How you eat 800 extra calories working from home — and what to do about it

This might be tough to swallow: Your chronic work-from-home snacking could be behind your expanding waistline.

A new survey from the diet tracking app MyFitnessPal found that excessive snacking while working at home amounted to an extra 800 calories and 3,500 fewer steps per day on average.

With the fridge just steps away from your makeshift home office — read: the couch — it can be easy to mindlessly munch on chips, cookies and crackers while remaining sedentary.

“When you go to the office, you probably have breakfast first, and maybe you pack your lunch and some snacks, so you might have a few specific foods on hand. But it would be very unusual to have a full kitchen with you,” Ginger Hultin, a registered dietitian nutritionist from Seattle, Washington, told Fortune.

“Now, all your favorite foods are right there.”  

Of the 2,000 hybrid workers surveyed, 36% admitted they snacked even when they weren’t hungry, while 60% said they ate more unhealthily at home.

Participants were asked to log their food and track their steps throughout a work-from-home day — and researchers compared the data to that of an office day.

When working from home, 2,752 calories were consumed on average — 791 calories more than a typical office day.

While remote, employees only took an average of 4,518 steps, just over half of what they would walk if they went to the office.

To combat excessive snacking, experts told Fortune to pause before eating to rate hunger, schedule non-food breaks, take a real lunch break and eat mindfully.

“Ideally, you should sit down and enjoy your food, and focus on the tastes, smells, and feel of it, even if it’s just for five minutes,” said Hultin.

While quality snacks often outweigh the quantity consumed, overindulging in any food, no matter how nutrient-dense, could quickly pack on the calories — and pounds.

According to the Times, hidden calories are lurking in chocolate-covered rice cakes, a handful of granola, nuts and even that afternoon latte with skim milk.

For instance, eating flavored yogurt, some lightly salted chips, hummus and crackers, and chocolate-covered rice cakes was estimated to be nearly 830 calories.

In July, researchers shared the best way to snack, claiming that chowing down on high-quality morsels earlier in the day is best, as late-night munchies are “unfavorable for health.”