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Ask HN: How do you control your diet while working at a tech company?
48 points by beisner on April 5, 2019 | hide | past | favorite | 64 comments
I want to preface this question by saying that I know that those of us who work at tech companies where lots of free food is always readily available are very privileged (and perhaps spoiled...) in having that particular material need satisfied. Also, forgive me if this question has been asked before.

That said, I’ve been working in tech for a while now and every workplace I’ve been a part of has had basically unlimited junky snack food and provided buffet-style breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I constantly find myself failing to exercise restraint when eating in the office. This happens both through snacking and during meals. Furthermore, most of my meals are with my team, and I often find it extremely difficult to be disciplined about what I eat when the group decides what to eat together.

In contrast, during times in my life when I’ve had to cook every meal for myself, I found it extremely easy to control how many calories I ingested - these times are the only times I’ve been successful in losing weight.

Looking at the eating habits of my colleagues at various companies, I don’t think I’m the only one who has experienced this problem, where the high-availability of food and social nature of meals are a constant temptation. I love working where I do, so I don’t see this environment changing.

For those of you who are able to eat healthy, well-portioned diets (and perhaps even lose weight) while being surrounded by temptation at work, what strategies do you use to practice moderation? And for those of you who have changed your behaviors, how did you do so?



Drink more water. Make a point of picking appropriate snacks. Eat more veggies and protein.

Skip 'carby' food (noodles, rice, bread, potatoes) (this will help you from feeling sleepy later).

> I constantly find myself failing to exercise restraint

at least you know :)

> what strategies do you use to practice moderation? And for those of you who have changed your behaviors, how did you do so?

We ate a lot of Tex-Mex, started ordering chicken soup instead of enchilada plates.

Skipped breakfast doughnuts. Skipped pie and cake.

Didn't add sugar or flavoring to coffee. Replaced all sugary drinks with water.

Did 'quantified self'; every morning weighed myself in the bathroom and sequentially wrote my weight on the mirror with a dry-erase marker.


+1 to drinking more water (or tea!).

Also talk with HR or who ever is buying the food to see if they can order more healthier choices.


Caffeinated drinks (eg tea) should not be used as filler. They are drugs like any other over-the-counter drug, and should be used as such — when you need them.


>Drink more water.

Or tea. I've found a tea + a club soda is a nice break.


yes +1 to more water. Staying hydrated is really important too. I drink from 18 to 21 Oz of water per hour.

Also, every time I'm in the kitchen and I want something, I ask myself if I am really hungry or just have a random craving


Try Intermittent Fasting. I.e. eat only during 8/6/4-hour window every day (I personally prefer 6).

I find it much easier to live with the fact that at certain times I am not allowed to eat at all, than trying to control what I eat at all times. It also forced me to be more careful about choosing the right food during the eating window; I now want to get as much nutritional value as I can from my food, since the total amount of food I manage to eat in 6 hours is not that large.

The first week might be a challenge in terms of managing your hunger, but it gets easier after that. I now see hunger not as a signal that my body is starving, but a signal that my body gets used to being fed at certain times of the day. I now feel hungry only about an hour before my eating window.

I find skipping breakfast and any meals after 6 PM the easiest; but of course this might be different for you. It's just with this schedule your colleagues won't even notice that you are fasting unless you tell them.


  Try Intermittent Fasting. I.e. eat only during 8/6/4-hour window
This is Time-restricted feeding, not Intermittent fasting.


The 16/8 technique that he is referring to is normally called Intermittent Fasting, and is probably nowadays the most popular way of fasting


Talking from personal experience here. I am a 33 years old programmer, and I've been working on IT for 13+ years. I have always struggled with weight, and just like you, cooking myself and calorie counting are the only methods that work for me to lose weight (with or without exercise). Starting February I decided to diet (USDA guidelines except the diary recommendations), exercise regularly (4 days a week strength training and cardio, a day of full cardio, light walks the 2 other days), and for the first time started Intermittent Fasting daily , which basically means you have an 8 hours eating window for the total food of the day. Long story short, fasting was a game changer for me, cravings are gone now, I no longer feel the urgent need to eat when I see food or when my eating time starts, its so much easier to control myself and avoid over eating. I've lost about 9 kg of just fat and gained 2 kg of muscle, not to mention I have more energy overall, and doing it is actually very easy, it feels like I'm cheating somehow. As for the social situations involving food, that's the hardest actually. I tend to avoid them or I just attend and sit at the table to drink coffee or tea. Some other times I would just adjust my eating window and/or save calories (if I ingest more calories than normal that day, I would cut calories other days) when there is an incoming event. For me, it helps to see calories and macros (protein,fat,carbs) not as a daily requirement but something I have to comply with on a weekly basis. You will be tempted to follow what most people do during the day (mindless eating at any time), but please don't, it is highly unhealthy. And try to move and exercise , sitting for too long is literately killing us.


