As the pandemic changed the working world, many people noticed significant wellness perks from skipping fast food lunches for at-home goodness. As society shifts again, you might be among the many wanting to maintain healthy eating while working — but doing so isn’t always easy, especially if breakroom donuts abound.
The right approach makes it easier to stick with your wellness goals. The following five tips for maintaining a healthy eating schedule at work can improve your overall relationship with food and help you climb off the yo-yo diet roller coaster.
1. Synchronize Your Watches
Many people spend eight or more hours working daily, and not everyone enjoys a flexible schedule. Maintaining healthy eating while working means synchronizing several aspects of your life first and foremost — your work schedule, your family’s preferred mealtimes and, of course, your body’s innate sense of hunger.
For example, many people rely on intermittent fasting to control their weight without counting calories. Two of the most popular methods are the 12:12 and 16:8, where you restrict intake for 12 to 16 hours, giving yourself an eating window. What if you work the second shift, your kids finish school and soccer around 6 p.m., and you want the option of eating with them on your days off while sticking to your diet?
You need some fuel for your workday. Therefore, you might opt for a 16:8 plan and schedule your eating window for 11 a.m. through 7 p.m. That way, you can take a “lunch” on workdays that start at 3 p.m. but still enjoy a late brunch with family or a nice early dinner when you aren’t on the clock.
2. Make It Convenient
Why do people eat fast food despite the associated health risks? It’s quick and convenient. If you want to maintain healthy eating while working, you need to make grabbing a healthy bite even more so.
This job calls for a little retail therapy. Renew yourself with a fresh stash of reusable to-go containers that make schlepping your meal to the office a snap. Better yet, invest in a heated Bento box that warms your lunch for you at your desk — when it’s ready, simply open it and dig in.
3. Make It Delicious
You need healthy food to put in those containers, which means getting your meal-prep game on point. The easiest way to start? Make a double portion when you cook another recipe, storing the leftovers in reusable freezer bags. You’ve just started meal prepping with next-to-no added effort.
You can even mix and match. For example, make-ahead bowls are the perfect healthy workday lunch, consisting of a protein, vegetable, starch and sauce. Make a little extra rice with dinner, top it with yesterday’s leftover chicken and veggies, add a little tamari sauce and viola — you’ve got an Asian-inspired healthy lunch to take to work the next day.
Yet another approach to meal prepping is to cook everything in one fell swoop on your day off. Use a twist on the make-ahead bowl idea to add variety to your diet instead of “if it’s Tuesday, it must be Chicken Kiev.” Precook each ingredient and store them in separate freezer bags so you can mix and match proteins, starches and veggies throughout the week.
4. Identify Your Demons
Nearly every office has demons, but they don’t lurk behind your cubicle with pitchforks. They typically linger in breakrooms. Well-meaning colleagues bring in donuts and leftover Halloween candy to share with the gang, and the snack machine overflows with corn chips and snack cakes. There’s rarely an angelic fruit bowl in sight.
Swearing off these treats is akin to holding up a “free rent” sign and inviting them to occupy your mental space. Human beings tend to dwell on what they cannot have, and before you know it, it’s not the flavor of the chips themselves you crave but their “forbidden fruit” status that makes them irresistible.
Instead, plan your snack attacks. For example, if you know that Barb in accounting always hits the corner coffee shop for the most tempting pastries on Friday, build that indulgence into your weekly meal plan. Doing so lets you enjoy the occasional treat stress-free, which decreases the pesky hormones that can make managing your weight feel like an uphill battle.
5. Arm Yourself With Healthy Snacks
Another way to avoid the office snack machine is to BYOT — bring your own treat. You can build them into your meal-prep routine or even opt for convenience. Although you should avoid ultra-processed foods in general, some varieties aren’t as bad and may even have nutritional value. For example, popcorn made with olive oil provides oodles of filling fiber to tame your cravings, as do crackers made with 100% whole grain.
Tips for Healthy Eating While Working
Maintaining healthy eating while working isn’t always easy, especially if your schedule or routine changes. However, an RTO order need not spell diet disaster. Use the tips above to make better choices, avoid office temptations and nurture your health while bringing home the bacon.
