How do you handle the treats offered at work?

The sweets and snacks that go round the desks at work come from the setting, not from hunger. The way to handle them is not to refuse them every time but to make small arrangements that keep the decision from being made by itself.

Why do office treats work differently?

Something offered to you reaches your hand before you have thought about whether you want it. The decision comes not from a feeling of hunger but from the social situation at that moment, and so it is not judged by the usual measures.

The second factor is visibility. A box sitting in a shared area comes into view again and again through the day; the small decision made at every pass adds up to far more than a single one.

The third is rhythm. At the office the need for a break often gets joined to a snack; what is actually wanted may not be food but a short break from work.

Do you have to refuse?

No, and turning that into a rule is usually not sustainable. Someone who refuses every offer both has a hard time socially and drops the stance within a few weeks.

The more workable route is to accept the offer and set the amount yourself. Taking half instead of a whole slice, or taking it onto your own plate and going back to your desk, brings the measure back without refusing.

Timing is another route. Taking the offer not straight away but after lunch lets you both be aware of how full you are and see the amount drop by itself.

How is the shared area arranged?

The box sitting in a shared area rather than on your own desk makes a clear difference on its own. Having to get up for every helping reduces the number of decisions directly.

Keeping something else on your own desk helps too. Water, tea or a snack prepared in advance meets the need for a break independently of what is being offered.

Changing the route to the shared area is another method. Taking a different way to get coffee reduces how many times a day you pass in front of that box.

How does lunch affect this picture?

On a day when lunch is light or skipped altogether, the treats become far more appealing. That has to do not with willpower but with the gap in the day.

A lunch brought from home or planned in advance closes that gap. When the meal is settled, an offer stays an option; when the meal is unsettled, it takes the meal's place.

Planning a snack does the same job. A piece of fruit or some nuts in your bag means you have another option in hand at the moment something is offered, and the decision stops running one way.

How is the social side kept?

An offer is often a form of sharing, and that has a social meaning. So the point is not to refuse the food but not to refuse the moment.

Having coffee, joining the conversation or taking a small amount serves the same social purpose. As long as you take part, how much you took usually catches nobody's attention.

Bringing something of your own is another route. Having a say over what is brought both widens the options and takes you out of the position of the person who always refuses. What is brought is entirely up to you; what matters is taking part in the sharing.

How do you set up something lasting?

Lasting comes from arrangements that do not require deciding again every day. If what is on the desk, what is in the bag and what lunch will be are settled in advance, the decisions through the day drop by themselves.

Arranging the setting instead of setting rules lasts longer for the same reason. Rules bend on tired days; the setting stays the same and keeps its effect. That is why the first thing to change is not the behavior but the setting the behavior forms in.

What is described here makes the flow of the working day easier; it does not decide what you eat. Decisions about amount and content are made together with a dietitian; this content is for general information.