The work from home diet

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5150

In the early days of my working from home career I used to joke that I ate all day and that lunch was always free, all I had to do was open the fridge or the pantry at any time. Honestly, it’s a true story for most of us - just grab a snack, grab a drink, spill something on your work from home uniform and repeat several times a day. Fast forward a few thousand days into my working from home career and not much has changed – hungry at 9:30AM after that annoying European conference call? Go and grab a hot dog! I didn’t grab enough chips this morning, so I’ll have a second helping at 3:00PM.
 
Chips and salsa on my shirt – who cares, no video calls scheduled today.
 
…….what if I mix salsa & cheese together and cover it with guac?
 
The work from home diet is obviously different for everyone and for your sake I hope that’s true. I have plenty of colleagues who eat all day, eat on calls and seem to get larger every time I see them (what do they think of me?). Then there’s the colleague who doesn’t drink caffeine, wants to make sure their chicken comes from the finest of farms and uses the group text (yes, we have one) to show off pictures of themselves doing CrossFit at 6AM. Overachiever is what I say!
 
In honor of my high cholesterol after years of eating like an 18-year-old, I’ve started to take the following baby steps to a healthy eating regime at home. I’m by no means an expert, but when it comes to diet I am finding the less temptation at home the better.

• More fruit! Fruit is delicious and I do a banana every day and throw in a few apples throughout the week. Pineapple has become a staple as well in my diet, but I’m picky about the texture. If there is a tough spot or it’s too stringy the whole thing goes in the trash! I’m a monster I know. 
  
  
• Less meat! I hate seeing this and I really hated typing this, but less meat is unfortunately a big part of my path forward. I’ve been limiting myself to one serving of red meat a week and I cut out kids food like chicken nuggets & hotdogs, which always made for a quick meal in-between calls. We’ve been doing a lot more grilled chicken here in the homeplaceofthefuture and getting suburban crazy with the grille and the different ways we can serve that chicken up.
  
  
• Saturated Fats! I’m a guy so I’ve never looked at the nutrition facts on packaging ever. I was shocked at how high some foods are in saturated fats (the bad fat). Regular staples in my diet like butter, macaroni salad and breakfast meats are out the door now. Oatmeal for breakfast has replaced my bacon omelet concoction. Sad times, but look at these labels and get ready to be conscious of these numbers as you sit on your butt 10-12 hours a day at home.
  
  
• Vegetables! These are the worst, but I am finding a few things that are easy to do including…..gulp veggie burgers! I said it, come and take my man card away, but I’ve been testing various veggie burgers and I have to say with enough bacon grease they are all wonderful. Okay kidding there (or am I?), but grilling these up with some low-fat cheese & salsa as a topping has become a regular part of my lunch – it’s not terrible, but it’s not something I tell my friends or family that I do either, it’s a secret sin. All of this keep in mind is to save my cholesterol and help fight the heart disease which runs rampant in my family.
  
  
• Fish Oil Pills! Nothing worse than fish – it is worse than even vegetables. Fish that smells fishy is an insult, but fish that is fried in a golden-brown crunch is a wonderful thing. What a pity the bad kind of fish isn’t good for the old arteries. To get the some of the benefits of eating good fish I take 2 fish oil pills a day – store them in the freezer and you won’t get those fish burps #themoreyouknow

The above tips and tricks are all part of my journey into a healthier eating career while I sit on my butt and save lives 10-12 hours a day. Your diet and journey to a healthier work from home diet will hopefully vary - the key thing is to be conscious, get proactive and avoid the temptation of eating those delicious non-organic, non-free-range hot dogs every day for lunch!