How to Eat Healthy at Work

Do you ever hit that afternoon slump, reaching for sugary snacks just to power through the rest of your workday? As an integrative health practitioner specializing in energy medicine, I see this constantly with busy corporate professionals. The fast-paced environment, long hours, and stress can wreak havoc on your eating habits, leaving you feeling drained and unproductive.

But what if you could fuel your body and brain with strategies that go beyond just grabbing whatever’s quickest? This is where mindful eating and energy medicine techniques come in. By becoming more conscious of your food choices and incorporating simple self-care practices, you can unlock a new level of energy, focus, and well-being in your corporate life. Let’s look at how we can eat healthier at work.

The Corporate Energy Drain: Food & Fatigue

Let’s face it, the corporate environment isn’t exactly known for its emphasis on healthy eating. Tight deadlines, back-to-back meetings, and readily available convenience food can easily lead us down a path of take away lunches and sugar-laden snacks. This reliance on quick fixes disrupts our blood sugar levels, contributes to digestive issues, and leaves us feeling chronically fatigued. Additionally, the constant stress we face in the corporate world triggers the release of stress hormones like cortisol, which can further disrupt digestion and blood sugar levels and leave you feeling zapped.

The Power of Mindful Eating for Corporate Wellness

Mindful eating is about cultivating a conscious and healthy relationship with food. By becoming more aware of your eating habits, you can make choices that fuel your body and mind for optimal performance. Here’s how:

• Mindfulness helps you make conscious decisions. Planning your meals and snacks in advance can break the cycle of unhealthy choices driven by busyness.
• It allows you to appreciate your food. Savor each bite, chew thoroughly, and disconnect from distractions like e-mails or work calls while eating. Gratitude for the nourishment you receive can go a long way in improving your digestion and overall well-being.
• Mindful eating helps you recognize hunger cues. Are you grabbing a cookie because you’re truly hungry, or is it stress-induced eating? Tuning into your body’s signals can help you avoid overeating and make better food choices.

Nourish Your Body & Brain: Eat Healthy at Work

A balanced meal plan is the foundation for sustained energy throughout the workday. Focus on whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein sources, and healthy fats. Get healthy meal tips here. Macronutrients play a key role here:

• Carbs provide readily available energy, but opt for complex carbs like whole grains over refined ones that cause blood sugar spikes.
• Protein is essential for building and repairing tissues, and keeps you feeling full for longer.
• Healthy fats are crucial for hormone balance, brain function, and cell health.

Looking for easy meal prep ideas? Think buckwheat with peaches and cinnamon for breakfast, salad bowls with grilled chicken for lunch, and veggie sticks with hummus for snacks. With a little planning, you can set yourself up for healthy and energizing meals throughout the week.

See here for more healthy prep lunch ideas.

But it’s not just about the food you eat. Let’s explore an energy medicine techniques that can further enhance your well-being…

Beyond Food: Energy Medicine

We’ve talked about mindful eating and meal planning, but what if you need a quick pick-me-up during a particularly stressful workday? Here’s where energy medicine comes in.

Reducing stress

Chronic stress plays a major role in disrupting healthy eating patterns. When we’re stressed, our bodies release the hormone cortisol. This hormone can trigger cravings for sugary, fatty, and processed foods, which offer a quick burst of pleasure and energy. Unfortunately, these choices often leave us feeling worse in the long run, contributing to blood sugar swings and decreased energy levels. Additionally, stress can make us more likely to engage in mindless eating, disconnected from our body’s true hunger cues. By managing stress, we can create a calmer internal environment that supports healthy food choices and a more balanced relationship with food and avoid the roller coaster of sugar spikes that come with elevated levels cortisol.

You can use any of these energy medicine techniques for just a few minutes each time you use them.

Improving digestion

When we’re stressed, our body kicks into “fight-or-flight” mode, diverting resources away from digestion and towards immediate survival. This can wreak havoc on our gut health in several ways and you could end up with gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, and indigestion, among many other undesirable symptoms. This disruption in the digestive process not only creates discomfort, but can also hinder our body’s ability to absorb nutrients from the food we eat, leading to nutritional deficiencies, fatigue, poor immunity.

