Working at home has its benefits, but one of the biggest battles we have with working at home is the one with our diet. When we are working at home and we are so busy, it becomes easier to focus on unhealthy habits. When you are on a conference call and you wander to the kitchen, you may find that you need to eat something quick, so naturally, you go towards a bag of chips or dry cereal. But the habits of working at home can make you struggle to keep your nutrition in check. And when you are at home, and there’s plenty of food around, so the temptation to graze is always there! But if you want to be healthier while working from home, what are some of the best strategies?
Plan Your Meal Times
You need to schedule your working day, but you also need to schedule your meals. If you establish the times of day you’re going to eat, you can plan ahead for that. It’s important to treat food like you would in the office. You wouldn’t be able to graze in the office, so act the same way at home. When you are looking at the foods you can eat, choose the healthier options, this adds structure to your day.
Prepare Your Meals
The benefit of being at home means that you can prepare good quality meals, rather than having to rely on a sandwich. This means that you can get more nutrients into your life. While the cold pressed juice benefits of a store-bought smoothie are obvious, if you want to make your own personal smoothie with your own ingredients, you know exactly what’s going into it. When you start to have a healthy lunch, you feel better, and you have more energy to see out the rest of the working day.
Do Not Work in the Kitchen
When we work at home, we have to treat it like we are in the office. This means we have got to set up a corner of the home and work until our day is over. And when you set up your desk near the kitchen, that temptation to check the fridge is always there. You should decide that the only time you will be in the kitchen during your working day is when you are preparing a meal. However, not everybody has the space to set up an office away from the kitchen. When in doubt, hang a sign on the fridge to remind you that it is out of bounds until your next scheduled meal.
Drink Plenty of Water
You might not get into the habit of drinking as much water in your face because you have too much to do, and going to the bathroom is only going to eat into your working day. But it’s so important to drink plenty of water, because if you experience slight dehydration, this will be reflected in a slump in productivity. The best thing for you to do is to get a large water bottle that can hold a gallon of liquid, and do your best to try and empty it before the end of the day. There is, of course, the small matter of needing to go to the bathroom all the time if you drink a lot but the general rule is if you are having at least two liters of water a day, you are flushing out your system.
Move Around More
There are, of course, physical issues with sitting down all day, but if you get up and move around more, this stops you from focusing on the sensation of hunger. Much like when you exercise, you don’t feel that hungry, and it’s the same thing when you are stuck at a desk. Many people eat because they are bored. When it comes to winning the battle against bad eating habits, take it upon yourself to get up and walk around the house at least once an hour, or even better, use your lunch break to do some exercising, and that way, you are getting a bit more healthy despite being at home.
It’s is not easy when you work at home because you’ve got a lot of temptation. But eating well at home can be achieved because you’ve got more control. When you go to work in an office, and you head out for lunch, there’s a lot of artificial ingredients in your food. When you are at home, this is the perfect opportunity to create the ideal nutrient-dense foods.