SHARES
Like you already know from my previous articles, a healthy diet is the cornerstone for a healthy physical and psychological condition. Taking a well-balanced nutrition takes time and preparation and is definitely a challenge during everyday life. Stress and time pressure are well known reasons for falling back to bad nutrition at work. Besides that, healthy food providing restaurants are rarely available in some areas. During my professional career I suffered many times from this problem. Yes, I go that far to call this a real problem. The wrong diet can wipe out all your possible successes and is therefore a big topic especially for sportsmen. In this article you can learn some easy tips to eat healthy every day and also get to know how you can supply your body with the needed nutrition even at work.
Establish a basis
The base for a healthy diet at work already starts every morning at your home breakfast table. In many cases going to work hungry will lead to ravenous appetite and the consumption of easily available food. Consequently, you should provide yourself with balanced mix of complex carbs, protein and healthy fats. Oats, whole grain bread or rice, lean chicken breast, cottage cheese and eggs are well suited as an energy supplier in the morning.
The hunger in between
Once you arrive at work, the stress may pop up directly. The sound of telephones ringing, long-winded meetings and time consuming tasks can make it difficult to comply with set diet plans. Moreover, your brain is dependent on nutrition to make it work well. Fattening chocolate bars and sugary cookies will give you a good feeling for a couple of minutes due to the distribution of the “happy hormone” serotonin. Your body has to deal with the high blood sugar and produces lots of insulin to transport the glucose into the inside of the cells. Right after this “energy (sugar) shot” your body requires more. A steady up and down of your blood sugar level paired with lack of exercise can also lead to Diabetes. So, how to avoid it? It’s easy! There are lots of natural and healthy snacks available to provide you with the nutrition your body really needs. Nuts and almonds, for example, contain a high amount of protein and healthy fats. These provide much healthier forms of calories than sugar does. Yes, calorie is not equal calorie. There are big differences in where they come from and what they do to your body. Additionally, it is important to try to avoid extra salted and roasted nuts because a big amount of valuable minerals get lost during heat exposure.
Preparation
Following your colleagues to the shop right around the corner to grab some delicious nasi lemak, pork noodles or curry mee is easy, cheap and common. Especially for me as a German who is completely addicted to the great Asian food, it is not easy to reject this wide range of good food. But you should be aware of the fact that it often contains quite a lot of unhealthy fats and inferior carbohydrates. Even if high valuable food is available it is often highly priced or it requires long waiting time. You can go with it or you start preparing your own food depending on your personal goal. Lots of companies do have microwaves to heat up your home-cooked meal consisting of high valuable carbs, healthy fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals.
Snacks and Drinks
Doesn´t matter how great your lunch was, at any time during the afternoon, the appetite kicks in. A cup of coffee or tea, without sugar of course, tastes best with some snacks beside. Instead of grabbing in the cookie jar, how about eating something delicious AND healthy? Fruits especially bananas might be a healthy solution. But even fruits contain more sugar (fructose) than most of us know. The same applies for drinks also. Water and thin fruit-spritzers contain less sugar and are much healthier than common soft drinks.
A combination of nuts (protein), seeds (fats) and dark chocolate (carbs) will provide you with new energy. If you are exercising and trying to gain muscle, this valuable nutrition and the energy it contains will prevent you from converting your hard earned muscles into energy to supply your brain. Also, it can boost your diet at the same time.
Order your healthy Snacks right here!
List of healthy foodstuff you easily can bring to work:
- Nuts, Almonds and Seeds
- Boiled eggs
- Canned tuna or smoked salmon
- Raw vegetables and fruits and berries
- Plain yoghurt with cereals
- Roasted tofu
- Dry meat
- Protein shakes
- Home-made wholegrain Sandwiches
Discipline
Being the healthy one within an unhealthy crowd can be difficult. Swimming against the flow requires a strong sense of determination and discipline. But it’s totally worth it. Once you see and even more important FEEL results and progress, you know why you are doing it. So what about you? I can show you the way, you have to go by yourself. Nothing to lose. All to win. Just try it out and let me know how it works for you.
Sources: Fitnessmagnet, That Sugar Film
by Jens Behrensen
German fitness addict sharing my experience and trying to bring a healthier lifestyle to people. View all articles by Jens Behrensen.