Top tips to improve your digestion:

1) Follow an anti-inflammatory diet

• An anti-inflammatory diet can significantly improve digestion by reducing inflammation in the gut lining. This allows for better nutrient absorption, eases discomfort like bloating and gas, and promotes a healthy balance of gut bacteria. By eliminating processed foods, refined sugars, and unhealthy fats, which can irritate the digestive tract, and focusing on, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats, we provide the gut with the necessary tools to function optimally. This not only improves digestion but also strengthens the gut barrier, further protecting us from inflammation and digestive issues.

2) Drink plenty of water

• Water plays a multi-faceted role in smooth digestion. It acts as a lubricant, softening food particles and allowing them to move more easily through your digestive tract. Additionally, water helps break down food into smaller components, making it easier for your body to absorb essential nutrients. It also helps dissolve fiber, which adds bulk to stool and promotes regularity. By staying hydrated, you can prevent constipation, bloating, and other digestive discomforts. Drink about half your body weight (lbs) in water (oz) per day (or 30ml of water per kilo of body weight). Drink 30 minutes before meals and 1 hour after the meal. This allows your stomach acid and digestive enzymes to work most effectively for optimal nutrient absorption.

3) Meal timing

• For most people, spread your meals 3-4 hours with an overnight fast of at least 12 hours. When you’re stressed, your body is focused on survival and not digestion. If you’re constantly eating while stressed, that food is not being digested. By timing your meals, you body has time to digest a meal completely before the next intake. An overnight fast gives your body time for autophagy to kick in. Autophagy is basically cellular recycling where old and damaged cells are broken down and used to generate healthy cells. When your body is not busy processing food, it has more resources available for cellular housekeeping.

4) Healthy processed food

• Healthy smoothies are a great way for you to get nutrition but it requires less effort for your body to process. If you’re struggling with raw veggies, cook them! Don’t force yourself to have a raw salad if it causes you digestive distress. First focus on healing your gut before you introduce raw veggies. Fermented foods are also great because they contain probiotics which feed the good bacteria in your gut and are easier to digest. Think yoghurt, kimchi, sauerkraut and miso. Start off slow with the kimchi and sauerkraut because the acidity might irritate your gut if you’re not used to them. Bone broths and soups (not the packet kind) are also excellent ways to increase nutrition with less digestive effort.

5) Enhance your digestive power by restoring balance

• In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), healthy digestion relies on balanced energy flow through the liver, stomach and spleen meridians. The liver plays a crucial role in processing fats and regulating blood sugar, while the stomach breaks down food. The spleen, in TCM terms, governs nutrient absorption and overall digestive health. By incorporating practices that support these meridians, like mindful eating, rubbing neurolymphatics or accupressure points, you can potentially restore balance and promote more efficient digestion, leading to improved energy and well-being.

These are just a few examples of how whole foods and energy medicine can easily be incorporated into your busy corporate life and improve your health.

Keep track of your experiences and adjust your food choices or self-care practices accordingly. With a little experimentation, you’ll find a personalized approach to fuel your body and mind for a thriving corporate life.

By incorporating mindful eating habits, healthy meal planning, and simple energy medicine techniques, you can transform your relationship with food and experience a new level of energy, focus, and well-being in your corporate life.

Want to explore further? As an Integrative Health Practitioner and Energy Coach, I can help you create a personalized plan for optimal health and well-being. Feel free to reach out for a consultation and discover how to unlock your health & well-being using a holistic approach. You can book a call here.

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Disclaimer:

I am not a medical professional. The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute professional medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. Always seek advice from your physician or other qualified healthcare provider before undertaking a new health regimen.

Do not disregard medical advice or delay seeking medical advice because of information you read on this website. Do not start or stop any medications without speaking to your medical or mental health provider.