Is Eating at Your Desk Making You Gain Weight?

Find out if eating at your desk is dooming your diet and get tips for keeping calories in check.

A recent study that showed playing solitaire (on the computer) dampened people’s memories of lunch, which, in turn, may have caused them to eat 125 calories more when they snacked later. My first thought: Well, good thing I don’t play solitaire. Or Scrabble. Or Angry Birds. (What is that anyway?)

Then it occurred to me: I dine deskside pretty much every day. While I eat, I read tweets, catch up on e-mails, flip through a magazine. As a weight-loss expert, I know that multitasking at mealtime is not ideal: it’d be better to eat mindfully, savoring every bite. (Why tuning into your food helps you lose weight.) But, honestly, it’s not going to happen. So I’ve come up with some ways that I think can help me—and you—keep calories in check when eating “el desko.”

—Nicci Micco, M.S., Content Director for Custom Publishing & Licensing

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