The world faces serious challenges due to COVID-19, and with nationwide lockdowns being a regular thing, this has left more people working from home.
And while everyone is stuck at home, it’s easy to slip into a sedentary lifestyle. Especially now, taking care of your physical and mental health are key to maintaining success and happiness. However, your diet also plays an important role that you should consider.
With that in mind, here are some tips for keeping a healthy diet while working from home:
It can seem like a difficult task and something easily missed.
In the past, you may have been accustomed to packing in a lunch or grabbing a bite from the coffee shop at the office, right?. But now that you find yourself at home every day, what should your diet look like?
First and foremost, breakfast is an important meal to start your day. When working from home, consider a healthy and filling breakfast, like a bowl of oatmeal or some fruit and yogurt. The last thing you want to do is fill your stomach with a heavy, oily meal, so try to eat something light, but also filling and nutritious.
Fueling your morning is a great way to keep your energy levels up and food cravings at bay until later in the day.
It’s a different ball game when working from home.
The distractions are real, and you could become bored and may want to fill your “spare time” with eating. If you find yourself in this category, check out these tips to keep your diet going strong:
If you’re faced with working from home then creating a designated office or workspace is important.
Try not to work at the kitchen table, because with everything food-related at hand, it can become a distraction. Despite having less space, it’s possible to create a work station in your home.
Distance from the kitchen may not be possible for everyone, and if that's the case, then make a rule for yourself: you’ll only visit the kitchen to fill up on a beverage (preferably more water) and at designated times to have a meal or a snack.
Working from home comes with the territory of feeling tempted by easy food access.
To help curb this urge, try to eat bigger, more sustaining meals. Remember, you need to eat to boost your energy levels, so rather than eating 5-6 tiny meals and making constant trips to the kitchen, square your meals with satisfying portions.
At lunchtime (whenever you take a lunch), have a sandwich with some chips. Perhaps you can make a big salad with a side of fruit? If you have leftovers from yesterday, heat them up and save some time on meal prep. Eating square meals with more sustenance can help you keep more energy while lowering distractions. However, be sure not to eat too much...you may end up on the couch taking a nap.
As mentioned above, to avoid binge-eating an array of unhealthy snacks, you can create a menu and arrange your meals ahead of time for each day.
You’re not exempt from eating snacks, but having a strategy is handy. When doing your thing from home, it’s easy to start grazing on snacks all day, but that would lead to unwanted weight gain. With a meal schedule in place, you'll have more control and you can set your schedule beforehand to maximize your efficiency at home.
For a great template to follow for meal prep, check out this link.
Finally, make time for a daily routine and exercise while you're working from home and maintaining a healthy diet.For example, doing household chores (vacuuming, sweeping, washing windows) during work breaks can help you kickstart healthy blood circulation and burn calories while cleaning your home—two birds with one stone! Also, you can get into a routine with a daily time slot to take a brisk walk, exercise, swim, run, or whatever else you like to do for physical activity.
Managing your time and creating a to-do list for each day will make it a little simpler to accommodate work-life-balance.
In these uncertain times, although you may be stuck at home, you can find comfort in know that there's a freelancer community to connect with. Tons of people are working from home and going through the same experiences that you are, so if you need some reassurance or a sense of community, head over to Fiverr to get involved.
Who knows, if you enjoy working from home, you may even want to transition to doing it full-time!
