Even if your company does not offer a formal wellness program, you and your coworkers can eat healthy at work and take steps to make your work site a more healthful place.

For meetings, request healthful foods, such as fruits and vegetables with trans fat-free dip. Ask for sugar-free beverages such as water, maybe some diet soda, tea, and coffee.

In the cafeteria, encourage managers to provide lower-calorie/carbs foods and to increase the availability of fruits and vegetables. Ask them to offer smaller serving sizes as options.

In the vending machines, request more healthful choices. The Access to Healthy Foods Coalition in Washington state works with vending machine purveyors to make sure they offer a variety of snacks and quick meal options that are low in calories and simple carbs.

For treat days, encourage staff members to bring fruit and other healthful options. “People will eat what you bring,” says Denise Retzlaff, R.N., MPH, project coordinator of Steps to a Healthier Weld County in Colorado.

The program, called Do-Nutrition, developed a fruit carton that resembles a doughnut box, see above. Program officials worked with local Wal-Mart stores in Greeley, Colorado, to prepare and package the boxes. Employees take the boxes filled with fruit to share with their colleagues at work.

For lunches, suggest that everyone bring one item to add to a salad for a shared lunch. When coworkers want to eat at a restaurant, choose a place that offer low-calorie and or low-carb options. [via]