Although Covid infections are still ever-present, the severity of the infections seems to be much less. We are no longer hearing stories about the lack of ventilators and/or the multiple daily deaths. Stadiums are full of screaming fans, concerts are packed with music lovers and in many other ways, things are “opening up”.
Another major change is that many companies are now mandating that their employees return to the workplace. Yes, there are a number of people that are allowed to still “telework” but more and more, people are heading back to the office.
Concerning weight control, there are some “plusses and minuses” when focusing on the difference between being at home and working at the corporate office. Here are some of the “helpful” features to weight control when going back to the workplace:
- No longer having access to your pantry and other “snack” locations
- Needing to “dress up” and having the added motivation of wanting to look good in your clothes in front of others at the office
- Having in-person (as opposed to Zoom) socialization, taking away from the boredom that often translates into “boredom eating”.
On the other hand, there are challenges to weight control for those that are mandated to go back to the workplace including:
- Exercise time has not turned into commute time
- Added time pressure with the commute and unchanged responsibility to children’s issues subtracts from “planning time” required for meals and snacks
- The “candy jar” person is now right in front of you and that person, as well as the others at work that love pizza, burgers and sandwiches for lunch are now playing a role in your dietary choices again.
I am certain that individually, there are other bullet points you can add to both categories listed above.
For those of you returning to the workplace, try to identify, in advance, those factors that make weight control more challenging. Once identified then develop a “solution list” that can help overcome these obstacles.
And for those of you that are still allowed to telework from home: Similarly, identify those obstacles to your weight control that are produced by NOT going back to the workplace and take the steps needed to navigate around those challenges.
And to end this post with a song, here is a fun song from an old Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith picture, “Working Girl: The song was written and song by Carly Simon for the movie. Enjoy a throwback movie and song.
