Do you struggle to resist food at work?

Having worked from home for the best part of 2 years I was a seriously happy camper when a co-working space opened up near me.

Even though I'm stuck listening in to everyone's conversations at concorde decibels it's nice to be around other human beings.

BUT... Pain au chocolat, orange juice and biscoff biscuits en masse!

If this is you, let me know what your food temptations at work are!

DUN DUN DUUUUN!

Food in front of you is hard. Distractions are entertaining and immediate and frankly more fun than anything you are meant to be doing and food is a great example of this.

But it's these small unnecessary indulgences that stall us achieving our desired end results. And these are the ones that just aren't worth it.

I had some DELICIOUS food for my birthday last week. 2 meals out and a dessert from a bakery whilst spending time with Chrissi and my Mum. The food here added to the experiences and I wouldn't give these up if I could.

Munching biscuits because they are there is the polar opposite of this though. The thought that I trade health, happiness, confidence and contentment with the mirror for office biscuits would be infuriating if I focused on this.

And if I gave in to them.

Personally, I find being at home harder, where there’s no one to keep an eye on me and a dog to stroke. Here, there's no odd job to distract myself with, there are other people in the office and their anonymous eyes keep me more in line.

The only distraction in front of me now is my phone and this is SO much easier to manage than being at home.

When I work from home I will do any number of household chores so I don't have to work but here it's different.

Now it doesn't matter whether you work from home, the office or Timbuktu. What matters is taking control of what you can. Sit away from the food. Move the food. Have something with you to eat. Ask a co-worker to help keep you on plan. There are many, many ways you can manage this but this is YOUR responsibility.

Your weight loss is your goal. You can't expect everyone else to stop baking cakes and bringing in biscuits. You must accept this. Playing the old woe is me tape is focusing on what you can't change and you must live in a place of working on what you can change.

I am saying "you" a lot because it is all about you. Too often people look elsewhere for the influencing factors that make this harder. It takes the locus of control away from you and makes you powerless. And it's not true.

Almost always clients talk to me and exclude the word "me". They focus on the actions of others, their environment, their job, or basically anything other than themselves. And you must learn to accept are beyond your control.

Otherwise responsibility for our happiness lies in the hands of others.

This is the same for any external validation. The thoughts, kindness, love, affection and actions of others must not define our happiness. Of course, we need some or all of these things to live fulfilled lives but if this is the sole provider of your happiness, you are standing on shaky ground.

The more ownership we take, the more control we have, the faster things change and the better we feel.