We have all been there when our boss or fellow employee decides to be nice and bring in something edible for the staff to enjoy in the workplace that day, right?
Although that gesture is a kind one, the treats that they bring in for you to eat are not usually healthy. In fact, the most common items that people bring into their work environment to eat are donuts, pizza, cookies, cake, and bagels. Even though the taste of those things may be mouthwatering for some, we all can most likely agree that those things are not considered good for a healthy diet nor are they good for your overall health.
The workplace is usually the place where you spend most of your time and also the place where you tend to spend more time with your fellow co-workers than you do with your actual family. Most people spend between 6 – 10 hours per day at work, 4 to 5 days per week. With that said, you have a lot of opportunity throughout the day to eat all of the right things or to eat all of the wrong things. Temptation is everywhere when you are at work: between co-workers constantly bringing in treats, making a quick run on your lunch break to a fast food restaurant or going to the corner market/gas station to go grab a bag of chips in the middle of your shift. These are all decisions that are detrimental to your health, particularly if you have a job where you have long stretches of sitting down.
The temptations listed above are going to always be there while you are at work, the best thing that you can do to counter those temptations and continue to make healthy decisions throughout your day is to plan ahead. Below you will find 3 ways to help you to eat healthier at work so that you can live a healthy life and be the best version of yourself that you can be:
Eat Breakfast
We all remember our parents telling us when we were younger how breakfast was the most important meal of the day, right? Well, it turns out that they were correct because it absolutely is. One of the biggest benefits to eating breakfast is that you jump start your metabolism first thing in the morning after not eating for however many hours you were sleeping. Your body wakes up and needs for you to fuel it immediately. When that doesn’t happen and you wake up and just leave to go to work, you are delaying the fueling process which will only make you hungrier and not as mindful when you finally get around some food. If you had eaten a bowl of oatmeal or cereal when you first woke up and provided your body with the fuel of a healthy breakfast, then that plate of cookies may not look as appetizing when you walk into the break room at work. However, the opposite of that is true as well, because if you are starving by mid-morning because you don’t have any food in your system, then the likelihood of you fueling your body with whatever food that is most convenient for your access dramatically increases, even if it is very unhealthy. So be sure to eat breakfast EVERY DAY and your body will thank you for it later!
Meal Prep (and Stick to It)
As tedious as it may be, every week you should plan out your meals to take the guess work and possible bad decisions out of the equation for eating healthy, particularly at work. On Sunday, look at your overall week and just sit down and decide what you will be having each day for not only breakfast, lunch, and dinner but also your snacks as well. Statistically, people tend to eat healthier when they are at home so if it is too much to make a menu for every single meal of the week, then just start off by creating a menu of the meals that you plan to have at work to increase your chances of eating healthier on a more regular basis.
Drink Plenty of Water
Drinking plenty of water will give you the ability to suppress your appetite and help you to not be hungry as often. The minimum amount of water that you should intake daily is 64 ounces, but the more water that you drink, the better. Some people even recommend a daily goal of 1- 2 gallons of water each day and if you can reach those amounts, that’s excellent because the beauty of drinking water is that you don’t have to worry about drinking too much of it. If you end up 2 gallons of water, the biggest concern that you will have is just making sure that you know where the bathroom is – but that’s it! Keep a water bottle on your desk, drink and refill it all day long to help you achieve your intake goal.
If you want to eat healthier at work and make healthier decisions TODAY, then start incorporating these 3 tips immediately and watch your overall performance improve at work, watch your health improve, watch your mood improve, watch how much better you feel, and watch how much better you look!
