Eat Light, Think Right

With all the responsibilities your job requires, your boss is now asking you to bring a dish to the next luncheon meeting. What are you going to say? No! Of course not. The next question is, what in the world are you going to bring? You think back to past luncheon meetings and remember the standard buffet; fried chicken, mashed potatoes, a cheesy casserole, creamy pasta salad and some type of rich dessert. Then think about how you feel after the meeting, drowsy and lazy, like your brain decided to shut off for the rest of the afternoon. Luncheon meetings always ruin your days’ productivity and you get nothing done. Have you thought about Eat Light and Think Right?

You as an Individual

Why not bring something light to your next luncheon meeting. Maybe try a salad or a light fruity dish. Eating light actually prevents your brain from ‘shutting off’ and helps you stay focused at work.  In fact, eating light and healthy for lunch everyday increases your alertness and your energy. You are also a healthier person and you feel better. Think about it, you are working in the hopes of making money. But if you are eating poor lunches, drinking too much soda, as well as living an unhealthy lifestyle, you’ll be using all that money on medical expenses when you’re older. “Two comprehensive scientific reviews identified 83 peer-reviewed studies reporting that people with unhealthy lifestyle habits have higher medical costs (WELCOA: The Wellness Council of America , 2011).”  And “Each year over $40 billion in medical costs and lost productivity are attributed to poor nutrition (Partnership for Prevention, 2009 ).” Eating healthy is the best way to prevent diseases such as heart disease, strokes and diabetes. Water is also a vital part of our bodies. Drinking water gives us energy because it assists in the absorption of nutrients in our bodies. It also helps move oxygen through the blood stream and moves toxins out of our body to aid in preventing illness.

How can you help yourself?

We all know how busy you are, you’re a working woman for goodness sake. So I’ll let you in on a few secrets.

        §   Put up the new My plate diagram (http://www.choosemyplate.gov/) developed by the US Department of Agriculture in your break room, cube or office, cafeteria and even on your refrigerator at home. Having that constant reminder of what your plate should look like will be the first step in changing bad habits.

        §   Eat fast food. No, not the drive through kind, the fast food in your kitchen kind. Grabbing and going is really not that hard, all you have to do is plan. And no, this is not another thing to add to your to do list. While you’re at the store this week (or when you send your husband to the store), ask him to pick up a few more snack like vegetables and fruits. Baby carrots, apples, grapes, peaches, salad, celery, potatoes, tomatoes, anything you like or want to try. Pre-pack these snacks the night before and grab n’ go the next morning along with whatever you normally bring.

        §   Also, aim to drink water throughout the day. If you want more flavor, stick little packages of water flavoring in your bag before heading to work. Try these small changes for a week and see how it goes. See if you’re energy level has changed and if you’re more productive at work. Then the next luncheon meeting you are asked to bring something, consider bringing a side vegetable dish. You could even make a simple dip and veggie tray or a nice tossed salad. Something nice and light that you would enjoy eating, that way you know you won’t go hungry.

If your business meeting is catered or you go out to eat here are a few pointers. One, if it’s available, get on the catering or restaurant website and look at the nutrition break down of their meals. Remember, meals should be no more than 500-700 calories. Other things you can do is hold the dressing and cheese on the side of salads, use nonfat dressings or light dressings if possible, stay away from fried foods and make sure you get a healthy side such as steamed vegetables, plain baked potato or fruit. Also, remember to drink water and eat slowly. Stop when you’re full, don’t deprive yourself. Strive to eat everything in moderation and you will be energized and ready to work the rest of the day.

Make a Difference!

Many adults aren’t getting their recommended amount of fruits and vegetables a day. Only 20% of Missouri adults are receiving the daily recommendation of 5 vegetables and fruits (MO Deptartment of Health & Senior Services, 2009).  So bringing a fruit or vegetable dish to a luncheon meeting would help your co-workers receive their recommended daily amount of vegetables and fruits. It’s a win, win situation.

Plus, if your co-workers see you bringing in healthy dishes, it’ll make them think about what they’re eating for lunch. They will start rethinking their normal eating patterns and change their way of thinking about meals. You could even make eating healthy fun in the break room. For instance, start a recipe bulletin board or binder anyone can post on to exchange new healthy recipes. Make sure you write on the recipe if it’s good or absolutely terrible, we don’t want to waste food. Also, you could make it a challenge. Try bringing in mocktails one day and share with co-workers your favorite light non-alcoholic drink.

Influence Policy Change

Making changes individually can help influence the policy and regulations at work as well. Vending machines are a great place to start. Every once in a while everyone wants that salty or sweet snack from the vending machine, but is that all your vending machine offers? A good combination of snacks in the vending machine is possible and those changes can be made. Talk it up with your coworkers and begin to reach out to those decision makers that can influence the change.

Making changes to your environment makes it easier for you to maintain your healthy behaviors. Encourage policy makers to put in pretzels, fig bars, light popcorn, and granola bars in vending machines. Ask to make some policy changes in regards to food at business functions such as luncheons and parties. For instance, promote no fried foods at business functions calling it No Fried Minds at Meetings. If you’re really adamant about making a change, talk your boss into bringing a Registered Dietitian in during lunch to teach a cooking class.

Any change you can make, do it. Everything helps. And if you don’t feel like you’re helping yourself by making changes, think about your co-workers and those that are around you. They need help too. Temptations are hard to overcome, but if your environment and the people around you are promoting healthy behaviors, it makes it that much easier for you to make those healthy decisions for yourself. Have more energy, be more productive and live a longer, healthier life by following this tip: Eat Light, Think Right!

Works Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved September 2011, from Fit City Challenge : http://www.fitcitychallenge.org/

Fosdick, A. (n.d.). Eating Heathy Foods. Retrieved September 2011, from Top Benefits of Eating Healthy: Ideas that go Beyond the Ordinary: http://www.eatinghealthyfoods.org/top-benefits-of-eating-healthy.html

MO Deptartment of Health & Senior Services. (2009). Retrieved September 2011 , from Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS): http://health.mo.gov/data/brfss/index.php

N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2011, from Eat Smart North Carolina: Guidelines for Healthy Foods and Beverges at Meetings, Gatherings and Events: http://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/HealthyMeetingGuide/Texts/ES_Healthy_Meeting_Guide.pdf

NYC Health . (n.d.). Retrieved September 2011, from Food and Drink at Meetings: What to Serve : http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/cdp/cdp-pan-hwp-nutrition-standards.pdf

Optima Health . (n.d.). Retrieved September 2011, from Worksite Wellness Program Ideas: http://public.optimahealth.com/Lists/OptimaFormsLibrary/mlmp-healthy-at-work-members-workwellnessideas-ideas-overview.pdf

Partnership for Prevention. (2009 ). Retrieved September 16, 2011, from Healthy Workforce 2010 and Beyond: http://www.welcoa.org/freeresources/pdf/healthy_workforce_2010_and_beyond.pdf

US Deptartment of Agiculture. (2011, August 26). Retrieved September 2011, from Choose Myplate: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

WELCOA: The Wellness Council of America . (2011). Retrieved September 2011, from Making the Case for Workplace Wellness Programs: http://www.welcoa.org/freeresources/pdf/making_the_case_0311.pdf