A tip for logging your meals while at work

I wanted to share this tip: some of us work at places that are less than friendly to employees using the internet for personal use. Our company blocks many sites, although PT isn't one of them (yet).

Still, I don't like logging in and logging out all day long because it does show up on this system we use (Websense) that tracks all web traffic to and from our location.

I simply keep a text file handy called "food" and jot down everything I eat, then mail the file back to me. When I get home, I simply add it to PT. Then I reuse that file over and over and over again.

Fri. Jan 19, 8:17am

work

companies should be actively promoting this site. Don't they want healthier employees? I suspect though that most companies really don't care and just want people to work. HR folks pay lip service to employee health, but most of them are there to hire, fire, and prevent the stuff from hitting the fan.

Friday, January 19, 2007, 8:33 AM

While I agree ...

I could see where plenty of employees would be tempted to get on the forums a large portion of the day. I say, encourage the site, but encourage employees to do it on their own time.

Friday, January 19, 2007, 9:29 AM

As an employer, and a PT user... I say keep your personal life OUT of the workplace... especially if you are paid by the hour. You are being paid to work, so work. Do your personal stuff at home, or otherwise on your own time.

I will (and have, since I found this place) promote PT to my staff. However, that does NOT mean they should be using it for reading, logging, or anything else, during "MY" time.

And how hard is it to remember what you ate for a couple of hours anyways? I go through my day, come home & after dinner log my day without any notes. Whats the deal? You can't remember if you had a bowl of Cornflakes for breakfast for a couple of hours? Geez.

Friday, January 19, 2007, 10:48 PM

To the 10:48 poster: I am a reasonably bright person, have a reasonably responsible job, and, yes, am likely to forget what I ate if I wait to post. I'll remember the main part of the meal, but I can easily forget the little additions that can add up calorically and weight-wise.

Fortunately, I work in a job where I use the Internet all the time for work purposes. I rarely come to the forums or read the posts of others in my group during work time but I do post my lunch and snacks almost immediately after I eat them. (For the record, I am a salaried employee and have just had my annual review, which was very good.)

However, I do thank the OP for her suggestion. If I were to change jobs and would not be able to access the internet regularly without fear of repercussions, your suggestion of posting to a text file during the day is excellent. Thanks.

Saturday, January 20, 2007, 7:30 AM

From the OP

10:48 a.m. needs to lighten up. Keep your personal life out of the workplace? What planet are you on?

To 7:30 p.m. The OP is a he, not a her (not that anyone would know since I didn't mention).

Saturday, January 20, 2007, 9:36 AM

My guess is that the employer on this thread runs a small business, and is fortunate enough not to have runaway healthcare costs. I work in HR for a very large employer and we have an increasing amount of wellness programs to get our employees healthy (and lighter). We have weight watchers meetings during the day and our entire department attends. (And about half of us log here on PT.)

We have tightened up on sick days (eliminating them in favor of personal days), but try to enable our employees to manage their life better when they are at work. The idea is that if you keep them happy when they are at work, they'll be more likely to keep working for you. Which is also a goal of ours.

The reality for businesses is that healthcare costs have grown at a faster rate than profits for many companies, and while we are very profitable, we'd be more so if it were not for the high rate of healtcare spend among our employee base. The different components to the cost increase vary, but there is a clear relationship to lower employee BMI and healthcare spend. If our employees spend less, our insurance hit is less (over time). This issue is high on the priority list for our company executives- anything that leads to slimmer employees they are all for.

Saturday, January 20, 2007, 12:05 PM

good thinking OP!

i have a coworker looking over my shoulder ALL DAY, and if i type in word she will be less likely to notice than if i am typing on a green and grey website :)

i will do this.

Sunday, January 21, 2007, 10:34 PM

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