Bored Workers Often Turn to Chocolate, Booze, Study Finds
These unhealthy treats are common ways of dealing with office ennui, research shows
 FRIDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic boredom grips one-fourth of office workers, which may affect their quality of work as well as their physical and mental health, a new study suggests. British researchers asked 102 office workers if they got bored at work and how they managed that boredom. Of those surveyed, 25 percent said they are chronically bored, and often eat chocolate or drink coffee to cope. The apathetic workers also said they were more likely to drink alcohol at the end of day. Boredom also affected how well the workers performed their jobs. Nearly 80 percent of those polled said boredom caused them to lose their concentration, and more than half said it caused them to make mistakes. About half of the workers admitted that boredom might force them to leave their job. "My analysis of the results suggests that the most significant cause of office boredom is an undemanding workload. So managers should look at ways of reducing sources of workplace boredom and at encouraging healthier ways of coping," said Dr. Sandi Mann, from the University of Central Lancashire in a news release. "We also found that some people are far more prone to boredom than others. Managers might consider using boredom-proneness as a tool when they are selecting staff or making decisions about staff development." The researchers noted that job rotation and other enrichment programs might help reduce boredom in the workplace. Providing workers with healthy snacks and drinks might encourage them to avoid unhealthy indulgences, they said. The findings are slated for presentation Thursday at a meeting of the British Psychological Society's Division of Occupational Psychology in Chester, England. Data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more information on promoting health and well-being of workers. 
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Need to Exercise More? Think How It Will Help You Now
Shifting from long-term to short-term gains will resonate better, experts say
 FRIDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Health and fitness experts have for years tried to entice people to exercise more by flogging long-range benefits such as losing weight or avoiding long-term illness caused by chronic disease. They might have been going about it all wrong. Research now appears to show that "improve your heart health" may be a less effective message than "feel better now." A University of Michigan study found that people are more apt to exercise when they're given reasons that apply to their immediate, day-to-day life. For example, telling someone they will have more energy after working out seems to be a more effective motivation than telling them they will be less likely to develop diabetes. Michelle Segar, the study's lead author, said she believes the results indicate a need to "rebrand" exercise so that health organizations that promote exercise will see better results from their efforts. "We need to develop new messaging that teaches people that physical activity is a way to reduce their stress in the moment, feel better in the moment, create more energy in the moment," said Segar, a research investigator with the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan. "You're a more patient parent. You enjoy your work more. You don't snap at your spouse as much. The benefits of exercise help you lead a more pleasant and productive life. The messaging needs to go there." The study focused on a randomly selected set of 385 women, 40 to 60 years old, who were given several questionnaires over the course of a year related to exercise and health. The women's responses indicated that they valued long-term goals like weight loss as much as short-term goals more directly linked to day-to-day quality of life, such as stress reduction. Nonetheless, Segar and her team found that women who cited short-term factors exercised more often than those who felt long-term goals were most important. "The women who exercised for quality of life did significantly more exercise than the other two groups," Segar said. Those who exercised based on daily quality of life worked out 15 percent to 34 percent more often, the study found. This argues strongly for a reassessment of how exercise is promoted, Segar said. "Health and healthy aging are very abstract," she said. "We may endorse them as important, but the problem lies in the fact that we live very busy, complicated lives. When you're looking at your daily to-do list, how compelling is fitting in exercise for a reason that's far in the future, where you might never notice? If you're exercising to enhance the quality of your daily life because it reduces your stress or improves your mood, you notice those things immediately. And if you don't exercise, you immediately notice you feel worse." Messages that might resonate better with people who need to exercise more often, she said, include that exercise is a way to: - Become a more pleasant member of your family by feeling better.
- Improve your productivity at work because working out makes your mind more focused.
- Relieve day-to-day stress.
- Improve your mood.
- Enjoy higher levels of energy and vitality.
- Spend more social time with others.
- Take time to enjoy the outdoors.
Though those are compelling arguments for exercise, groups might want to think twice before removing long-term goals from their marketing strategies, said Walter Thompson, a professor of exercise science in the department of kinesiology and health at Georgia State University and a spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine. Long-term goals like weight loss tend to be measurable, whereas short-term goals like improved energy are largely subjective, Thompson said. "The problem with the long-term goal is they can get to the 5½-months point and not lose a pound," he said. "That's the argument for the short-term goal. But without a long-term goal, it's hard to come up with short-term goals." Short-term goals also might not apply to everyone because they're subjective, he added. "I like to run, but I remember days when I just felt miserable after my run," Thompson said. "If I only looked at short-term goals, if I felt bad one day, I may not do it the second day." More information The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports offers guidelines for personal exercise programs.