I have very serious health issues and dietary restrictions are a big part of remaining functional at all.

When I had a corporate job, I did not hesitate to bring my own stuff to team get togethers where food was provided. This soon caught on and my overweight boss, who was constantly dieting, began quietly bringing her own salad and eating a single piece of free pizza with the group instead of dutifully joining in on multiple slices of pizza plus breadsticks or whatever, then stressing about making up for going off her diet. Again.

The key to this is downplay and deflect. Do everything in your power to minimize attention given to the food you brought yourself.

Do not critize anyone else.

Do not complain about what is being served.

Do not in any way make other people feel judged, rejected, etc.

So no casual comments about the food being fattening or something. Practice your replies before you go so you don't say something unthinking in that vein.

Expect people to ask questions. Do not be huffy about their questions.

Be polite and friendly. Give an honest, but very minimal reply and change the subject.

"Oh, you know, I have some health issues. This is what I need today. So, nice work on that project this morning! How did you come up with that solution?"

Eventually, no one will care what you choose to eat.


If I feel full after a meal, I know I've made a mistake. Cutting most carbs (not Keto) is a great way to feel more full. Slow down when eating and completely avoid sugary drinks.

I weaned myself off of Coke by switching to Coke Zero then to water/tea/coffee with a sprinkle of a packet of sugar for taste.

Don't mindlessly eat at your desk. It's unsanitary and has been proven to cause people to eat more than they would consciously.

When you skip a meal, don't cave to your body's urge to eat double next meal. You will just send it straight to fat. Remember when you skip meals, then carefully portion the next meal to avoid the set back.

A good low carb, medium-low fat, high protein shake with lots of vitamins is a great way to skip a meal, maintain muscle mass, and avoid the insulin/cortisol cycle that drives fat storage. These shakes should be enough to discourage you from partaking in the temptation around you.

If the shakes aren't enough try celery, carrots, fresh fruit (not dried more on that later), and other low carb foods.

Never keep dried fruit around, it's too calorie dense for our own good. Would you eat 24 apricots? No? Then why are you eating 24 dried apricots?

I still don't bring lunch but I avoid pizza, taco bell, burgers, etc. Small bento box with lots of salad and no fried stuff. BBQ without any biscuits/bread. Rotisserie chicken with steamed vegetables. Protein shakes.


Here are a few tips:

Stay away from _everything_ carbonated. Evian, Perrier, Alka-seltzer, those foofy sodas with fruit flavors, and especially Diet Coke. These will spike your Ghrelin levels and make you hangry two hours after, way worse than the worst MSG-laced Chinese food.

Take fresh air breaks, prop open multiple windows, and spring for real office plants. CO2 might be a problem outside but it's not unusual for it to spike to 4-digit levels in a closed-up office (windowless glass-walled meeting rooms are awful). CO2 saps productivity in numerous ways, not least of which is making you hungry.

Take a multivitamin. Things like copper and magnesium help metabolism, and even the most hipster catering firms occasionally shortchange you on the minerals and vitamins you need most, particularly when you don't like 50% of the choices they present you with.

And, first seen here, use your napkin. Not to wipe your mouth and hands, but to signal to your brain that you're done eating. A wadded up napkin on top of otherwise edible food is a great way to limit your food intake.

As many of us had drilled into us growing up, there may be kids starving over in wherever, but you have to think past that. In today's day and age, those kids are as likely to be overfed as underfed.


What’s wrong with MSG?


I've found the thing that works for me to do is to log every single bit of food I eat from the office.

I keep measuring cups in the office kitchen and a food scale to weigh my food. If you're eating premade food that doesn't have a label, it makes it a little more difficult to count but apps like MyFitnessPal suggest similar items that make it easier to get a rough estimation of how many calories you're ingesting as well as how the macros break down for the items.

Luckily for me, my office tends to buy a lot of prepackaged items that have labels I can scan into the app to record everything but even then it can be hard to be precise. I've found that forcing myself to log the food I eat makes me think twice about going after the junk food and snacks. Also, the data you'll collect will be invaluable if you're tracking your weight as well and you can play around and see what calorie levels/macros work best for you.

