Most of us started working remotely since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak to cope with social distancing norms. While working from home has proven to be a boon for companies throughout the world, it does have a few adverse effects on employee health.
Eating healthily, for one, can be a difficult task while working from home. With uninterrupted access to your kitchen and refrigerator, you might be tempted to gorge on high-calorie junk foods many times a day. Such over-eating habits can affect your health and cause serious health problems.
Also, while some of us may tend to overeat foods, some may fall prey to undereating. Deadlines, heavy workloads, and more may cause many employees to miss meals and forget to eat altogether.
Working from home may have turned your life upside down, but still, there are many ways to eat right and maintain a healthy life. Let’s figure out a better diet culture together.
Keeping your nutrition in check can be tough when your home is your office. You feel comfortable and there’s plenty of food available. And unlike in the office, you’re free to graze all day and the fridge is all yours. But this habit can wreak havoc on your waistline, sabotage weight loss and halt your productivity.
Eating Healthy While Working From Home
Proper nutrition can help you stay productive and healthy and keep your immune system robust in such dire times. Whereas, lack of the same can cause serious health issues like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and so forth.Don’t buy junk food.
Avoid buying unhealthy, processed junk foods as best as you can. Such foods are high in sugar and unhealthy fats and provide little to no nutritional value at all. Eating junk foods can cause you to binge and overeat. So, do not stock up on junk foods and instead focus on buying real foods that are nutritious and healthy.Stay Hydrated.
Water is essential for the proper functioning of all bodily functions. However, most of us do not drink adequate amounts of water throughout the day. Dehydration can cause fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and so on, which are harmful to productivity.
Ensure that you drink plenty of water throughout the day as you work from home. Doing so can help suppress your appetite and keep hunger pangs away.
Count your calories.
Being aware of the nutritional information of the foods you consume is very important, especially the calories. Eating too many caloric dense foods will cause you to gain weight, whereas not getting enough calories will cause you to lose weight and experience a lack of energy. Hence, it is crucial to count the calories of the foods you eat if you desire good health.
A wellness app like Vantage Fit can help you to easily track your meals and the number of calories you consume throughout the day.
Prepare your meals beforehand.
Preparing your meals ahead of time is very important if you want to make sure that you are eating your meals regularly. Meal prep allows you to save up on valuable time as well. By preparing the ingredients of your lunch or breakfast beforehand, you will be able to dive straight into cooking without all the extra work like peeling, cutting, etc.Plan your meals.
The first step is to plan what and when you are going to eat throughout the day. Schedule at what times you will eat your breakfast, lunch, and dinner and be punctual. Also, plan what you want to eat so that you have everything figured out ahead of time. This way, you will be less likely to eat additional meals, and your nutritional habits will become regular.Stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are an essential part of a healthy and balanced diet. These foods are rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and many more essential nutrients needed for the proper functioning of your body.
By eating fruits and vegetables regularly, you will feel healthier and more energized throughout the day. Also, besides using them in lunches or breakfasts, they can be eaten as snacks as well.
Keep healthy snacks at your work desk.
There may be random times throughout your work-day when you feel hungry, but do not want to eat a full meal. For such times, healthy snacks are the way to go as they are tasty and filling.
Snacking on healthy foods can help you stay productive and energized throughout your tasks while providing you essential nutrients at the same time. Moreover, snacking on these particular foods can boost brain health and cognitive function.
Avoid drinking too many caffeinated drinks.
Many people tend to drink coffee or tea while working as such drinks contain caffeine, which can boost focus and energy. While caffeinated beverages are safe to consume in moderation, drinking too much can cause problems like headaches, anxiety, and insomnia. These side effects can hinder your productivity while working, so try to limit your caffeine intake.Limit your salt and sugar intake.
Anyone looking to lead a healthy life should start limiting the amount of sugar and salt they consume regularly. While they are essential for our bodies, most of the foods available in markets contain excess amounts, which can cause serious health issues.
High blood sugar causes diabetes, whereas salt can cause high blood pressure, both life-threatening diseases. They both can also affect your ability to focus on work-related tasks. Hence, it is a good idea to limit the amount of salt and sugar that you consume to prevent adverse effects.
Try to enjoy cooking and preparing your meals.
Stop viewing food as only a means of satisfying your hunger and learn more about cooking and nutrition in general. Check out recipes on the internet and try to make them on your own. Once you learn more about cooking and start enjoying it, your creativity will increase. You will also have fun preparing your meals and choosing the right foods to stay healthy.Do not skip meals
This one is for the “go, go, go” types. Once you get into the flow-state of work, it can be hard to get out of your seat and take time for a normal lunch.
The truth is, the longer you stay without eating, the more you fall into the temptation of overeating when you get the time.
MIMI (Multi ion mask insert)
- Can be worn with any facemask and provides additional heavy-duty protection.
- Adult & Youth Sizes Available
Stock up on fresh food
Strip your pantry of the processed junk foods. Replace the pizzas and chocolates with fruits and vegetables and other real food items.
It’s much easier to make the once a week habit of buying the right food for your health than to battle every day trying not to eat the junk food sitting in your cabinets.
Don’t eat and work
When it’s time to eat, sit down and have a proper meal at a table that is not your work desk.
Working while eating can lead to overeating and weight gain. It also isn’t good for digestion or your overall enjoyment of food. So take a break from work and sit somewhere else to finish your meal.
Experiment with a new diet (Mediterranean, Keto, etc.)
You may be isolated at home, but that does not mean that your meals should be bland. Take your taste buds on a trip around the world by experimenting with several exotic recipes.
Don’t worry about the hype or which diet is the “best.” Just use common sense and find something that includes a lot of fresh, healthy food with flavors you’ll enjoy. Avoid extreme diets or fads that would be hard to sustain over the long haul.
Limit your sugar consumption
We all know about that sugar rush and how it momentarily spikes our energy levels. With a project deadline coming up, you might be tempted to stay up late munching on sweet items. Or, you might find yourself drawn to eating a lot of addictive sugary snacks during the day.
Don’t buy energy drinks or white sugar. Instead, use honey, maple syrup, and other natural sweeteners. And limit your quantities even of those.
It’s time to make fermented vegetables
You have probably heard about fermented foods like kimchi and kombucha. Maybe now is the time to try it!
There are plenty of guides on this topic so just do a search on the internet. Fermented foods are good for your digestive health and good for the brain.
Make salad dressing in bulk
Store-bought dressings often have more fat than is healthy (especially saturated fat). On top of that, they often include sugars and a high number of calories.
You can avoid all that unhealthy-ness by making your dressings every week.
Minimize alcohol consumption
This may sound obvious, but overconsumption of alcohol can quickly lead to overconsumption of unhealthy foods. It can also put a strain on your body by itself when over done. We all know this but still, pay attention.
Avoid fatty snacks
With the exception of healthy snacks like avocados and almonds, stay away from high fat, usually highly processed, snacks. Most of today’s high fat snacks use unhealthy oils and pack in a lot of calories with very few nutrients. Better to stay away.Bottom Line
Working from home comes with many new challenges and consistently eating right is just one of them. But you can learn how to do it. In fact, you have to if you want to live a healthy life and enjoy your work.
So use the above tips to eat right, stay healthy and get things done – even while working from home.
