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Is boredom at work making you overeat?

Working in an office comes with many perks—the opportunity to socialize with peers, unsupervised access to office supplies, health benefits, and direct deposit payment.

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Working in an office comes with many perks—the opportunity to socialize with peers, unsupervised access to office supplies, health benefits, and direct deposit payment.  The nine to five haul also has a few drawbacks, however. Drawback number one: occasional, if not daily, bouts of profound boredom. And to tease out a little excitement or break the monotony of routine many of us look to snacks.  But does all of that snacking add up to a full meal in terms of calories and fat? Sadly, yes. A small survey (via Marie Claire) by a UK travel discount site asked female office workers to share their snacking habits. What they discovered: nibbles at work can add as much as 750 extra calories a day to an otherwise healthy diet. Ninety percent of the women polled said they snacked on chips, cookies and chocolate with 51 percent eating as much as an extra 750 calories.  Chocolate was the preferred snack, with chips and fruit coming in second and third place. The reason behind the calorie-rich snack-attacks? According to nearly half of the women—49 percent—it isn’t hunger that sends them to the convenience store for a treat; it’s boredom. Another two percent said they indulge to be social. And the majority of the women said they do more snacking at work than they do at home.  How best to combat boredom at work and so avoid the calorie-trap that is eating for excitement? If online shopping and Facebook aren’t enough to keep you occupied or entertained during the lull, there’s always a brisk walk in the outdoors or a quick catnap in the ladies bathroom to tempt you out of your malaise.  Failing that, making the sweet indulgence a TGIF/weekly thing might be a better idea.

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