As a side note, intermittent fasting has worked wonders for me when trying to cut weight. It makes it almost difficult for me to go over 1800 calories.


I've found that it's much easier to eat healthy when I regularly do some form of cardio exercise at least every other day.

After working out I naturally tend toward healthy foods, maybe because I don't want to undo all of the hard work.

When I don't work out for a while, my appetite and digestion get messed up and I start boredom eating more.


I just ban myself from eating anything with high carbs/sugar in the office. I find it easier to have classes of food that are not allowed rather than curtail myself at specific levels or count calories.


Write a journal about what is triggering temptations, and then come up with ways to interrupt.

e.g. here are common temptations and tips * Someone passing out donuts? Say you're gluten free (same with birthday cake,etc). * Do you walk by the snack drawer? either change your route, or grab something calorie free like gum or water * Are snacks at your desk? throw them out. The easier you can reach food, the more you eat. * Try fasting once in a while -- you will learn the sensation of physical hunger vs mental (habitual) hunger. Physical hunger means hunger pangs and headaches. * Drink a pint of water with psyllium husks 30 minutes before every meal. This will train you to get full off smaller portions. * If you are truly hungry (hunger pangs, headaches), eat fatty & protein rich foods.

Eventually you will reach a mental equilibrium where you are eating what you need. But willpower doesn't work--you have to treat your body like a dog and train it through conditioning


This is what I do:

20 or 30 minutes before lunch I eat an apple. There was a study a few years ago that showed you can crowd out unhealthy food by eating an apple or pear before every meal.

I bring in frozen vegetables from home and I have to eat them before I eat any of the office snacks.

Never drink soda.

Making clear rules makes it easier to follow compared to having to use willpower and thinking about each situation.


yup and apples rank as one of the highest satieting foods from the Holz Satiety studies.


I'm a big fan of the No S Diet: http://nosdiet.com/

No snacks, no sweets, and no seconds, except on days that start with S (including "special" days such as birthdays and holidays).

Yes, it's so simple that it feels stupid to call it a diet. It's supposedly how the French and Italians eat, and how Americans ate until the 80s or so. But it probably wouldn't have caught my eye if it wasn't called a "diet".

Part of the "no seconds" rule is that your portion should fit on one plate (within reason--you're allowed to put soup in a bowl, etc.)

It's really just portion control & limiting sugar, but spelled out in black & white for those of us who find advice like "everything in moderation" or "eat when you're hungry" hard to stick to.

And the website is delightfully Web 1.0.


I was struggling with the exact same problem myself (similar situation, all meals catered + various snacks everywhere).

Eventually, it was as simple as learning about the amount of calories I should be eating and keeping track of them. Perhaps the greatest difference was when I stopped pre-allocating calories the day ahead (like 400 breakfast, 600 lunch and so on) but I simply ate whenever I was feeling hungry. I prioritised foods which are filling but not calorie heavy (salad bar, lean proteins, yoghurts). This way, I was able to lose 25 pounds in roughly 3-4 months without much cognitive effort.

An extra tip would be to also start exercising regularly, it makes a world of difference.


The book "Hungry Brain" highlights your exact dilemma. When you have access to a massive variety of highly palatable caloric-dense food, you will be more inclined to eat it. When we have variety, we tend to eat more aka the "Buffet Effect". When you actively limit your variety each day i.e. eat similar foods each day, you will tend to eat less, and therefore, lose weight/feel healthier.


> And for those of you who have changed your behaviour, how did you do so?

- Notice it when I eat something just to “feel good”, or to distract myself from “feeling bad” because some kind of stressor came up. Food is fuel not a stimulant.

- Notice the moment the urge to snack hits, and ask myself if a glass of water will do. Somehow for a while I confused thirst for hunger, doesn’t happen now.

- Work out: seems to have a positive impact over time on food consumption patterns too.

The most important thing is that you already know this is a behaviour change problem (not just blaming your physical body). Meditation helped me a lot with that.


Learn about calories, learn what a 400cal meal looks like, plan from there!


I second this.

As for my personal implementation it’s usually a morning workout then breakfast for my girlfriend and myself. Usually scrambled eggs and egg whites with scallions, peppers, spinach, toast, and coffee.

Lunch, if any, is usually a black tea and a tin of tuna. The odd day I’ll buy a salad with chicken or hard boiled eggs.

Another workout or run and then supper is usually a combination of a protein, a carb (often pearl barley, brown rice, or sweet potato) and greens of any variety.

One hint: you can nearly eat as many greens as you want. Limit your carbs to what’s necessary. Make sure you get enough protein as that’ll supply the best energy, and fats in the morning help you feel pretty satiated all day long.

