You Asked: How to Eat Healthy on the Job?

Dear FitSugar,
I have a dilemma. Before my job started requiring me to do field work, I used to eat healthy lunches (steamed veggies, brown rice, grilled/steamed chicken or fish). During lunches on field, my colleagues usually go to street food stalls and we eat oily "home-cooked" fare and white rice. I'm concerned that I might gain a lot of weight with this habit, but I don't know what else to eat! What should I do?
— On the Job Eating

I am not sure what your job is, but field work sounds like fun. But as for eating street fare, it is difficult to come by healthy foods. I do have a few suggestions for you, so

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The simplest solution is to pack your own lunch and to keep it light both in terms of calories and weight, since it sounds like you're walking around a lot. A small sandwich, a piece of fruit, carrot sticks, and a rice cake or two make for a well rounded meal without taking up much space. I have heard readers comment that their co-workers find the habit of brown bagging the midday meal unsocial. Keeping camaraderie in mind, you can alternate days you bring your lunch and eat from food stalls.

My other suggestion is to watch your portions and choose the healthiest food you can find. Find stir fries high in veggies and keep the rice on the side, so it won't absorb the oil from from the sauce and hopefully there will be more oil on your plate at the end of the meal than in your belly. It sounds like the food vendors are right there cooking, and I suggest talking to them to see if they will customize your order a bit, adding more healthy produce and using less oil.

On days you do field work, make sure to eat a healthy breakfast, so you're not famished at lunch and then likely to overeat high calorie foods. Do the same with dinner, making sure it is a healthy, well balanced, and not overly indulgent meal. The good news is that you're out walking around when doing field work, so at least you're not sedentary. Walking throughout the day is a great way to burn up some of the calories you're eating at lunch.