Caveman Survival in a 21st Century Office by Ceri Jones

I’m not going to sit here and say that eating Paleo is easy at first - it does require some planning and thinking ahead (that for me is the fun part!), but once you’ve worked out how it can easily fit with your lifestyle (whatever your career) , it really is plain sailing.

I've been near as damned it Paleo since last December. As I enjoy planning my food and discovering new recipes, for me the hardest thing wasn’t eating all this wonderful Paleo food but rather having confidence to explain to people around me why I had decided to overhaul my eating habits in this way - But why not? Why is choosing to eat Paleo any different from being a Vegetarian, Vegan, Fruitarian or Raw Food connoisseur? I went along with this line when first explaining to my family, friends and colleagues why I was no longer regularly eating pasta and porridge, refusing afternoon cake, or why now I prefer my coffee black. A stream of questions about being a Paleo followed and ultimately I believe I gained their respect for sticking to my guns (although they do still laugh at me for eating Chicken for breakfast). Surviving the office environment is tough; office hours can be long, sedentary, and mid-afternoon munchies, birthdays, lunches out, conferences and after work drinks all provide plenty of distractions. Here are some of my personal tips to help get you through;

The PFA



In my office we have an area called the PFA (the projects food area), so called because it's situated on some spare desk space at the end of the Projects Team pod. The PFA ALWAYS contains morsels of food, a half eaten packed of crumbled digestive biscuits, some random sweets from Joe Blogg's recent trip to Greece, a pot of M&S mini-bites just because it's Tuesday and we all need cheering up?? I'm sure this all sounds familiar... Even with a rock-hard will of steel I know it’s not always easy to ignore the PFA, especially when it’s 3.30pm, you're tired and having a really hard day. I’m not going to lie and say that I never dip into it, but there are ways you can avoid it... Firstly get organised and bring your own personal supply of snacks, of if you’re feeling generous bring Paleo snacks to share - A bag of nuts or fruit for starters (punnets of berries always a winner). Or if you’re feeling really adventurous make some Paleo cakes to share, yes sweet (healthy) treats ARE allowed. When I have time at the weekend or a spare evening I make up a huge batch of cakes stick them in the freezer and then bring them out as and when I fancy them. I have great satisfaction in feeding other people my Paleo creations, especially when they show complete surprise just how tasty Paleo recipes can be. Being a cake maker can have other benefits too - you get repaid by a constant supply of tea (green or herbal of course)

Food preparation

Does your office have a fridge, freezer or microwave? Make use of them!
I have breakfast at work most days having spent the first part of my day in a Fitter London class! The microwave can be incredibly useful and used in conjunction with some trusty Tupperware you’re just 60 seconds away from scrambled eggs. If you also throw in some diced tomatoes, pepper, prawns or salmon you get an omelette in a bowl. If you also top this with some avocado the meal is a total winner! I’ve even got one of those plastic things that makes boiled eggs in the microwave (yes really, I found it in Robert Dyas). Dippy eggs with crudités make a great afternoon snack!

Personally I prefer to bring in my own food for lunch, rather than visit the local Pret.... If I’m making big curry, stew or soup at home in the week I make extra portions for my freezer so that I can take them out first thing and hey presto they have defrosted by lunchtime. I also keep extra frozen veg in the office freezer so if ‘m really hungry I can us it to pad out my Bolognaise stew or Thai Curry for example.

Office Lunch?

Someone suggests lunch out, and your first thought is well, that’s Paleo out of the window for today? Au contraire, I have yet to find a cafe, restaurant or pub where a Paleo meal can’t be found, and if necessary don’t be afraid or embarrassed to ask to sub one item for another. Keris’ previous article sums this up nicely. They know me now in our local cafe and are always quite happy to give me extra salad instead of chips (though are constantly surprised I can easily conquer half a chicken).

Another slightly challenging situation for a Paleo can be the conference / training day / meeting lunch. On my second day as a Paleo I was out at a staff training day, where I knew sandwiches would be served up at lunch. I didn’t want to fail so early on, so made sure I asked before hand if it might be possible to have a salad (with protein of course). If you don’t feel comfortable spending the next 30 minutes explaining why you don’t want a sandwich then just them you have a wheat allergy.... That should help!

The Office Birthday



Is it someone’s birthday soon? Offer to make the cake – a great excuse to put your new found recipes to use. I was deeply touched that on my birthday this year along with buying a classic cake from M&S my colleague made me a Paleo Carrot cake. Guess which one got eaten first and was still talked about for weeks afterwards? – yep the Carrot cake! My endless ranting has obviously started to pay off! The same goes for office cake sales, make some Paleo versions to sell, people will soon realise Paleo = tasty!)

Post-work drinks

7pm Friday night, you've been in the pub since 5, had a few glasses of wine (Pinot Noir or Rioja of course) and you're starving. You've scanned the pub food menu and there is nothing but chips, or fish finger sandwiches on the bar menu (if you're lucky a handful of nuts) so what to do?? Again it’s a bit of a plan in advance thing. There are some snack bars (such as Nakd) out there that which can be yanked out of a handbag in a matter of seconds, and even though they can be quite carby are a billion times better than chips. Failing that an emergency bag of nuts or a pack of meat from the supermarket (bought in your lunch hour or en route to the pub) are a good plan!

Hope that covers it, but most of all - take your colleagues along for the ride - they'll thank you for it when their concentration levels reach sky high, and mid afternoon energy slumps are a thing of the past. Plus don’t forget that by working in an office you have one massive advantage over non-office based workers - The Internet! At your fingertips you have access to the biggest Paleo cook book in the world. Type the word Paleo recipe in front of any number of ingredients into Google et voila – inspiration for tonight’s dinner? A snack for tomorrow afternoon? A scrummy cake?

By the way, I do fall off the Paleo Wagon (Friday 3pm usually) when I succumb to the packet of biscuits that have been staring at me for 5 days, but that’s allowed, we’re all human after all, and I know that come Monday I can get right back on it.