Also: beer is a gift from whatever god or mathematical formulae or whatever brought all matter into being—but those calories add up fast so watch out for them. Pop/soda, including something innocuous like Ginger Ale, is just as bad.

YMMV

Edit: should note that I also track my rough calorie burn using an Apple Watch 4 and my food intake with a simple kitchen scale, eyeballing portions, and a calorie tracking app called Lose It that pulls my calorie expenditure from my watch to give me a calorie budget for the day with deficits from exercise calculated in.


100cal photo gallery

https://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?...


are you talking about this article?

https://www.economist.com/news/2019/03/16/death-of-the-calor...


My answer is going to be controversial: I don't control my diet (much). Instead, I burn the equivalent caloric intake.

The math is simple enough for engineers. Nutrients and vitamins are important, but most of weight is calories in vs calories out. ~3500/pound of flesh. What did you weigh 6 months ago vs now? Multiply by 3500, divide by 180 and there's your additional calories burned per day you need to hit. (I prefer to aggregate by week and do fewer, longer/harder sessions). Take a morning 30 minute walk. Run the neighbourhood three times a week. Whatever it takes.

I find that being aware of the pain of burning additional calories also tends to make me be a bit more aware of what I'm eating. I love these muffins I can get at my local grocery store, but when I realized they were 500 calories each I went "hold on, that's a half an hour of hard running on the treadmill!".

I found that for me, paying a personal trainer was worth the cost because I have a hard time going to the gym otherwise. I'm still working on that, finding a way to force myself to work out without the trainer, but I like the guy and he really does make sure I get the most of my time at the gym.


Calories and weight are a very clumsy approximation of health. There are many other considerations in a nutrition profile, not to mention the inadequacy of repetitive "exercise" motions.


I think "dieting" in general is more difficult when you ignore one other part of the equation - exercise/movement.

I find my appetite is much easier to control when I'm lightly moving around most of the day.

Also keeping hydrated (while avoiding sugars) can reduce urges - I drink tea or water.

Finally, keeping healthier snacks around can fight the unhealthy ones if they're a habit.


I have a couple strategies: - If im hungry I drink a glass of water first. Most of the time I drink something that impulse to eat goes away while satisfying my wandering mind. - I like to eat apples, they are sweet enough to be a good snack but not very high in calories. - I bike to work (4mi each way) which helps if I do eat more than I want.


Use MyFitnessPal to track what you're eating and your goal weight. At the end of the day, it'll estimate your weight in 5 weeks if you ate like that every day for five weeks. (e.g., "If every day were like today... You'd weigh 158.9 lbs in 5 weeks")

It's a good incentive to avoid tempting, but unnecessary foods.


One big factor is just knowing what you're eating. If you're lucky enough to work somewhere that provides meals, request that your food services provide nutritional data so that you can make healthy choices. Once you have that information, it's up to you what to do with it.


Well, you'll lose if you don't exercise mindfulness. When I started in tech I was 145 and fit as an ox. Finally at one point 2 years ago I was 250 closing in on 260 and I decided to take charge. I'm now at 194 but those 10 years of bad habits can't have done good.


You need to approach this as an exercise in habit building. Build up a healthy approach to food in steps, not all at once. Saying 'I'm going to eat healthy from today' is unlikely to work.

Saying 'in 6 months I will have developed healthy eating habits' is a much better approach. Then build this habit step by step. First: reduce sugar. Build up a strong habit of refusing sweet things, one type at a time. Refuse donuts - or whatever, but pick one thing that will be hard but not impossible for you to resist. Once that's a habit and you no longer crave donuts, add soda to the list. Then add cake. In this time, you have to be very firm with these habits. In six months once the habits are strong, you can break them sometimes.


I switched to a low-carb diet about 10 months ago. Not only does it work well (in the sense of helping me lose weight, feel great, and have my blood tests come back "OK"), almost all the crap food at the office is high-carb, so it naturally cuts it out. I find it much easier to decide not to eat crap carbs at all rather than trying to eat only a modest amount of them.

If you're currently eating a carb-heavy diet, especially if it's a sugar-heavy or HFCS-heavy diet, days 3-7 could be pretty miserable, but after that, my sweet tooth largely goes away.


Drink lots of carbonated water and don’t eat until you hear your stomach making gurgling sounds, then eat until you’re full. I put on some weight in December / January (due to holiday foods, and then an accident that stopped me from exercising for a few weeks). Following these guidelines I’ve shed those ~10 pounds. YMMV.

