It’s a fact for many of us that our work can be very stressful. Long hours, straining commutes and lack of sleep all contribute to our low energy and high stress levels. Sometimes, it can feel as if we can’t even stop for a lunch break.
When it comes to fueling our bodies with nutritional meals, many of us turn to the storage of excuses we have and pull them out once we need a reason behind our bad eating habits:
“It’s quick and easy; I’m stressed out; I don’t eat this every day, only once in a while; I need a soda to stay awake; I don’t have any time to cook food,” the list is endless.
We all have made these excuses, and in the world we live in today which feels like a constant race against time it seems only inevitable that we put our health second to all the other things that seem so important.
The reality is good fuel equals good performance. It is necessary for our long-term work performance that we maintain healthy eating habits. And the good news is, it’s not as hard as we make it out to be.
Because I work as a recruiter for a creative, web/IT, and online marketing staffing agency in Philadelphia, PA, it is difficult at times to keep a balance lifestyle in this hectic industry. However, I’ve determined a few easy steps to take to improve your healthy eating habits at work:
1- Make a Plan
Like almost everything, eating healthy is a learned behavior. Always having a backup plan, and eat multiple times a day. When you are grocery shopping on the weekend, think ahead: plan out your daily meals, and prep any food ahead of time. This will help you manage your time during the week, without caving for some fast-food on the drive home.
2- Eat Breakfast
It’s not the first time that you hear it, but eating breakfast is essential in maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle. Running through the morning hours with only a cup of coffee is detrimental to your metabolism, as well as to your work performance. By lunch time you feel as if you have spent the morning in the Sahara desert and will eat anything to get rid of your hunger pains. Here are some creative ways to ramp up your breakfast at work.
3- Snack Smart
Snack on a yogurt half way through the morning and a healthy granola bar right before lunch. By lunch time, it won’t be a run for your life to the closest and worst food truck. The same goes for the afternoon. Keeping healthy snacks in your drawer like a bag of almonds and some fruit will keep your end of the day stress-eating far from the vending machines for some M&M’s and a coke. By dinner time, you are ready to cook a healthy-sized portion of food since you won’t be trapped in the “I haven’t eaten since noon and I’m starving” scenario.
4- Drink Water
Above all, hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate with water. Someone once told me that your body runs like a program: if your actions are telling it to shut down, it will. When you don’t hydrate throughout the day, your body can’t distinguish between a dire situation in which you have no access to water, or if you’re just too busy at work. It will shut down, using less energy to preserve what it has, lowering your energy usage and slowing your metabolism. Keep hydrated to maintain high energy levels to stay awake during the 3 o’clock stretch.
We all have the power to change our lifestyles and maintain our health. Keeping it as the priority is where we sometimes lose sight of what we should be doing. Our bodies are the machine we should always give the highest maintenance to, no matter what the cost.
About Profiles:
Profiles is a unique staffing firm specializing in online/marketing, creative, and web/interactive jobs. Since 1998, we have served the needs of our Clients and Talent by matching the best candidates with the best companies in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Author Name – Maria Xidous
Title – Account Manager
Location – Philadelphia, PA
Twitter – @Maria_Xidous
Byline – Maria is a recruiter with over five years of experience. She is passionate about finding and helping great talent. Her favorite quote: “A recruiter is someone who finds people who are happy with their jobs, shows them why they are unhappy, and then makes them happy again” (Anonymous).
Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos