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How to Keep From Overeating When Eating Out
Try ordering a la carte and skipping foods that aren't your favorites, study says
 TUESDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- It's easy to overeat at restaurants. But researchers from University of Texas at Austin say they've come up with a strategy that helped a group of middle-aged women who eat out frequently avoid gaining weight and even lose a few pounds. Calling it "Mindful Restaurant Eating," researchers taught the women to pay close attention to what they were eating and how they were feeling, with the goal of being satisfied with smaller portions and putting down their forks before they felt overly full. "Going out to eat has become a major part of our culture. Frequently eating out and consuming high-calorie foods in large portions at restaurants can contribute to excess calorie intake and weight gain," said study lead author Gayle Timmerman, an associate professor of nursing. "But just saying, 'Don't eat out' isn't feasible." Nor is just telling people to eat only the low-cal options. "You can't just say, 'Choose the steamed vegetables.' People aren't going out to eat for steamed vegetables. They're going out to eat for something they're not getting a home." So people need strategies to help avoid excess calories when they do eat out, while still being able to enjoy the experience. The study, published in the January/February issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, included 35 women, aged 40 to 59, who were mostly overweight or obese and ate out at least three times a week. Eating out included any meal -- breakfast, lunch, or dinner -- or even getting a pastry and a latte at Starbucks. About half the women attended six weekly, two-hour group sessions that focused on reducing calories and fat intake when dining out, while the other half were wait-listed. The sessions covered the basics of nutrition, portion size and information about the calories and fat content of foods. But the women also got into specific strategies to use when dining out, such as what are the least fattening foods to order when eating at a Mexican or Italian restaurant. Among the tips: - When you order, request a "to-go box" delivered along with the meal, then slide half of the meal into it before you even start eating. "Research shows when you have less on your plate you eat more slowly, and that helps you feel fuller," Timmerman said. "If you wait to put the food in the to-go box, you tend to encroach. Then you say, 'Well, I don't want to waste it.' " Before you know it, you've got a clean plate.
- Order a la carte. If you don't really want three tacos, rice and beans, pick and choose. Perhaps just order two tacos and call it a day. Also, "ask for gravy, butter and dressing on the side to make sure you're not getting calories you didn't intend or you didn't even necessarily want," Timmerman said.
- If you can take it or leave it, leave it. "I like focusing on choosing 'loved' calories, and avoiding 'unloved' calories," Timmerman said. "Eat the foods you love, and skip foods you feel neutral about. I'm neutral about rice, so when I eat out, I ask them to not even bring the rice. A lot of time we are eating the 'unloved' calories, we're not particularly enjoying them and we don't even really want them." The exception, she added, are foods that are highly nutritious. You may be neutral about broccoli, but eat it anyway.
- Share. Split a main course, a basket of fries or dessert.
- Be mindful about what you're eating and savor each bite. "Let's say you get those fries," Timmerman said. "Eat each one slowly and pay attention to the enjoyment you're getting out of the texture, the smell, the taste. Then you can ask, 'Do I really need to eat a whole basket of them in order to be satisfied, or can I eat a handful?' Focus on the pleasure you're getting from them."
- Focus on how you feel. It takes the body about 20 minutes to figure out that you're full, and research has shown that eating more slowly can prevent over-eating by allowing the brain that time to register feelings of satiety. Even chewing food more can help you slow down and feel more full, Timmerman said.
- At a Chinese restaurant, choosing steamed over fried rice can save 100 calories or so. At a steak place, sirloin is one of the leanest cuts of beef. When eating Italian, marinara or clam sauce is a better choice than creamy alfredos. And eggplant parmesan? Don't let the vegetable fool you. Eggplant soaks up oil and is often a very high-calorie dish. When eating pizza, sausage and pepperoni pack on the calories. A veggie pizza is, of course, a good choice, but if you can't stand broccoli and mushrooms on your pie, even Canadian bacon is lower in calories than other meats.
For the women in the study, such techniques seemed to work. Although the intent of the study was only to prevent them from gaining weight, after six weeks, they'd actually lost an average of about 3 to 4 pounds. Food diaries showed they were also eating about 300 fewer calories daily. That's great news, said Joy Dubost, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Sometimes you hear in the media, or even dieticians may advise, 'If you want to lose weight, don't eat out. But you can eat out and enjoy it and with this program lose weight," she said. The women's food diaries showed that they were also consuming fewer calories at home, so the weight loss was probably a result of an overall shift in eating habits, not just when they were dining out, Dubost added. For anyone trying similar techniques, one of the keys is planning ahead on food choices before you get to the restaurant. And try researching nutritional content on restaurant websites, Timmerman said. "You have to have a plan going in," Timmerman said. "It's too easy to consume extra calories, not even intentionally. In the food environment we have now, we can't afford to not pay attention. We will gain weight." Prior research has shown people eat about 230 extra calories on days they eat out, Timmerman said. John E. Lewis, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said targeting the social, emotional and mental aspects of overeating makes sense. "Mindfulness is something that is gaining in popularity for a lot of health conditions, and particularly for people who need to lose weight," he said. And yet, people should still be reminded that too much eating out -- whether at fast-food or restaurants with massive portions -- is part of the problem, he said. Cooking healthy meals at home is still your best choice for the majority of your diet, he said. More information The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has more on making good nutritional choices when dining out.
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