Healthy eating habits often start at your desk at work - San Francisco Chronicle

As we make the post-holiday trek back to work, we are full of private promises:

I vow to actually use that gym membership. I'll lay off the Chunky Monkey. I will wear skinny jeans again.

Yet nutrition experts say one of the best places to make healthy changes is right at our work desks, where, increasingly, we are staying plugged in through lunchtime and mindlessly gobbling down whatever our company, or nearby food truck, provides.

"People are connected to a screen all the time now, and if you are not mindful of what you are eating, your brain doesn't send the satiation message to your stomach, and you'll overeat, guaranteed," says Hilda Moscoso Carey^[1] , a clinical dietitian at Kaiser Permanente^[2] in San Francisco.

Many of her patients work in the gaming and social media industry, where leaving for lunch is culturally frowned upon, and employers keep workers in the building with daily catered lunches, fully stocked kitchens and open espresso bars.

Mindless eating of just three jellybeans a day can lead to a calorie creep that puts on a pound in a year's time, according to Cornell University^[3] professor and food psychologist Brian Wansink^[4] , whose forthcoming book "Slim By Design: Mindless Eating Solutions to Everyday Life" is based on watching people eat through two-way mirrors and hidden cameras in the faux restaurants and living rooms of his Cornell Food and Brand Lab^[5] .

He found that eating behavior is heavily influenced by environment, what others were eating at the same time, the lighting, the size of the plate, food packaging, the show that was on television at the time, the music in the room. Silicon Valley tech giants, Midwestern packing plants and the Department of Defense^[6] all hired Wansink to redesign their workplaces to encourage healthy eating.

"The average person makes over 200 decisions about food every day," he says. "Yet most of these a person cannot really explain. If we knew why we ate the way we do, and ate a little less, we'd be a little healthier and enjoy it a lot more."

Mindless habits

When we are mindless at mealtime, we chew faster, which can lead to a host of digestion problems, says Jo Ann Hattner^[7] , a registered dietitian at Stanford Medical School^[8] . She is working on a study of participants who overwhelmingly eat on the run and at their desks.

"We are multitasking our way to bloating, gas, indigestion and irritable bowel syndrome," Hattner says.

Moscoso Carey and her three dietitian colleagues have "sacred lunch" each day, meeting to slow down and focus on flavor and taste. Often they take a walk after eating.

But most people don't work in places that subscribe to the slow food movement. Dietitians and nutritionists advocate leaving the desk to eat, whether that's taking a walk, going to a restaurant or, barring that, at the minimum using a screen saver to stave the urge to check e-mail or Facebook while eating.

But for those who must eat through lunch, there are ways to do it better and worse.

"Eating at your desk is a reality, and it can be OK, provided you bring it yourself," says Sabine Haake^[9] , a clinical dietitian and nutrition therapist at Community Health Resource Center^[10] at California Pacific Medical Center^[11] in San Francisco.

"If you bring your lunch, you can control the balance of protein, vegetable, fruit and grains, and the portion size," she says.

Packing lunch

When packing a lunch, think 50 percent fruit and vegetables, 25 percent starch and 25 percent protein, such as a quinoa salad with kale, apples and tuna mixed in a light lemon vinaigrette (see the accompanying recipe from Chronicle staffer Amanda Gold^[12] ).

Reheated leftovers such as root vegetable stews or soups are filling as long as they contain protein such as fish or chicken or meat, or a grain such as couscous or brown rice.

Nutritionists give the thumbs up to sandwiches, as long as they are not the monster-deli size, and not slathered with rich condiments such as mayonnaise and cheese spread. One example would be a whole wheat pita filled with a yogurt-based creamy cucumber salad and a few shrimp mixed in (see recipe).

Good snacks are fruits and nuts.

And one of the easiest changes to make is in the drinking glass.

"People drink an ungodly amount of calories from drinks," Moscoso Carey says. "These places that have soda fountains or fridges full of Odwalla juices tempt people to just grab a juice, but they have the same amount of sugar and almost the same amount of calories as soda."

According to Wansink, eating 200 fewer calories per day can result in an average approximate drop of 20 pounds in a year. Cutting out soda is one of the quickest ways to achieve results, he says.

Sue Porter, a clinical psychologist and the dean of students at the Branson School^[13] in Marin County, came up with a unique way to keep herself from eating while working.

She bought a treadmill desk.

Now she answers e-mail and works on reports on a laptop raised to her standing height, while walking slowly on the machine, anywhere from 1 to 2 mph. She's able to log up to 10 miles a day this way, stopping only for staff meetings, to visit students and for lunch, across campus in a dining hall.

"When I sit all day, I feel sluggish when I get home from work," says Porter, a competitive rower who bought her $1,500 desk in the summer as a fitness strategy.

Since then, she's felt stronger and happier, and recently had to replace her wardrobe with smaller sizes.

"Diets don't work; being healthy is about changing behavior," says Porter. "Practice makes permanent."

Eating better

Here are ways to improve your diet after all the holiday gorging.

Mind what you eat: Pay attention to what and how much you're consuming.

Make your lunch: It's the best way to control portion size.

Plan healthful lunches: Figure about 50 percent vegetables and fruit, 25 percent whole grains or other complex carbohydrates and 25 percent protein.

