the mid afternoon office slump

I know I'm not the first person to say it and I definitely won't be the last, but working in an office really doesn't help with my attempts at sticking to a healthier diet.  It's rare that a day goes by without someone buying a packet of biscuits, cakes, chocolates, doughnuts, sweets to share with everyone, and they're always placed directly in my eye line.  I can practically smell them while I sit at my desk typing away.
I was reading Women's Health earlier this week, and there was an article about how to avoid putting on weight while at work...I don't mean literally putting on weight while you're sitting at your desk, starting the day weighing 10st and leaving weighing 14, but all the things that contribute to a those muffin tops within the office.
The article mentioned various 'fat traps' from things like being too busy to take a proper lunch break, being stressed, and apparently even being too cold can have an affect (who knew being chilly makes your body store fat...on goes the heating!).  I'm generally pretty good at taking my lunch break, if I can, I'll even squeeze in a yoga class, I'm not usually too stressed, and in the main, the office is pretty toasty.  
But the one that did leap out? 'The Food Bully' - this is that person that always encourages you to have a slice of cake, a cheeky doughnut, an extra chocolate, because it's someone's birthday, it'd be rude not to, it's the bake off tonight, you catch my drift! And apparently, I quote WH, 'if just one of your team is obese, your own risk double's'.  Now there's no-one in my office that is obese, in fact, I think we're a pretty trim team as it goes, but I do sit on a bank of desks with two 19 year old guys (yes, I feel old every day!) who eat whatever and whenever they want.  So trying to tuck in my lettuce leaves and plain chicken while they're chowing down on a Maccy's D and a chocolate muffin for pud isn't always so easy.
Over the years, I've actually got pretty good at food prepping, and taking in my own lunch (just take a look at my Instagram to see what I'm usually eating at my desk), but recently I've relaxed my diet, and the treat table seems to be piled higher than ever.  The fact we take part in our game of Bake Off doesn't help the situation, and it would rude for me not to sample the competition.  Our office Bake Off came to an end last week, so I'm determined to try and get back into eating better, my meals are generally good, I just need to curb my snacking.

I can't be the only one that hits 3pm and hits that wall.  You know the sort I mean, the sort where you're struggling to keep your eyes open, all the numbers in the spreadsheet in front of you are jumping about and the thought of concentrating for another 2 and a half hours is enough to make you get up and walk out there and then? Ok so maybe that's an exaggeration, but you catch my drift.  
And it's true, I'm not that only one who feels like that,  when my dad was still working, he was very much an advocate of the 3pm banana, he believed it's what got him through the rest of the afternoon, I should take note.

Anyway, the good people at GoToMeeting have come up with a list of snacks that are not only healthy, but also boost energy and productivity, something that I definitely require when I hit my 3pm slump.  
So it's goodbye to the stash of chocolate covered cereal bars and low calorie crisps I've got hiding in my top drawer, and not to reach out for crackers and houmous (high in protein, iron and antioxidants apparently) and yoghurt and banana smoothies (lots of fibre to maintain fullness, and full of magnesium to help maintain energy levels).  Despite the benefits of eating hard boiled eggs, I'd still like my colleagues to be my friend so I'm not sure I'll be whipping those out mid-afternoon any time soon, but I'll definitely start thinking about reaching for a handful of trail mix before I crack open the biscuit tin.
Ok, that's a lie, I'm not a big nut fan, so I'll definitely be thinking about the biscuit tin when I open the trail mix packet, and let's be honest, the raw cacao at the top of this list of 15 energy boosting snacks is definitely the one that's got the most of my attention...

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