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"Hi guys! As I think you&amp;amp;#8217;ve already figured out, I&amp;amp;#8217;ve had a tough week, food-wise. But thankfully, the decision to be healthy and fit is made daily, and today is a new day! That&amp;amp;#8217;s why I&amp;amp;#8217;m so thrilled to introduce you to Megan from Runner&amp;amp;#8217;s Kitchen, which I just LOVE reading. Her tips for avoiding food temptation on the job are a great if the office is your greatest battleground, or if you feel your eating habits need a little revamp in general. Welcome her! Here&amp;#x27;s a quintessential Runner&amp;#x27;s Kitchen photo. Megan posts pics of what she eats everyday! Hello Shape Up Readers! I&amp;#x27;m pumped to be guest-blogging for Karina today. For those of you who aren&amp;#x27;t familiar with my blog, I write about running, cooking, and balanced eating. I strive to eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins most of the time, (sounds like the basic gist of Body by Glamour!) but I also LOVE things like French fries and ice cream. I&amp;#x27;m pretty active and not trying to lose any weight, so I can indulge in the occasional treat. (And you can too!) But sometimes my life gets pretty busy (work, running, social activities, the blog) and if I&amp;#x27;m not well-prepared, too much junk can find its way into my daily routine. I&amp;#x27;ve been working at my 9-5 desk job for a few years now, and I think I&amp;#x27;ve figured out a pretty good system for healthy eating while on the clock. Here are my tips: Being prepared: - Every night before I go to bed, I plan out the next day&amp;#x27;s breakfast, lunch, and snacks. By packing most of my own food I can save money and make healthier choices. Don&amp;#x27;t wait until the morning to pack snacks - you&amp;#x27;ll inevitably be more rushed. - Rather than bringing a big bag of trail mix, pretzels, or cookies to work, I portion out one serving in a plastic baggie or Tupperware. When I get stressed, I crave crunch and it would be wayyyyy too easy for me to eat a whole bag of something if I didn&amp;#x27;t pre-portion the snack. - If you know you&amp;#x27;re going to a fancy restaurant for a lunch meeting or that there will be birthday cupcakes for a co-worker, plan ahead! I never skip meals, but sometimes I will eat a lighter breakfast (like fruit and a small yogurt) in anticipation of a heavy lunch. Or I&amp;#x27;ll make a co-worker&amp;#x27;s birthday cupcake my afternoon snack--instead of what I brought from home. It may not be the most nutrient-dense choice, but at least I&amp;#x27;m only having one snack instead of two! Avoiding temptation: - Everyday, the Mr. Softee ice cream truck parks itself outside my office building. Talk about temptation! It&amp;#x27;s tough, but if I know I have healthy snacks waiting for me in my desk drawer it&amp;#x27;s easier to avoid. If I start to feel tempted by the ice cream truck jingle, I make a beeline for the antioxidant packed fruit stands instead! Fresh summer fruits are (almost) as sweet and delicious as ice cream! - If your office kitchen is constantly filled with goodies (ours has a near-constant supply of girl scout cookies!) it can be tough to prevent over-indulging. I try to stay out of the kitchen as much as possible. The old saying &amp;quot;out of sight, out of mind&amp;quot; does work sometimes! - If office parties are your downfall, make a game plan in advance. On Monday morning, make the decision that you will treat yourself to just one birthday cupcake, free pizza slice, or morning doughnut per week. You can still participate in all office celebrations, but instead of focusing on the food--engage in conversation with your co-workers, offer to cut and serve the cake, or keep a cup of tea/seltzer in your hand. The busier your hands and mouth are, the less tempted you&amp;#x27;ll be! Making healthy choices: - I have a great cafeteria at my job, so I take advantage of the salad bar every day. I love the variety of veggies I can get--no prep work required! Sometimes I&amp;#x27;m tempted by the cafeteria&amp;#x27;s yummy offerings (buffalo wings, burgers, pizza, etc), but I tell myself the following: &amp;quot;Wait until tonight or this weekend. If you still really want pizza, you can go to a pizza parlor in Little Italy and get a great slice&amp;quot;. If I&amp;#x27;m going to indulge, I don&amp;#x27;t want it to just taste so-so. I want my treat to be the BEST quality possible. - Keep your desk drawers/purse stocked with non-perishables like dried fruit, trail mix, whole grain granola bars, dry cereal, apples, and individually wrapped dark chocolates. If you have a fridge, you can stock low-fat milk, yogurt, and string cheese. I&amp;#x27;m sure you&amp;#x27;ve heard these examples before, but they really do make great snacks! - If you find yourself reaching for snacks out of boredom and not hunger, try an alternative. I like to make a cup of hot herbal tea or get an iced coffee with milk to keep my mouth busy. Going for a brisk walk around the block or brushing your teeth in the ladies room can also get rid of a craving. Thanks Megan! Weren&amp;#x27;t those tips wonderful? I think making a decision on Monday morning for how you will deal with office parties and freebies is key. I also really like the idea of waiting for the right time to indulge. I too think my treat should be the BEST quality possible! What do you think? Is the office your downfall? Do you have a hard time resisting temptation? Do you need to empty out your desk drawer of stuff that&amp;#x27;s bad for you? Or do you have some effective strategies of your own for making healthy choices? Please share! Plus: Tired of the same old salad? Try these ideas! Get Glamour Wherever You Go! Follow us on Twitter. Friend us on Facebook. Add us to your Google homepage."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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