Smart sandwiches: Avoid slathering them with condiments, and don't gorge on monster-size creations.

Snacks count: Nuts and fruit are top choices.

Watch what you drink: Soda and fruit juices are loaded with sugar and not much nutrition.

Calories in, calories out: Increase exercise to burn off the excess.

Root Vegetable & Brown Rice Chicken Soup

Serves 6 to 8

Grains, protein and root vegetables come together in this easy-to-prepare soup from Chronicle staff writer Amanda Gold. You'll need cooked chicken and cooked rice to start - we recommend frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's, which cooks in just 3 minutes. This is chunky soup, so if you want it looser just add more broth. This reheats well in office microwave ovens.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• 1 onion, diced


• 1 cup medium diced peeled turnip (from about 1 medium turnip)


• 2 cups medium-diced or coarsely cut carrot (from about 3 medium carrots)


• 2 cups medium-diced or coarsely cut parsnip (from about 3 medium parsnips)


• -- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste


• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth + more, if desired


• 2 cups cooked brown rice


• 1 1/2 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken


• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill


• -- Lemon juice, to taste

Instructions: In a large pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 4 minutes. Add the turnip, carrots and parsnips and cook, stirring, another 1-2 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper and stir to coat.

Add the broth, turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low, and simmer 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Add the rice and chicken, and cook another 5 minutes. Stir in the dill, and season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Per serving: 195 calories, 11 g protein, 23 g carbohydrates, 7 g fat (2 g saturated), 25 mg cholesterol, 103 mg sodium, 4 g fiber.

Rock Shrimp & Creamy Cucumber Pitas

Serves 4

A quick tzatziki dressing made from low-fat yogurt dresses a cucumber salad for these pita sandwiches from Chronicle staff writer Amanda Gold. If you can't find rock shrimp, any peeled and deveined medium shrimp will do. Bring the dressing and sandwich ingredients separately and try to assemble this just before eating.

• Tzatziki Dressing


• 1/3 cup low-fat Greek yogurt


• 1 small clove garlic, minced


• -- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste


• 2 teaspoons minced dill


• 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste


• Sandwiches


• 3/4 pound rock shrimp, peeled and deveined


• -- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste


• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• -- Lemon juice, to taste


• 3/4 medium English cucumber, halved and cut into half moons (about 1 3/4 cups total)


• 1/3 bunch watercress


• 4 pita halves

Instructions: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, garlic, salt, pepper and dill; add the lemon juice, a little at a time, until thinned and balanced to your liking. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Season the shrimp generously with salt and pepper. Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot but not smoking, add the shrimp. Cook 3-5 minutes, until the shrimp are opaque throughout. Squeeze lemon juice over the shrimp and toss to coat; remove from the heat.

To assemble the sandwiches, toss the cucumber with the dressing. Divide the watercress between the pita halves. Add the cucumber salad and the shrimp to each pita, dividing evenly.

Per serving: 218 calories, 16 g protein, 21 g carbohydrates, 9 g fat (1 g saturated), 102 mg cholesterol, 305 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.

Kale & Quinoa Salad With Apples & Tuna

Serves 3 to 4

If you want to make this a vegetarian dish, just leave out the tuna - you'll still get plenty of protein from the quinoa. It's OK to dress the salad in the morning or make it a composed version. From Chronicle staff writer Amanda Gold.

• Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette


• 2 tablespoons lemon juice


• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard


• -- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste


• 1 teaspoon maple syrup


• 6 tablespoons olive oil


• Salad


• 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (about 1/2 cup dry quinoa)


• 1 large head lacinato kale, cut into thin ribbons (about 6 cups total)


• 1 large apple, cored and cut into slices


• 1 (6-ounce) can oil-packed tuna, drained + more if desired

Instructions: Place the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake vigorously until well blended; set aside. This can be done up to 2 days in advance.

Mix the quinoa, kale, apple and tuna together in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the top, and toss to coat.

You can also make this a composed salad, arranging the individual ingredients in rows, and tossing with the dressing just before eating.

Per serving: 428 calories, 18 g protein, 35 g carbohydrates, 26 g fat (4 g saturated), 13 mg cholesterol, 117 mg sodium, 5 g fiber.

Meredith May is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mmay@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meredithmaysf^{[14] [15]}

References

1. ^{^} Hilda Moscoso Carey (www.sfgate.com)


2. ^{^} Kaiser Permanente (www.sfgate.com)


3. ^{^} Cornell University (www.sfgate.com)


4. ^{^} Brian Wansink (www.sfgate.com)


5. ^{^} Cornell Food and Brand Lab (www.sfgate.com)


6. ^{^} Department of Defense (www.sfgate.com)


7. ^{^} Jo Ann Hattner (www.sfgate.com)


8. ^{^} Stanford Medical School (www.sfgate.com)


9. ^{^} Sabine Haake (www.sfgate.com)


10. ^{^} Community Health Resource Center (www.sfgate.com)


11. ^{^} California Pacific Medical Center (www.sfgate.com)


12. ^{^} Amanda Gold (www.sfgate.com)


13. ^{^} Branson School (www.sfgate.com)


14. ^{^} mmay@sfchronicle.com (www.sfgate.com)


15. ^{^} @meredithmaysf (twitter.com)