Tips for eating healthily at work
Eating healthily is important for many reasons- lowering cholesterol, improving cardiovascular health, maintaining a healthy weight, and enhancing your energy levels, amongst others. While it may seem like it’s easier said than done, eating healthily (especially at work when takeaways are an easy ‘quick fix’ to lunch plans) can be a habit that’s easily formed and implemented.
Whether you work in an office or from home, healthy lunch and snack options are crucial. Many of us experience the same challenges- we’ve forgotten to/don’t have time in the mornings to pack a healthy assortment of foods. However, these challenges can easily be overcome. All you need to do is plan ahead and choose your meal plan wisely.
1. Plan a week ahead
Most of us do our large grocery shopping trip once a week (or fortnightly, depending on your schedule)- before you go on the next one, make a list of items that you’d be able to use as healthy options for meals at work. For example, you could boil a few eggs, grill chicken strips, make a salad, or pack fresh fruit and/or roasted nuts. Whatever your plan, decide on something realistic, and shop for it a week ahead. By not leaving these items to last-minute shopping, you increase your chances of sticking to the plan.
2. Prepare a few days in advance
Once you’ve bought your ingredients, prepare the meals a few days in advance. Of course, certain items would need to be done the day before (nobody likes a soggy sandwich), but many of them can be done quickly a few days before you need them- eggs can be boiled and left in the fridge, fruit and nuts can be pre-packed into containers, chicken can be grilled, and lettuce can be sliced and placed in a container so that they’re ready to go when you need them.
3. Pack the day before
All it takes is a few minutes in the evening before your next day at work to pack a few healthy items into a container. If you’re still working on making healthy lunch meals a habit, place a sticky note somewhere you know you’ll see it to remind you that there’s a healthy meal waiting for you to take it to work! Even if you work from home, last-minute requests may leave you pressed for time, so it’s best to pack the day before even if you work from home and think you’ll have the time and motivation to eat that healthy meal- something time-consuming could always pop up to disrupt the best of intentions.
Remember not to be too hard on yourself if you’ve made a plan but find it difficult to stick to it- forming a new habit can take some time (read our tips about forming new habits here). Part of staying motivated is to look forward to what you’re doing, so if you want to look forward to your healthy meals- plan to make them tasty! What’s more is that if you work with us, you have access to our Well-being Manager who can help you stay on track with your goals- browse through our range of jobs here and start applying to be part of a team that cares for your wellness.
