Workplace

A few months ago Atlanta publicist Jessie Snider traded elaborate sit-down lunches for leftovers and homemade turkey sandwiches, said Dana Mattioli in The Wall Street Journal. “Snider is part of a growing tide of midday restaurant regulars who are changing their habits to save cash.” While some cost-conscious workers are simply choosing to eat at cheaper lunch spots or subsidized corporate cafeterias, many are brown-bagging it. “Online bag retailer eBags.com saw sales of lunch bags and coolers increase 39 percent in June over the year before.”

Bringing lunch not only saves money but can be a far healthier alternative to large restaurant portions, said Lisa Martin in The Dallas Morning News. But shoving food into your mouth with one hand while typing an e-mail with the other isn’t an ideal way to spend a lunch break. “Eating at your desk encourages mindless eating, and overeating,” says Susan Moores, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Your desk also will quickly become a petri dish for bacteria. If you must eat in front of the computer, wipe your desk with a disinfectant every day and keep crumbs out of your keyboard.

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