Eating and working at the same time: a trap to avoid
On April 11, 2014, Le Parisien had exclusively published a survey (1) carried out by Viadeo & I love my diet coach in which nearly half of the people surveyed indicated that, following their hiring, they had noticed weight gain.
Could there be a correlation between work and catch? Jean-Philippe ZERMATI, nutritionist and president of GROS (2) , was questioned by France Inter (3) on this subject. We report his words to you.
A concentration problem
For Jean-Philippe ZERMATI “doing something else during the lunch break is fatal for the waistline”. It is above all, according to him, the way of eating and the little time devoted to this meal time which would be at the origin. But also the attention given to food and not the composition of the meal which would be at the origin of this weight gain.
Indeed, Doctor ZERMATI explains in a simplified way that the brain is capable of “recording” the calories ingested. This is the sensory satiation mechanism: each food produces very specific sensations (taste, smell, etc.) which send chemical and nervous signals to the brain. Little by little the feeling of satiety will appear.
Yes, but this system requires concentration and is not infallible in the words of the nutritionist. And it is all the more fallible when the attention is diverted by something else. If your concentration is not primarily focused on the meal, but for example on a computer screen, a telephone call or even a discussion on a work subject, then all the attention you give to it will be removed from your feeling of satiation.
This is why the Doctor explains that an excellent way to force-feed someone is to make them eat in front of a computer screen: they then no longer realize what they are swallowing, in what quantities, etc.
Listen to the interview made by France Inter
The only alternative: focus on your meal
Doctor ZERMATI adds that “even if you eat in a bucolic setting with a ray of sunshine on a bench in a park, if your nose is in your smartphone […], then it is not on the plate”.
It doesn’t matter where the meal is, so it’s the attention that counts .
A solution proposed by the nutritionist is to make a functional meal, lighter, at noon (at work) and keep a main meal rather in the evening. The dinner will then be taken in this case in better arrangements with better attention and satiation mechanisms that will act better. This is also more true if, at lunchtime, you do not have a work-friendly place to eat in good conditions (canteen too noisy, topics of discussion mainly centered around work, etc.)
It is therefore the whole art of eating that is evoked through this interview.
For example, remember our article on the HapiFork, just a year ago: an electric fork that vibrates when you eat too quickly. This is exactly the same problem: it’s not only what’s on your plate that counts, but also the way you eat .
In some companies, some employees who eat on the go have gained 30 kilos in 10 years.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.