Eating healthy at work doesn’t seem easy. Stress, lack of time and too much work means many people settle for fatty, sugar-laden fast food or fill up on junk food in between meals.
Yet Ali J. Chernoff, a Vancouver-based nutritionist and registered dietician, suggests eating well at work doesn't have to be a chore if you take the initiative and plan accordingly.
The first place to start is portion sizes. Chernoff says most people simply eat too much food and offers a few techniques for eyeballing a correct portion size.
For fruits and veggies, a single portion should be about as large as your fist. Meat servings should only be the size and thickness of your open palm.
Using these guidelines, enormous restaurant portions should be a sobering experience but Chernoff says too many people continue the trends they see in their own kitchens.
“People tend to take restaurant portion sizes into their homes. It doesn’t take much to make up a serving so people end up eating too much,” Chernoff said.
The need for quick, easy food while you’re working is undeniable, so Chernoff says the best strategy is to take one day out of each month to cook up a storm of your favourite dishes and freeze them, essentially making a stash of healthy fast meals you can take to work and heat up in the microwave.
Also, cutting out food altogether to “make up” for overeating in the past is a bad idea and skipping breakfast is a huge no-no because without it, you will be tired early and eat more in the long run.
“If you’re nutrient-deprived your body is not functioning like it’s supposed to be,” Chernoff said.
While many popular diets suggest eating drastically fewer carbohydrates, the truth of the matter is that carbs are necessary fuel for your body. Like a car, if you don’t put enough fuel into the tank the engine won’t run for long. If you find yourself feeling forgetful or unfocused at work, the problem could also be a lack of carbs.
“The brain is fuelled by carbohydrates. You have to eat carbs otherwise you can’t really function — but you can eat better ones,” Chernoff said.
Better carbs include brown rice, whole wheat pasta and plenty of fruits and veggies compared to the bad carbs generally found in processed foods.
Healthy food can also help keep the body awake and energized so swap out refreshing water for your coffee or tea and bring a stash of fresh cut veggies to munch on at your desk. Stay away from candy bars and chips and instead squelch cravings by splitting your healthy meals up and eating them more often.
