Snacks to Fuel Your Workday As much as we love to emphasize the importance of quality, ergonomic office furniture in helping you stay productive and healthy, your outdated office chair may not be the only reason you’re dragging throughout the workday. If we can do our part to get you the right furniture to be a rockstar at your job, then you can do yours to handle the rest (and your part is easy!) We’re talking about what you eat! Meals, snacks, hydration all play a crucial role in how you feel, how you manage stress and how much you get done!
Meals.
Breakfast: It is said to be the most crucial meal of the day; setting the tone for the rest of your waking hours and helping you control whether or not you’re going to be craving unhealthy treats the whole time you’re in the office. This is why you want to be sure to incorporate complex carbs or lean protein to help you stay fuller for longer and get that metabolism going! Whether you kick off your morning with a gym sesh or you roll right out of bed and head to work, you want to try to eat about a half hour to an hour or so after waking up. The longer you wait to eat, the more time your body spends in preservation mode, which means it has to break down existing energy sources into usable fuel. In other words, you’re running on fumes; not to mention the process itself is very arduous for the body. It can result in low energy, loss of concentration and an unappeasable hunger later on. So moral of the story: don’t skip breakfast!
Examples: omelete and whole wheat toast, greek yogurt with fruit and nuts, bowl of oatmeal, veggie and fruit smoothies
Lunch: The best way to kick the sluggish feeling is to make sure you incorporate protein into your meal someway or another. If you’re settling for complex carbs in the form of breads, bagels or fruits, make sure it’s paired with some energy-packed protein. Add some avocado to your sandwich or salad, throw some nuts in your fruit smoothie and greek yogurt or introduce some quinoa into basically any pasta, rice or wrap. This will help slow the absorption of sugar into the blood so you won’t experience that sudden jolt of energy and then crash in the afternoon.
Examples: turkey burger or sandwich with whole grain bun or bread, salmon or tuna with brown rice, eggs with avocados, quinoa and veggie wraps, spaghetti squash with chicken
Snacks.
Snacks can be a stealthy little energy zapper if you’re not choosing wisely. Biggest lesson to learn here is if you don’t have it, you can’t eat it. Only make room in your snack drawer for high-energy, healthy snacks, so that the temptation isn’t there. Your decision to grab a soda or cookie may be joyous at the time, but will be regretful an hour or two later, as those sugars are quick to enter your cells, leaving your body lacking the proper fuel shortly after. By only giving yourself the option to snack on healthier options, your body will be more likely to crave these types of snacks in the future instead. This gradual transition is known as a learned behavior. If you start sporadically switching to better options for your midday snacks, your mindset and appetite will eventually adapt to associate these foods with being hungry. Just like any habit, if there is repetition in your behavior or choices, it will start to become second nature. Even your environment can play a role as it can become another trigger to crave certain foods you start to associate with your surroundings. Same goes for proportions. Simply put, these healthy choices can become good habits, but only after some strong will power to put an end to the bad, but oh-so-tempting habits first! Try to stock up on some of these snack alternatives and you’ll eventually start making these healthy choices without even thinking about it!
[ezcol_1half]- Greek yogurt
- hard boiled eggs
- nuts- almonds, cashews
- hummus and veggies
- apples and peanut butter
- seasoned popcorn
- almond butter and whole wheat bread
- homemade trail mix
- granola bars
- Ricotta cheese
- green tea
- dried or fresh fruit
- olives
Now, pair that better workday diet paired with some high-quality, ergonomic office furniture, and there’s no stopping you! So get to work!
— Need help with the office furniture part? Give us a call! 610.286.1766
Sources:
http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/index.php/article_id/2192/Foods-to-Fuel-Your-Workday
http://www.thekitchn.com/15-snacks-to-fuel-your-work-da-114085