For those of you who know me personally, you know I almost NEVER go to work without bringing food for the day. I eat my breakfast and lunch at my desk, as well as bringing fruit or veggies for snacks. I like knowing what I have, fitting it into my daily food budget and then I know what I can have for dinner, plus I don’t have to waste time at lunch finding something to eat.
BUT, not today! I didn’t plan ahead; I was rushing around this morning getting my kids off to school, and as I was walking out the door, I felt kind of naked, I had no food! What am I going to eat today, I thought?
There is a 7-11 near my office, but I didn’t want to go there, because there are the HUGE muffins I love. There is a tiny market by my office, so I thought I would stop there and see what my choices were.
I ended up getting skim milk, a small individual size box of cereal and a banana. Not bad. The cereal was kind of in one of those cup things, and it as 220 calories; I had ½ the milk which was 60 calories and a banana.
Now, food is hard around my office, especially lunch. We usually have luncheon seminars where the food is brought in. Although I don’t attend all of them, there are always leftovers!
Today, it is boxed lunches from Panera Bread. I’ve had those a bunch of times. It’s usually a turkey sandwich, a bag of chips and a chocolate chip cookie. My co-worker who is also in weight loss mode and attending the seminar asked me what the best choice was.
Luckily, Panera has their nutritional information on-line and you can actually build your lunch and see how many calories it is. Imagine my reaction to find out that if you would actually eat the whole sandwich, the chips AND the cookie, it would be 1,570 calories, 85 grams of fat and 157 grams of carbs and 8 grams of fiber. What?!
The worst part of the sandwich (and since it’s already made, you can’t change it) is the mayonnaise on the sandwich. JUST FOR THE MAYONNAISE, its 320 calories and 34 grams of fat! The bread is the culprit too. The Asiago Focaccia bread ALONE is 510 calories and 16 grams of fat!!
So, my suggestion to her was to try to scrape off as much mayonnaise as possible, maybe eat half the bread, eat the chips, but pass on the cookie. And the rep only ordered water, so that’s about the only good thing!
It’s amazing to me that a company can actually make food that is so bad for you. You may as well have a BIG MAC for heavens sake! If you were to have a BIG MAC and medium fries with water, it would be 920 calories and 58 grams of fat. You would save 450 calories and 27 grams of fat. Obviously, that’s not a great choice either, but it really makes you think. We have lunches delivered every week to our office, and mostly boxed lunches, and you wouldn’t think that you were actually consuming all of your calories in one day for one stinkin’ meal! No wonder Americans have such an obesity problem. People are eating lunches like that, in ADDITION to breakfast and dinner and possibly snacks, not realizing how many calories they have consumed.
Whenever I can, I always go on line to see if the nutritional information is available, or at least the menu, so I can kind of figure out what the best option can be. I also confer with my sister, or someone else who is knowledgeable in making good food choices, so at least you have a plan.
Of course, there have been plenty of times where I have eaten something and AFTERWARDS looked up the nutritional information and kicked myself for not checking first. It pays to be proactive about what we are putting in our bodies!!
Have any of you brought your own food to a work provided lunch? I’ve considered doing that a few times, but feel self conscious about doing so, and not wanting to make a big deal about it, or draw attention to myself. But when it can save you a thousand calories, then why not?
So, my friend just offered to drive to Whole Foods for lunch, where I plan to get a healthy salad and I have my own dressing here at work, so for not planning so well, everything is going to be just fine!!
Sneaky!! And that turkey sandwich is so pretty too. It’s amazing how accustomed we get to big portion sizes. I think we should automatically assume that any time food is provided for us – at a restaurant, seminar, or conference setting – it’s going to be too much!
BODA weight loss
Oh, any and all places add the salt and butter and the mayo to get us addicted. I read that there is only one item on the McDonald’s menu that does not have salt purposely added (coffee, but bottled water does not count, as it is not actually prepared on site). And Stephanie is right, portion sizes are insane.
Bring your lunch. Better yet, start going overboard with some of the amazing low cal meals that are out there. Bet a lot of folks will be jealous… To cut the costs, two can eat as cheaply as one, suggest to your diet buddy that you each switch off days. Make it a challenge to come up with the best looking and tasting low cal meal.
I struggle with this every day, good luck
I always pack a lunch every day, regardless of what food may be at the office. I work for a national grocery chain, so food is always at my fingertips if I don’t pack one. I say pack a lunch if you want. It’s your ONLY guarantee for a healthier option.
Whoa, that is a lot of calories. I’m not sure why they even slater on that mayo. Mayo sucks anyway. It would be great if they had a “do-your-own-sandwich” bar. Probably will be cheaper, too! Perhaps you can request such options?
I am in total shock about the calories of that lunch!
I have not brought my lunch to a work event, but I have done the next best thing. If the event is only a lunch, I’ll go and drink a glass of water with my coworkers, then go back and eat at my desk. Or, I may just skip lunch altogether. Or, I might just eat a bag of almonds on a break.
Excuse my french, but what the hell? If Subway can make a FOOT long turkey sandwich be 560 calories, how are they doubling it???? What additives can possibly be in there?? That’s so dishonest to take naturally healthy food and alter it to a point where a Big Mac puts it to shame. Ick. I’m so turned off now, by the food and by the company.
I’ve luckily always worked close enough to home to be able to run home for lunch and let the dog out. I also always have snacks in my purse and car, to the point of ppl teasing me about it and it being an inside joke.
they’re actually TRIPLING it, not doubling it … pardon my ridiculously bad math skills.
i feel exactly the same way when i dont bring food to work! we go out to lunch at my office sometimes and i would often rather just eat what i brought, since i know i like it and that its healthy.
its crazy to think of a turkey sandwich being worse for you than a big mac. for someone like you or me who takes the time to check out the nutrition, we know to avoid that, but i can only imagine how confusing it must be for most of america!!!