eating well at work 101

I'm back from my health retreat all rested and ready to go! I've been working on a little post for you on how to eat well at work. To eat healthy, nourishing meals isn't hard but it does require a bit of preparation and planning. If you work from home you have access to a kitchen more frequently during the day. However, if you work away from home, it can be harder to get your hands on a healthy meal due to limitations on your time and in your workplace. Now I've covered that, let me say, it is not impossible to eat well at work!

These tips and tricks work for me when I have long days away from home. I always plan ahead and pack the night before. If I'm away from home all day, I'll pack every meal and snack, and all the water I'll need, the menu for which may look like this (for me)…

breakfast: fruit salad or chia seed pudding
snack: activated nuts or carrot sticks with hummus 
lunch: raw colourful salad with quinoa or buckwheat
snack: green juice or vegetable soup
dinner: green smoothie or cashew chai mylk
snack: bliss balls or raw chocolate

drink between meals: 2-3 litres filtered water

Before I reveal my tips and tricks let me say this: if you work loooooooong days and are needing caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate) to keep you going, try to cut back and see if eating more nutritious food fills your energy tank with fuel. Then, if you are ready, GO CAFFEINE FREE!!! Personally, I am very caffeine sensitive - I feel wired and then I feel tired! It's a false energy and very depleting. Not to mention it interrupts your wake and sleep cycle. Why not try a brewed dandelion latte instead?!

Anyway (rant over!), here are my tips and tricks for eating well at work:

• Always be prepared! Pack your own lunch in a thermos or cooler bag and have healthy snacks on hand.
• Avoid a mid-morn or mid-arvo slump by eating every 3-4 hours for women and 4-5 hours for men. 
• Choose brain food for fuel. Foods for optimal brain function are walnuts, olives, berries, beets, spinach, avocados, wild alaskan salmon and any healthy fats.
• Cook once and eat twice so that you can take the leftovers to work for lunch the next day.
• Don’t keep sugary artificial chemicalised junk faux foods anywhere within your reach!
• Drink water or herbal teas between meals (at least 2 litres a day). Invest in stainless steel water bottles to lug your filtered water around in or buy a bobble water bottle.
• Healthy snacks include vegetable sticks with hummus or guacamole, seeds and nuts, superfood trail mix, chia seed pudding, fresh fruit (any seasonal fruit), rice cakes or flaxseed crackers with avocado or tahini, bliss balls, raw chocolate, and a green juice, nut mylk or a green smoothie.
• Just say no to the office food naughties unless they fall into the healthy snack list or it’s a wheatgrass shot from the office health nut!
• Move your body during the workday with short walks and stretches to stimulate your metabolism.
• Prepare your breakfast and lunch the night before so in the morning you can pack your meals into a thermos or cooler bag and head out the door hassle free. 
• Replace your favourite foods with healthy alternatives - trade in the lamingtons for bliss balls, mars bars for raw chocolate and the baked goods for homemade muesli muffins.
• Write up a meal plan for the week and then write up your daily or weekly menu on a chalkboard in your kitchen (thanks to my cousin for the idea!).

Quote for the Road…