By: Martina Cartwright, PHD, RD
Idea Author/Presenter

Workplace Weight Gain

The workplace can be a minefield for people trying to shed pounds. Co-workers can unknowingly torpedo weight loss efforts. The seemingly endless office celebrations and corporate events provide a steady stream of sugary indulgence that can sabotage the most strident dieter’s efforts. Deskside chats can tempt the most health-conscious employee into mindlessly reaching into the ubiquitous desktop candy jar, spurring weight gain.

Wansink, Painter & Lee (2006) found that secretaries given chocolates in clear jars reached for a sweet treat 71% more often than those given candies in an opaque vessel. As long as the clear dish was visible, the secretary ate 77 more calories a day, which could tack on 5 extra pounds each year (Wansink 2006c). Simply hiding the jar or placing it in a less convenient location quelled temptation. Desktop jars enticed the typical secretary into eating nine chocolates a day, or an extra 225 calories; however, stashing the jar in a desk drawer lowered the daily chocolate intake to six, and moving the jar a mere 6 feet away reduced intake to just four candies per day (Painter, Wansink & Hieggelke 2002).

The candy jar is one example of a dietary grenade; another is the “office feeder,” the co-worker who regularly deposits banana bread in the break room or leaves cookies next to the coffeepot. Simply seeing, smelling or thinking of food triggers hunger (Wansink 2006c). The good news is what is true for sweets is true for healthier foods as well. Openly displaying nutritious foods can encourage healthier workplace snacking.

While coffee breaks and corporate parties can foster camaraderie, they entice mindless eating. Here are a few tips for taming workplace temptation:

• Put a lid on goodies. Covering them with foil or a lid will curb mindless munching (Wansink 2006c).
• View the veggies: leave these uncovered to promote healthier grazing.
• When dining with a co-worker, split large portions.
• Socialize and celebrate without food.
• Limit happy-hour drinks/alcohol.
• Avoid desktop dining.
• Limit the “office feeder” influence.
• Set an example: bring in healthier snacks like fresh fruit, and replace the candy with dried fruit or nuts.
• Support co-workers who are trying to lose weight.

Social (Media) Support

About half of the Edelman (2011) survey respondents tapped online resources, including social networks, for health information. Today’s 24/7 social media provides an ideal forum for fitness seekers to garner support, motivation and inspiration. Wellness professionals can use these social media tips to help clients enlist supportive friends:

1. Have clients make a list of simple, realistic goals, like “I want to drop a few pounds this year by making healthier choices.” Then have them post on their Facebook page: “I’m trying to [LIST GOALS HERE], and I need your support.”
2. Next, have them tell their friends what specific support they need; for example, “I need you to suggest activities that don’t involve eating/to take an interest and ask me how I’m doing/to avoid chastising me if I eat a morsel of cheesecake/to help me avoid my triggers (emotional eating, buffets) and join me for exercise.”
3. Encourage clients to use Facebook and Twitter™ to talk about successes and challenges and to track progress over time.
4. Have clients enlist friends to be “on call” when temptation ensues or if motivation is needed.

Hitting the Gym With a Friend

Exercise has numerous health benefits, but motivation and adherence are big challenges. Couch potatoes are more likely to get moving and stick with activity programs if supportive friends are involved. Group cohesion, social interaction and positive reinforcement are strong motivators to starting and maintaining an exercise regimen (Courneya & McAuley 1995; Gruber 2008; Hogan, Linden & Najarian 2002; Korkiakangas et al. 2011).

Modeling of exercise behaviors among close friends has been observed (Darlow & Xu 2011). Friends influence each other’s exercise habits, but only if the perceived support is strong (Darlow & Xu 2011, Eyler et al. 1999; Trieber et al. 1991). Women who perceived themselves as receiving medium or high amounts of exercise-specific social support tallied more sport, leisure-time and total-activity minutes, but social support was not linked to regular non-exercise-specific activity (Eyler et al. 1999). Among men, participation in exercise and sports activities is associated with friend advocacy (Darlow & Xu 2011; Trieber et al. 1991). Although women receive more exercise encouragement than men, they are less likely to exercise (Darlow & Xu 2011; Gruber 2008). Regular and long-term exercise adherence would likely improve among women if their exercise programs involved specific activities and engaged social support.

As a whole, social influence is positively associated with exercise behaviors, intentions and attitudes. Gabriele et al. (2005) explored social encouragement, which focused on positive reinforcement and positive statements such as “people important to me encourage me to exercise,” as well as social constraint or negative reinforcement, reflected by statements such as “people will be disappointed in me if I quit exercising.” Social encouragement had a direct influence on exercise motivation and behavior, while social constraint influenced only exercise commitment. When motivating someone to exercise, it is best to focus on the pros of the activity and provide positive reinforcement, according to this study.

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