Edit: at my job we have free snacks, coffee and water, but no meals or sugary beverages so not exactly your same situation.


I'm a carbonated water fan. I like to put a tiny bit of lemonade or juice in there (maybe ~30 calories worth) - feels like a legit snack.


This seems like something many young adults work out in college. The "freshman 15" is exactly what you're describing except with the school dining hall instead of the workplace cafeteria. You just need to learn to say no, it's really as simple as that. If that's not possible consider you may need medication like Vyvanse or other medical help to stop your excessive eating.


In my experience my "freshman -15" (due to skipping meals or not eating food in the dining commons) became a "freshman +15" at work (because the food was better and more regular) :(


I only succeed by banning myself from office snacks entirely (or only allowing a couple explicit healthy options).

For meals I only eat from the salad bar. It takes a few days to really set this this in motion, but then it's easier to maintain until I've cut the weight I want to.

If you've never succeeded before in losing weight it helps to have a personal trainer if you can afford it.


I would also like to add to this, that when I do salad at work, I don't add cheese or dressing. As long as there is variety of veggies, you won't need them.


I do add a little cheese and use a little olive oil with vinegar, but yeah definitely something you have to watch.


It's easier to avoid the food completely vs. just eating once in a while. Make your own food, bring it with you, eat with your coworkers in the cafe. Feel free to drink as many calorie free or nearly calorie free drinks from work although.

I gave up long ago on tech companies serving a 'diet plan' cafeteria line of food, like they may do for vegans or similar.


My employer provides fruits and snacks, from those I only eat the fruits, some times I bring lunch.

I also go to the gym every weekday after work hours (one hour of cardio, and weight lifting).

Saturdays I usually go skiing (during Winter, of course), or hiking with friends (during Summer).

Sundays I stay at home watching movies, or reading a whatever article I bookmarked during the week.


I have a coworker who had a similar situation and outsourced as a solution. He hired a personal chef who makes well portioned meals + snacks that he brings in every day. He only eats those and none of the office snacks. He’s still social at mealtime, but he just only eats what he’s brought from home.

I’m sure it’s expensive, but it seems to have been effective for him.


I'm really bad at preventing myself from eating junk, to the point where I gained well over ten points on my first month at work…I ended up drinking a ton of carbonated water to fill myself so I wouldn't eat as much and it seemed to help somewhat. That and ten packets of wasabi seaweed because it's low on calories.


I recently had lunch at a startup that offered a "simple lunch" option: chicken breasts, grilled vegetables, and a starch. Apparently they did this every day, a simple healthy meal. More places should do that IMHO.


One technique that helps me is: putting a healthier choice within reach.

If a banana or apple is in reach of your keyboard, you don't even have to get up! win-win!

Also, plan and purchase healthier choices when your blood sugar is in a good state. :)


Just do a weekly 60 hour fast during the weekend. But you probably won't do it. The human mind tends to seek complicated solutions evading the simple ones.


Keeping close track of all calories, setting a daily ceiling on calories, and trying to burn ~1000 calories a day via exercise so I can enjoy slightly larger meals.


Figure out who is selecting the food, and offer to help them choose. They may consider the selection process a hassle and may (or may not!) appreciate the help.


i'm writing a book about this actually, and giving away some free copies... fitnessforhackers.com

even folks who buy it, get a 100% refund in exchange for progress pics.


I’m afraid to say it’s fairly easy for me. Two days of the week we get free fruit. Other than that, nothing is subsidised.


As someone who just ate a bunch of Oreos and a Coke from the snack room, I can deeply relate to this post.


Do what I do at my company that has no free snacks etc on an average day - fast or only drink coffee.


Agree. If you feel hungry at work then drink more tea/coffee as those are rich in caffeine and no calories if you drink black with no sugar.

Also, never have loose dollar bills or change within ready access for your weak moments. You should get to a point where you can walk past a vending machine with your head held high and not blink!


Absolutely no carbs or sugar.


Instead of putting more shit in your mouth, don’t.

I wish all problems were that easy!


Poorly


You don't. Drink up, son.


I’m answering this in a sincere manner: if you want to eat healthy, the just eat healthy. There’s no trick or “life hack” needed.


I'm not sure a tautological response is very helpful to the person asking.

Yes, it's important to eat healthy. More interesting is how to walk the path.


There are no smaller steps for him to take. No skills, knowledge, tools, services required. He's not asking how to build a website. No different than other advice here... don't drink soda... do drink water... don't eat carbs... At some point he just has to do it.




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