The ‘hidden’ calories busy people don’t realise they’re eating

With a bit of planning, it can be easy to stop mindless grazing. Photo / 123RF

That calorie-laden coffee before work, the idle biscuit before a meeting, wine after work – it all adds up.

Most of us know what we should be eating to stay healthy, but when life gets busy, good food habits slide. Yes, breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but if you’re heading out early to get a head start, it’s easier to grab a calorie-laden latte or croissant than sit down and chomp through a bowl of muesli.

Being stressed and busy can lead to overeating. A landmark 2014 review from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology found that, “ongoing psychological stress… can lead to chronically stimulated eating behaviour and excessive weight gain. In particular, stress can enhance the propensity to eat high-calorie ‘palatable’ food via its interaction with central reward pathways.”

In short, when we’re frantic, we gain weight because we’re more drawn to fatty and sugary foods that we know are bad for us. And when we’re overworked and distracted, we’re more prone to mindless eating.

“We release a hormone called cortisol,” explains Lauren Reynolds, a registered nutritional therapist and the owner of London Wellness Coach. “That causes a spike in blood sugar. We’ll then be riding high for a little while, but that’ll be followed by a drop in blood sugar, below the sweet spot our bodies want to be at. That causes our bodies to crave sugary and quick-energy foods like simple carbohydrates – bread and pasta. You find yourself on this rollercoaster where your blood sugar is going up and down and you’re craving all kinds of unhealthy foods.”

Before we know it, we’ve eaten hundreds of extra calories that we’ve barely even noticed.

With a bit of prior planning and forethought, it can be easy to avoid these blood-sugar spikes that result in mindless grazing throughout the day.

Here, we compare what you might accidentally eat with the healthy additions and swaps that will help balance you out.

Think twice before that rushed pre-meeting croissant

Try to avoid grabbing a quick croissant on the way to work. Photo / 123RF

“It’s all too easy to grab a quick croissant on the go, but eating a decent breakfast will reduce the temptation to snack all day,” says Reynolds. “Research shows that if we start the day with a protein-rich meal, we then eat fewer calories for the rest of the day, because it keeps your blood sugar balanced. The gold-standard breakfast would be something like eggs, smoked salmon, avocado and tomatoes. That will keep you going, so your blood sugar doesn’t drop drastically and your body isn’t calling out for those sweeter foods. But if you’re in a rush, a bowl of cereal and milk with plenty of fibre and some fat will do.”

Don’t add calories to your coffee because you’re too busy to eat

It is recommended to eat before your first coffee of the day. Photo / 123RF

“Coffee can cause a cortisol spike,” says Reynolds. “In the morning, our cortisol is at its peak. If you grab a coffee, you’re actually raising that cortisol spike, which can lead to fatigue and that will make you more stressed and tired than before. I would recommend eating before your first coffee, which will slow the release of the cortisol.” You might be tempted by syrup-laden seasonal coffee offerings, but these are stuffed with sugar and calories. Instead, opt for an espresso, at 10kcal, giving you a coffee hit without additional calories.

Don’t reach for a biscuit because you’ve eaten nothing all day and it’s already 1.30pm

It can be easy to mindlessly grab a pre-lunch snack. Photo / 123RF

Whether it’s a couple of biscuits from a colleague’s desk or a packet of crisps in front of your computer, it can be easy to mindlessly grab a pre-lunch snack without thinking about what you’re doing. “If you’re snacking, go for protein and fat instead of, or alongside, carbohydrates,” advises Reynolds. “That will help to slow that blood-sugar spike, which will avoid that cortisol level being raised more, and avoid cravings later.”

Avoid those speedy empty-calorie lunches

A cheese and ham sandwich will likely be missing key nutrients. Photo / 123RF

“For lunch, a lot of people will go out for a sandwich or a wrap, which is OK – many of the big retailers use wholegrain bread nowadays, but there’s never that much protein, fat, or fibre in it,” warns Reynolds. “You might have a cheese and ham sandwich, but it’s never a huge amount of those key nutrients. If you can get a side salad, some cherry tomatoes or coleslaw, that’ll help keep those blood sugars balanced and add some nutrients that are good for your gut health.”

Watch out for the wind-down pint that leads to two

Alcohol often contains many more calories than we realise. Photo / 123RF

If you’ve had a particularly busy day, it might be tempting to unwind with a glass of wine or two after work. Alcohol often contains many more calories than we realise and can play havoc with blood sugar. “If you gravitate more towards wine, you could switch that for something like a gin and tonic, or something with soda water and a squeeze of lemon,” says Venner. “Or you could switch your beer and cider to a single glass of red wine, as we can find polyphenols in red wine that are known to feed the microbiome.”

Think before you grab a bag of crisps for the train home

A packet of chips on the way home is a potential means of adding extra calories to your day that you wouldn’t eat if you’d had a chance to properly satisfy your appetite. Photo / 123RF

If you’ve been too busy to eat a proper lunch, the journey home is a potentially dangerous opportunity for mindless overeating. A packet of crisps on your way home is a potential means of adding extra calories to your day that you wouldn’t eat if you’d had a chance to properly satisfy your appetite before then. “You could swap those crisps for a nut bar, those often have some added sugar that people fear, but you’ll be getting some fibre and protein, which will slow that sugar down,” says Simone Venner, a registered holistic nutritionist. “Or opt for an oat cracker or oat biscuit with a nut butter like peanut butter. You can also pair an apple or a banana with a tablespoon of almond butter, which would be better for you.”

Break the ready-meal habit when you’re too tired to cook

A supermarket ready meal or takeaway can add dozens of extra calories to your day. Photo / 123RF

It might be the obvious choice when you’re busy, but a supermarket ready meal or takeaway can add dozens of extra calories to your day. A study from Cambridge University earlier this year found that ready meals, particularly those made with animal products, “contained significantly more kilocalories per 100g of product” compared with home-cooked and much higher levels of free sugar.

“Processed food is getting such a bad name in the press and I think people are aware of the risks, but if you’re going to have those ready meals, I’d be asking ‘What can you add to it?’” suggests Venner. “Can you add some steamed broccoli or peas on the side to increase the nutrient intake from that dish? Rather than a ready meal, I would prefer to have a pasta dish with a sauce that has a few vegetables in it – to support plant diversity, which will feed the microbiome – and switch out white pastas for whole wheat or lentil pastas that are higher in protein or fibre. We can add something else to it, sprinkle it with nuts and seeds, and a bit of olive oil for polyphenol intake. Or jacket potatoes with something like beans will be a bit of protein and quite good for us.”