By Kristin Rothwell, contributor
New job, new stressors, new patients and long hours can lead to a grab-and-go food mentality that can result in unexpected weight gain. Grabbing food from a nearby vending machine or the hospital's cafeteria on the job, or from a fast-food restaurant on the way home can be tempting—especially since it’s easy and fast. But, how can you stay at your fighting weight without starving yourself?
To keep unwanted pounds from cropping up, we asked Barbara Martin, RN, BSN, a public health nurse, nutrition counselor and founder of Healthy Lifestyles Plus Nutrition Center in California, to provide some tips for new nurses battling the bulge.
Tip #1: Bypass Fast Food and Head to Your Fridge
After a long day at work, Martin said there’s nothing worse than coming home to an empty refrigerator and not having the energy to go to the grocery store, which makes it easier to opt for a fast-food meal.
She suggested grocery shopping on a day off, so you can have healthy meals on-hand at home, as well as have food available to make lunches before your shift, and have healthy snacks handy when you get a hunger pang.
Tip #2: Two-For-One Meals
Martin pointed out that making “simple items like bean burritos, chicken, stir fry or fish, provide leftovers that also make great lunch items for the next day.”
In addition to packing leftovers or a sandwich for your meal, the American Dietetic Association also recommends including raw vegetables (celery, carrots, broccoli, cucumbers with a low-fat, non-mayonnaise based dressing or dip), fresh fruit, non-sugared snack mixes made with popcorn, whole grain cereal or low-fat yogurt.
If you fill yourself with these types of foods, you are less likely to grab an unhealthy alternative—and have more energy to get through your shift.
Tip #3: Easy Fat-Fighting Strategies
Grazing: Biochemist Kim Beardsmore, suggested having a small snack at mid-morning and mid-afternoon or, depending on your work shifts, a few hours before and after your main meal, to curb hunger.
“More and more reports are now showing that people who have a healthy intake of food in four or five episodes throughout the day are less prone to obesity than those who eat three or less times during the day,” she said. “Snacking can be good for you.”
Vending Machine Boredom: “Healthy snacks generally do not live in vending machine,” said Beardsmore. “Many foods are now labeled ‘fat free’ but are laden with sugars and will still cause an influx of calories. Do not assume ‘fat free’ means healthy.”
Additionally, the American Heart Association recommends that you pay attention to your snack cravings because, even if the body thinks it’s hungry, cravings could instead be related to boredom or restlessness.
In these cases, the organization suggests replacing “snack time” with having a large glass of water, tea or another calorie-free beverage, brushing and flossing your teeth, or doing something physically active.
Curb the Cravings: Martin said that so often food cravings come on shortly after finishing a meal because you have eaten too fast, so the brain is unable to compute a feeling of being full or satisfied.
“Eat slowly, chew your food, taste it and enjoy it,” she said. “Digestion begins in your mouth.”
If you feel they can’t slow down while you eat, Martin suggests reading a book or magazine and taking a bite after finishing a page or article.
Tip #4: Fast-Food Favorites
For those who love fast food come meal time, many restaurants such as Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A have begun offering chef salads, fruit bowls and frozen yogurt, in addition to offering online nutritional information about their foods so that consumers can make healthier choices when ordering meals at these venues.
The American Heart Association has actually created a list of fatty fast food items that can be exchanged for other, more nutritious fast food items. For instance, the organization recommends exchanging a jumbo cheeseburger for items with grilled chicken, sliced meats or a regular two-ounce hamburger without cheese, mayonnaise or bacon.
Though fast food chains have gone to great lengths to provide healthier food choices, Martin simply quoted Hippocrates: Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.
Tip #5: The Write Stuff
One great way to get started is to spend a week writing down everything you eat. Martin said people do not realize the amount of fat and calories they eat in a day through snacking, fast-food and vending-machine runs.
She said that people think the extra weight “snuck up on them,” but by writing down how many calories are being consumed each day and why they ate when they did, they can see how the calories added up into pounds and what the triggers are. This is the first step to making changes.
“I’ve learned that we have to love ourselves enough to take care of ourselves,” Martin concluded. “We’re caregivers and we tend to forget [ourselves] to care for everyone else…[but] if we love ourselves, we’re going to start exercising, eating healthy and doing whatever it takes to make this life happier and more meaningful. It’s so important.”
Helpful Web sites:
American Heart Association
American Dietetic Association
EarthMeals.com
Health-e-meals.com
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