and nursing bra and did not have to strip down again, she explained. While this is one part of the planning process, consider everything you need to pump with ease before heading into the office so youre prepared for the day ahead.Think of pumping as a break and your personal alone timeWhats meant to be a time when you pause to create nourishment for your child, can actually prove to be quite complicated. Though you might be multi-tasking most of the time, when you can, Pomije encourages women to savor some of the time pumping as an actual break.If you are going to be pumping at work, think of it as a positive, a little break throughout the day where you can almost meditate while pumping and regroup, she explains. Try to allocate twenty minutes alone where you can actually relax and take your time.Ask for a mothers area from your companyRegardless if youre at a startup, a country with a 200-year history or somewhere in between, Manning reminds working mothers of the power of their voice. If there isnt an easily-accessible and private space for you to pump - ask for it. One way to approach the topic is to walk around your office and identify areas where a space could be created, thus coming prepared to the meeting.Talk with your manager and human resources team to come up with a solution to make it easier for you to re-enter the workforce and pump at work, she suggests. Finding ways to lessen the stress before you go on maternity leave will help make the transition a bit easier when you return.