Lifestyle Habits to make your work day a healthier one!
June 25, 2018
A big part of many peoples day is spent at work. So, keeping healthy eating habits at work is crucial part of meeting your healthy lifestyle goals. The following tips are ones I often use in counselling sessions with my clients. When adopting these habits, they actually work well and lead to a healthier way of eating.
- Bring your lunch instead of buying it more often. This change may be big for some people who are not accustomed to making a lunch. However, this big change brings big results. Whether you are trying to lose weight, or just eat healthier, this will be a very positive modification to your diet. Not to mention, you will save money too. Often, eating lunch out, results in much more calories, sodium, and saturated fat intake. It may result in a lack of fiber, and other nutrients as well-especially if you are just buying a sandwich or hamburger and forget about the veggies and whole grains. Some tips to help you with making a lunch:
-Use dinner leftovers: I often recommend to my clients, while chopping salad for dinner-just chop some extra for lunch. You already have all ingredients and kitchen tools out. If you are cooking chicken or fish, make an extra for lunch. Chicken or fish can be used to make a sandwich or, on top of a salad. If you are making a stew, or chili for dinner, those can easily be packed into a thermos for lunch the next day.
-Get on the pre-prep bandwagon: On a quiet Sunday, prepare some food for the coming week. Chop a few days’ worth of veggies that you can bring for lunches. Boil some eggs or cook chicken breast that you can use in salads or sandwiches. Cook a few days’ worth of quinoa that you can incorporate in a salad.
- Bring Extra snacks and water and KEEP them on your desk in FRONT of you. Often, my clients will tell me that their office is full of tempting snacks, or, the vending machine is calling their name. While there is nothing wrong with the occasional indulgence, consuming cookies, chips, chocolate or cake as a daily snack is not part okay. If you have healthy snacks on hand, when hunger strikes, you will be prepared and likely avoid the temptation to sneak out the vending machine or eat office snacks. Also, having water helps keep you hydrated and is the best source of fluids.
Some snack ideas:
-Fresh fruit and vegetables are always a winner! Try fruit dipped in yogurt or hummus with veggie sticks
-Homemade healthy muffins (If using a healthy recipe, homemade muffins are definitely a win over store bought).
-Almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts or homemade trail mix
-Homemade yogurt parfait. (yogurt, berries and a sprinkle of granola)
- Incorporate activity into your work day. I’m sure you’ve all heard these suggestions over and over. However, when they are actually incorporated into our lives and become habits, these suggestions make a difference:
-Take the stairs instead of the elevator
-Park your car further so you can walk
-Go for a long walk at lunch. We all need a breather, and some fresh air during the day. A walk will help clear your mind, and get some exercise.
- Bring an extra snack for the ride home. How many of you arrive home absolutely ravishing and ready to eat anything and everything in sight? Often, that is when we make the wrong food choices and we end up consuming much more food than we planned to. If getting to a point of starvation leads you to a full on binge, then bringing extra snacks is important habit to incorporate in your life. It will make a world of difference, if you just bring a snack or two to munch on in the car or subway ride home. You can bring similar snacks to the ones that I suggested for your work day.
I hope you can incorporate some if not all of these changes into your life. Even if you can just make one change, it’s a positive step towards a healthier you!
