With long hours at the office, we often tend to quickly grab a take away which we will eat while answering some emails. However, our workplace nutrition habits have a huge impact on our health. Meals are an essential part of the day which our body and our mind need to stay energized. If you want to start a new habit, having a healthy lunch also helps be more productive. Here are several tips to eat healthy at the office.

1. Don’t skip breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You can try to wake up early and have breakfast at home. If you don’t have time, you can eat at the office and ensure you bring healthy food with you. Avoid pastries and bagels which are unhealthy and will cause fatigue. Instead, prepare a healthy plate with multigrain bread or cereals, fruits, yoghurt, eggs and ham. If there is no time to prepare something to complicated, you can prepare a healthy muesli at home which you will just bring to work.

2. Prepare your lunch box

The best way to avoid grazy and fried food which you can buy outside is to prepare a lunch box with grilled, boiled or roasted food. The advantage is that you will know what it is made of and you will also control the portion of food you will eat. If you don’t have time to prepare your meal each evening, you can also cook several meals on Sunday afternoon for instance.

3. Create a menu for the week

For a better organisation, plan your meal for the week. This is the best way to eat enough and diversified food. Your meals should consist of high fiber, vegetables and protein. You can have fish twice a week and meat such as poultry and eggs three times a week. Add vegetables according to the season and some carbs such as whole grain pasta, quinoa or basmati rice. Lunch should be enriched with a yogurt and some fruits.

4. Prepare some snacks

When it comes 4pm, we often need some sugar to maintain our energy at high levels. Snacks are an important part of a healthy diet. However, sugar gives us a quick boost which will fade away several minutes later. To avoid junk food, the best option is to prepare healthy snacks which will boost our metabolism and increase energy. Rather than industrial snacks with added sugar, choose dried fruits such as almonds, walnuts or nuts and fruits.

5. Stop drinking (too much) coffee

At work, we tend to grab free beverages such as coffee. However, if you find yourself drinking many cups of coffee, try to reduce this amount. Caffeine which is found in coffee and tea can cause dehydration and kidney stones. It can also absorbe iron and reduce your concentration. You can replace the coffee with water lemon.

6. Have a water bottle

With back to back meetings, it is easy to forget to hydrate. The best option is to bring your water bottle which you can fill along the day. Try to drink water first thing in the morning. This will also avoid headaches. You can cut some lemon or cucumbers to add to your water bottle.

7. Make things convenient for you

It is not always easy to prepare your lunch and to organise everything. Don’t hesitate to make things the most convenient for you. For instance, you can bring leftovers the next day to avoid cooking. You can also make extra portions when you are preparing your dinner at night. This is also a good way to make some savings.

8. Keep the junk food away

Your colleagues may have a candy bowl, chips or unhealthy snacks, refuse politely to avoid eating industrial food. The less you will eat this type of food, the healthier you will get. It is good to keep our diet under control by reducing the amount of cakes, biscuits and other sweets people often bring in the workplace.

9. Keep a slot for lunch time

It is easy to forget lunch time and plan something else instead when it is really busy. However, it is essential for our body to eat around the same time every day. Don’t skip any meal and block off between thirty minutes and an hour to have the time to walk away from your desk. This way, you will be able to eat a healthy meal. After this break, you will come back refreshed and energized to embrace the afternoon.

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