If you work in an office, you’ll know how difficult it can be to eat healthy. From birthday cakes to bags of sweets, sugary coffees to ordering takeaways for lunch, it can be hard to resist temptation. However, whilst of course treats every now and again are good for our soul and we deserve them, if we’re always eating these foods, it can actually impact your productivity at work, as well as your health. So, we’re here to explain some of the benefits of healthy eating in the office, as well as how you can make it happen!
The Benefits Of Healthy Eating In The Office
When you eat healthily, you experience a whole range of different mental and physical health benefits. By eating healthy, we mean eating a varied diet of protein, healthy fats, different fruits and vegetables, slow releasing carbohydrates and plenty of fibre, with limited processed foods, sugary foods and drinks and alcohol.
More Energy and Improved Mood
Firstly, when you eat healthily most of the time, naturally you will have more energy and you’ll notice that your mood is improved. Often very high calorie meals with non-nutrient dense foods can make you feel really sluggish, and high sugar foods and drinks might give you a spike of energy, but your blood sugars will soon crash and it will leave you feeling tired and lacking energy.
However, when you’re eating predominantly nutrient dense foods that are high in protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals, including slow releasing carbohydrates, you will have more stable blood sugar throughout the day. Healthier foods will also keep your gut microbiome stronger and help to release neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which not only regulate your mood, but then also help to improve your sleep and reduce stress anxiety.
So, eating healthy will improve your mood throughout the day and help prevent that mid-afternoon slump!
Improved Immune System
All sorts of bugs get passed around offices, and if you’re not eating healthily, then your body won’t be as well equipped to fight them off. However, when you focus on eating healthy foods (particularly high fibre foods) to strengthen your gut microbiome, your immune system will be stronger. You will feel less run down and have less time out of the office, as well as achieving general self-improvement!
Better Productivity
Whilst we know there are endless benefits to eating healthily, the last one we’re going to introduce in relation to the workplace is better productivity. When you’re eating well, your memory, concentration and cognitive performance can all improve, giving you more mental clarity and also motivation.
How To Eat Healthily In The Office
Have A Filling Breakfast
The first thing you can do to eat healthily in the office is to have a filling breakfast. Something like a big bowl of oats or eggs on toast is ideal. If you go into the office without eating breakfast, you’ll probably have a few biscuits to tie you over until lunch, then even if you have quite a satisfying lunch, there will still be a bit of a gap that you might fill with the wrong foods in the afternoon, then at that point you will likely be thrown off for the rest of the day, craving sugar.
So, when you eat a filling breakfast, you’re setting yourself up for the day properly and starting off the day by stabilising your blood sugar.
Bring Your Own Lunch and Snacks
Often the quickest options when you need to grab lunch are unhealthy or not nutritionally dense to give you energy. This might be a meal deal, a sausage roll or a takeaway of some kind, however this will likely leave you feeling unsatisfied and it won’t give you the energy you need to feel great throughout the rest of the day. Instead, over the weekend, go and do a food shop and buy the ingredients to do a bit of meal prep.
This might be full meals that you freeze to eat throughout the week if you like cooking or want something more filling, however it doesn’t have to be anything extravagant. You could batch make a brown pasta salad with chicken and bacon or tuna, with lots of nice salad bits for a balanced meal.
You could prepare some high protein sandwich fillings and keep them in a tub in the fridge, so you just need to scoop some out onto your brown seeded bread in the morning, add some salad and then you have another more balanced alternative to a meal deal. Also, cut up some fruit and divide into tubs so you have it ready, then add a few scoops of Greek yoghurt in the morning you’ll eat it for a high protein afternoon snack.
Eating balanced meals that taste great doesn’t have to be difficult, it just takes a bit of preparation and you will be ready for the whole week ahead!
Suggest Healthier Options For Events
If you host quite a few corporate events as a business, and they’re full of unhealthy options, perhaps you suggest that there is more of a focus on healthier alternatives next time. This might be to order pre packed sandwiches instead of pizzas, you might have a fruit bowl and a tray of sweet treats instead of all just cakes, or you could order in from a healthy kitchen rather than something that is fatty or sugary.
There is nothing wrong with treating yourself every now and again of course, but if you have found that there is a bit of a lull after your events, then providing something more refreshing, and still delicious, could be a great alternative.
Keep Sweet Treats For Birthdays and Special Occasions
Last but not least, whilst there will likely be sweet treats flying around the office regularly, try to keep them for birthdays and special occasions. Eating a healthier snack like Greek yoghurt and fruit or something high in protein will help you to feel great all afternoon. Of course, if you really want something sweet then go for it, but getting into healthier habits rather than eating biscuits every afternoon will help to give you more mental clarity, as well as to look after your body.
Keep some healthy snacks in your drawer at work, like high fibre fruit and nut bars, so you have something nearby if you’re hungry and don’t want to dive to the unhealthier options. You could also batch buy something for the week to keep in the fridge if you want something more substantial, like protein yoghurts.
You should also keep some healthy drinks nearby, like green tea, that is great for your health and can help you figure out whether you’re actually hungry or just want a quick distraction. Eating high protein and fibre foods should naturally mean you lean less towards the unhealthier options!