Patients and visitors seem to think nurses need chocolate :)
The best thing that has happened to my health lately is stopping working night shift. You may have heard about some of the shake-ups in health care in Ontario. I'm not happy about most of them, but .... I'm happy that I no longer work graveyard!

Sometimes. I'm a nurse, and as a nurse I am constantly on my feet, running up and down halls, pushing heavy med carts around and generally just working up a sweat. However, there are times, especially around the holidays when it's utter diet ****! Family members bringing in donuts, wing trays, cookies, brownies, not to mention the breakfast meetings! Mostly what I try to do is bring my lunch and healthy snacks like yogurt covered raisins, fruit cups, and granola bars to snack on if I am famished before lunch/dinner. I am also fortunate enough to work right across from a Subway so if I do eat out that's where it's going to be.

Amy :)

I'm a PR professional too! I work at a software company, and large number of our employees, especially the programmers, gain a lot of weight working for this company. They put in really long hours and get catered meals a lot - but it is always stuff like pizza, pasta and Mexican. I used to eat their food when I'd work late - and work too late to go to the gym, so I did gain a lot of weight due to my job, which also includes sitting at a computer all day, and being less active. I'm working though to make sure meals at the office aren't the highlight of my day, packing my own healthy food and I found a gym near the office that I can go to right after work, even if it is late - no more excuses! I still haven't mastered dealing with the stress part. PR can be crazy in that department!

Sometimes. I have access to a fridge at work (school, really, I'm a grad student and I do research in a lab), so I stock it up with cal-free beverages and snacks, like lowfat cheeses, veggies, and whatnot. However, there is a LOT LOT LOT of social eating going on. One of my co-workers is always making cakes, cookies, breads, etc, and bringing them in, and there is a lot of eating out, especially at Mexican and Italian restaurants :eek:. Very hard (but not completely impossible) to eat healthy there. I haven't figured out the eating out thing just yet, but keeping the fridge stocked helps with other stuff. If I'm going to an evening party or social event, I'll just eat a full meal before I go and sip on diet soda when I get there. Kind of like Oprah!

My husband has more of this to deal with. He works in a call center, and his dept manager is always getting the CRAPPIEST food for them. They get free catered lunches when his department wins awards and contests - which they do a lot because they rock! And it's usually BBQ, pizza, sandwiches, greasy stuff, etc. And one time the manager brought in 250 donuts to split among something like 50 people. :yikes: Sometimes I am convinced that those people are just out to make all their workers fat. (Even though I know it's really not true!) He doesn't deal with it too effectively (he caves in a lot yet doesn't gain...whassup with that?!) but if it were me, I'd definitely get the fridge and my desk stocked up heavily with healthy stuff.

Oh wow--both YES and NO.

On the YES--we have a....SNACK CABINET in our company kitchen. Always well loaded down with chips, chocolate, and other favorite diet saboteurs! But...we also have a frig with company provided drinks that now include V-8 along with several types of diet drinks. And...the cabinet itself includes 100-cal packs of different things plus we normally have some fresh fruit. And...microwaves, toasters, and some other things so you can bring your own thing. Oh yeah, and oatmeal. But...they also tend to bring in pizza a lot and I just generally try to stay away from it. My office was recently moved so now I'm not ACROSS from the kitchen where even the smells used to get me.

For the travel/social thing--boy that *is* a challenge. I just try to make smart choices and be one of those picky orderers. For salads, I sometimes slip in a little container of my own salad dressing. And...I take my own snacks sometimes (like a banana). I've also found that requesting a vegetarian meal really helps cut down on the calories (I mean, even if it's a veggie burger that's a huge drop in calories over the beef). For restaurants, Thai is a favorite choice--I just pass on the rice and noodle dishes and get something full of veggies.

Now...the funny/good part about work--I find our kitchen a fabulous "dumping ground" when I'm gifted with...say chocolate at Christmas. I just bring it in, put it on the table, and everyone else moves in like little chocolate vultures and cleans it up for me :-) Also, when I really want a homebaked treat (occasionally) I fix cupcakes or cookies, eat a serving at home in the evening then put it all in containers and bring it to work the next day and again--all the other folks with no control or no weight problem move in and take care of the leftovers :)

We are a very small office and everyone knows everyone else's business. :gossip: I know that people are just trying to be nice and make you feel better, but often I feel like people are trying to get me to indulge by saying something to the effect of " oh you look great- you don't need to be on a diet" or " you are always so good, you deserve to have a little dessert." Most of the time I can firm up my resolve to be true to my needs, but it is like having five little devils :devil: sitting on your shoulder saying "go ahead, eat the chocolate muffin." VERY FRUSTRATING!!!! That is why I appreciate this website so much :hug: Thanks y'all!

Valentine Challenge
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St. Patty's Challenge
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Easter Challenge
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Cinco De Mayo Challenge and Done!!!!
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