It’s 3pm. You’re in the office, and you had a really early and insubstantial lunch, so your stomach is rumbling, even though there’s still a good chunk of time before dinner.
Have an apple, your brain suggests. But you don’t feel like a damn apple. You’re tired and kind of bored and you know that the situation can only be rectified by your favourite kind of snack – Tim Tams.
So you pop to the shop and get a packet of Tim Tams. You leave them in the top drawer of your desk and grab a couple to munch on while you get back on with your work.
And then a couple more.
Before you know it, your fingers are scraping against the end of the packet rather than another biscuit. You’ve demolished the entire thing in the space of about half an hour. And, now that you think about it, you feel seriously unwell.
Does the mindless office snacking sound familiar? I know I’ve done it a thousand times – crammed my face with random junk, not because I particularly wanted it, just because I was bored and wanted something to do.
Office snacking is mindless eating. You’re not paying full attention to what you’re doing, so it’s obscenely easy to overeat without realising just how much you’re eating. And, of course, it can have a significant impact on your health.
Top Comments
Everyone has different issues when it comes to food or none at all! For me it is food addiction when it comes to certain foods - definitely sugar, coffee and salty/flavoured snack food. I decided not to eat those any more ever - and replace it with things that don't make me want to eat the whole block or packet. Finally after years of misery I can eat like a normal person and be the weight I want to be. I also eat every 2 hours and sip herbal tea with stevia in between. It's not a one solution fits all proposition.
It must be just me, but I find the comments below bewildering! I never have an afternoon snack at work - chocolate or otherwise! I will have a slice of cake at someone's birthday, but that's it. I have coffee in the morning, lunch and then dinner ... occasionally a cup of coffee or tea in the afternoon if I need a pick me up, but never food. How can you get hungry between 1pm and 7pm? Can't people just wait until they get home and have a dinner with the family? The idea of finishing a packet of biscuits by myself is horrifying.
1pm & 7pm? That's 6 hours! I can't really go 4 hours without eating something..