Work takes up most of our time these days. 5 days a week is the minimum and what you eat in almost the entire week matters. Once you step into the office, it’s like having blinders on – you forget about anything and everything, including food. Before you know it, you’re eating whatever you can lay your hands on. To curb the mid-morning hunger pangs, you probably snack on chips, crackers, cookies and so on. These foods are nothing but empty calories with absolutely no nutritional value. It’s time to put a stop to junk food, and start to eat healthy at office. Here are a few tips to help you do that:
7 ways to eat healthy at office
Plan ahead NOT to skip breakfast
In the haste to be on time for office, you may tend to skip breakfast. Make it easier on yourself and have stress-free mornings by planning easy breakfasts. Cereals, oatmeal, smoothies, a simple peanut butter sandwich will keep you full, and these foods do not take much time to eat. Or else, if you have returned late at night or worked late at night, carry your breakfast to office. Grab a banana or apple which you can eat on the way or carry your smoothie with you.
Skipping breakfast leads to eating more during the day leading to weight gain and other problems. To be working at your best, start off your day on a full stomach rather than an empty one. Avoid carbohydrate rich foods like bagels, white bread and so on, as these will make you sleepy.
Pack your lunch
Take advantage of your company’s corporate nutrition program and learn the foods which are best for you. Some programs work out a diet plan for employees. Corporates have now woken up to the fact that healthier employees are better workers and there is less absenteeism. And companies have to acknowledge that working non-stop with the intense pressure to deliver results in stress and unhealthy eating habits. Therefore, many organizations have put in place corporate nutrition programs.
Using the diet plan for employees as your guide, you can pack healthy, nutritious food every day. You’d be able to control the portion size and the exact kind and quantity of food which has been prescribed for you.
Stock on healthy snacks
When you’re young and fit, you tend to abuse your body with junk food which is so tempting, delicious and acts as comfort food too. But these burgers and pizzas take a toll on your body, steadily. Before you know it, you can become unfit and obese, you might become diabetic and have hypertension and a host of other problems. If you eat healthy at office, you will have a healthier life later on.
Instead of gorging on fried snacks on your desk, store some healthy snacks for the office. If you are completely dedicated to eating health, pack a tasty salad with plenty of cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, cottage cheese/chicken etc.
Plan a snack before lunch which could be a mix of walnuts, peanuts, yogurt and roasted ‘chana’/chickpeas, homemade energy bars. A homemade bran and oats muffin is the perfect snack for office workers.
Have enough healthy food with you for two snacks, one in the morning and one in the evening. Keep some snacks in your drawer and some in your car, so that you have something to eat on the move.
Include many food groups in your lunch
Skip the white rice and bread, and choose multigrain bread instead. Avoid a heavy lunch full of fatty food, but eat roasted chicken, fish and other vegetarian dishes. A lentil soup or a clear chicken soup is the better choice. If you like pasta, then make it with a lot of different colored vegetables in olive oil to eat healthy at office. It’s best to use pasta sauce you made yourself at home, rather than store-bought. You can forgo the sauce completely and just garnish your pasta for flavor.
Say NO
In every office, there are many celebrations almost every day, of birthdays and anniversaries. It’s wonderful to join in but now, you have to draw the line at eating all the yummy pastries and cakes and other party food. Allow yourself a tiny slice, so that your healthy diet does not get derailed.
Be the one to cheer the most for the person, but when it comes to wolfing down the high carb high calorie snacks you have to say ‘no’. This is one of the best ways to eat healthy at office. Maybe your entire office can follow a nutrition guide and have only healthy snack for office workers, during office celebrations.
Make lemon water your favorite beverage in office
Limit your intake of tea and coffee to two cups a day, as these contain sugar and caffeine. Coffee and tea may cause dehydration, and lead to iron loss in the body which might hamper in concentration. Consuming a lot of caffeine may cause kidney stones too, which has become a very common ailment among office goers these days.
During the day when you feel the need for refreshment, have hot lemon water, without sugar. This will keep your body hydrated and keep your stomach alkaline preventing kidney stone as well as other diseases which are caused by excess stomach acids. Lemon water is great to cut belly fat too.
Have lots of water too, upto 2.5 -3 liters a day. It’s not for nothing that water is called the elixir of life. When you have the required amount of water, all your systems work perfectly and you will feel energetic and fresh.
Don’t have lunch at your desk
One mistake which most people make is to have lunch at their desks. This does not allow people to decompress and de-stress. If you’re in the habit of doing this, you too perhaps do not enjoy your midday meal and don’t give yourself the chance to take a break from your work. This break, even for half an hour is important, as it will help you to rejuvenate and get back to work refreshed. Eat in the office canteen or take your packed home lunch out to the nearest park or green space.
Once you get started on eating healthy in your office, you’ll be able to continue doing so in a regular basis. The difference in your energy and concentration levels will lead to a boost to your productivity in your work too.
