It's so tempting isn't it? Work is not going well. Or you have a deadline looming. Or you've got to update your accounts. Much easier to make endless trips to the fridge to fill up on snacks!
But when you start working at home, it can be alarming how quickly the pounds creep up, just because food is so available. And you bitterly regret all those snacks next time you get on the scales or try to do up something you haven't worn for a while.
Now, a normal office is not always the easiest place to control overeating either - everyone brings cakes and candy to share for the most minor celebration, and you have more opportunity for social type eating and drinking at lunch and after work. But a full fridge is a bigger threat - after all no one is watching you like they would be if you had three pieces of the cake at work!
Keeping out of the kitchen altogether would be one solution. You could pack your lunch and healthy snacks before you start the day, have a supply of cool drinks and set up tea and coffee making facilities in your home office - pretend you don't have a kitchen.
But most of us won't do that. We like being at home because we have access to all the facilities that home offers. Sometimes it's great to be able to start dinner early or do a couple of chores while we take a breather from our other tasks.
But there are a few things you CAN do without making the kitchen and the fridge a "no-go" area.
1. Plan your lunch ahead Make your lunch before you begin work - or at least know exactly what you are going to have. This way you are less likely to dive for the nearest fattening snack because you suddenly noticed you worked way past the point when you should have eaten and you are ravenous.
2. Think about snacks Also prepare some healthy snacks so that you can grab them from the fridge and go. Sticks of carrot, cucumber, celery and the like make great nibbles when you haven't time to stop for a full meal. Put a tablespoonful of low-calorie dip into a small bowl if you don't like them just as they are.
3. Try mini-meals If you know you are going to be grazing all day - plan for 5 or 6 mini-meals throughout the day, rather than grazing AND eating a whole lunch. While this might be impractical in an office, at home you can do exactly as you like - make the most of it. A typical day might be
