Simple Hacks For Eating Healthily And Affordably At Work
With today’s hectic lifestyles you need to ensure that you are eating correctly in order to receive all the nutrients you need to operate at your peak. With rising food costs, consumers are cash-strapped, so making affordable choices are essential to sure that you keep within your budget – while still making healthy food choices. Unfortunately, it’s the low nutrients and high energy carbohydrates that provide cheaper options when it comes to food and cost, but too many carbs can lead to excess weight gain and won’t supply your body with all the nutrients you need. A balanced diet is one that provides good nutrition for the body. Good sources of fibre are vegetables, cereals and bread, while dairy products contain calcium. Meat is a source of protein and iron. So how can you ensure that keep up your healthy eating plan at work?
Hack 1: Pack Lunch, Don’t Buy
Take control of your diet by packing and taking your own lunch to work, instead of buying out. This can be a significant savings – and you’ll be able to ensure that what you do take is healthy and nutritious. Mornings can be really busy, so pack your lunch into sealed plastic containers the night before as food in the fridge won’t spoil. Consider supper leftovers that you can reheat at work or make a salad in a mason jar. Add your dressing when you’re ready to eat.
Hack 2: Choose Wholegrain
Consider whole wheat bread, brown rice and pasta and steel cut oats. Whole grains are digested and absorbed more slowly and cause a gradual rise in blood sugar. They’re also a great source of fibre and give you sustained energy throughout the day.
Hack 3: Ditch High Energy For Healthy Protein
Avoid crisps, fries, sweets, biscuits, cakes and other high energy snacks – they may give you a boost of energy, but they’re empty calories. When you pack your own lunch for work, add in additional proteins like eggs, a variety of nuts, biltong and hard cheese for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. Nuts are a good source of B-vitamins and both nuts and fish are a good source of iron.
Hack 4: Combine Colours
Keep your diet colourful by adding a variety of fruit and vegetables to your packed lunch. You can cut up and stir fry veggies the evening before and re-heat at work, or go super healthy and snack on raw veg. Think leafy greens, and red fruits and vegetables like berries, peppers and beetroot. Yellow vegetables like squashes, corn and cauliflower can be cooked and reheated. For fruit, pack the whole fruits and cut up just before your eat. Serve with a yogurt.
Hack 5: Ditch Hot For Cold
Limit your intake of caffeine in tea and coffee and reach for water. If your urine is dark in colour, you’re already dehydrated, so monitor it through the day. Keeping hydrated can also help prevent swollen ankles and constipation, to common complaints in pregnancy. If you struggle to drink plain water, add a slice of lemon or pieces of chopped apple to the water. Resources Information: www.blackmores.com; www.blog.myfitnesspal.com; www.popsugar.com Image: Photo by OLA Mishchenko on Unsplash