Coffee Tea Press

Coffee Tea Press

MEMO

TO: Professionals, Managers, and Executives

FROM: Caryl Ehrlich

SUBJECT: OVERWEIGHT EMPLOYEES? Are you part of the problem?

If people in your office are gaining weight, you might be the cause –

Walk into almost any office and you'll find a dish filled with wrapped candies or mints. You'll find a secretary, assistant, or manager who will offer you coffee, tea or some other beverage such as soda, juice, or hot chocolate. All kinds of water including flavored water, seltzer and club soda are also available – all free, gratis, no charge, on the house.

At the hint of a meeting, food is ordered, offered, proffered, and paid for by the company –

Are you the boss who orders lunch for all employees to keep them happily in the office on a rainy day? Are expense account lunches and dinners part of your overall sales plan?

In previous years, employees always went outside the office to have lunch and/or to run personal errands at lunch time. The average work day used to be 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 or occasionally 6:00 p.m. with an hour lunch break. Today people come in earlier and leave later – lunch outside the office is a thing of the past. One woman I spoke with, told me her office often has meetings at breakfast, lunch and dinner time; a recent breakfast meeting consisted of the usual bagels, pastries and muffin fare; seldom is there ever cereal, eggs, or even a piece of fruit available.

Lunch meetings are almost always sandwiches, even when clients are present. She comes to work at 8:30 a.m., and is always there after 7:00 p.m. And the food goes on. After a certain hour, many companies have to pay for an employee's dinner. Add to this abundance of things to eat, there are boxes and bagsful of chips, nachos, pretzels, and popcorn available 24 hours a day; a finger-food eater's delight! And the weight gain goes onward and upward.

One suggestion to help your employees is to not tempt them with food they normally wouldn't eat at times they most likely wouldn't eat. Have meetings at times normally not thought of as meal-time. Serve only hot and cold water in pretty pitchers with glass stemware and china cups. If someone is eating while meeting they're usually too distracted to contribute in a meaningful way anyway. It's difficult to take notes while your hands are full of food.

There are things you can do to reward your employees while not aiding them in gaining weight.

1) Different things work for different people. Some employees want extra time off; let them come in late or leave early one day or more each week. Extra vacation days are always a welcome bonus.

2) Give presents. There are companies that offer gift cards for any dollar amount. You can reward your employees by letting them pick their own gift.

3) You can pay all or part of a health club membership. Or bring in an expert to teach a stretch class or to discuss healthier ways of eating. Workshops and lectures are available for any topic offering non-business related ones as well as ones with a business slant.

4) And when you must order food, ask for input from employees. Ordering platters of food over sandwiches will enable each person to pick the amount of food they need, not just to eat however much is stuffed between two pieces of bread. A hearty soup with a salad is a satisfying choice. And once you've thought of what type of food you want delivered, halve the order. Most restaurants serve double (and even triple) the amount that is needed. I once worked for a company and when I had to order lunch for 20 people I'd order for 10 and there was still a huge amount of leftovers. People always eat more when there is more. Your company will save money and your employees won't be walking around later in the day saying: "Oooh. I ate too much food."

5) Try to supply knives and forks even if they are plastic. Pretty paper plates add to the slower eating.

Try to be part of the solution, not the problem.

About Caryl Ehrlich: Caryl Ehrlich is the founder/director of The Caryl Ehrlich Program; a comprehensive step by step behavioral approach to weight loss. She teaches her one-on-one program in her office in New York City, or if you're out of town or out of the country, by telephone, fax and email. Caryl is also the author of Conquer Your Food Addiction (Free Press), which teaches people how to change habits without diet, deprivation, props or pills. Caryl welcomes questions or comments about The Program and the behavioral methods she incorporates into her weight loss teaching, as well as offers for speaking engagements for charities, corporations, schools, etc.

She is now offering a FREE, no-obligation consultation, either in her Manhattan office, or over the phone.

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