After we noticed that we’d been scoffing one too many biscuits, we thought it might be time to change a couple of habits. We are guilty of being serial treat eaters, so have decided to join forces and asked our team what healthy eating habits we can try. These are habits that we plan to keep reminding ourselves of and break our bad habits for good.
We’re cutting sugar
We will hold our hands up and admit that we love a good cup of tea. Starting with keeping the sugar out of our coffees, we are also going to ease off cake Friday (sniff) and start fruity Fridays with the help of our nifty new juicer. Eating an excessive amount of refined sugar is not only a contributing factor to our national obesity crisis it can also affect sleep, concentration and mood. Combine this with the average office worker sitting in excess of 9 hours a day, our sugar habits can play havoc with our body’s insulin levels, leading to long term health issues.
The NHS change for life campaign has also released this Free sugar counting app if you are trying to keep track of your sugar intake as well as other great ideas to keep an eye on your health.
We’re eating together
When we decided to move offices, a new breakout room and kitchen was top of our wish list. Having a dedicated space to eat lunch is not only sociable but we have found that we are also picking up better health habits from each other. Working next to the beach also means that we no longer have any convenient shops, which is bad when you have forgotten to buy milk, but also means we forgo convenience food in favour of packed lunches.
We have decided to try each bringing in a healthy dish (or leftovers from a healthy dinner) on the days that we are all in the office, meaning we will get to try several healthy dishes in addition to having a fun office picnic!
We’re drinking lots more water
This is something that we constantly advocate. It’s one of the simplest paths to achieve better workplace wellness, yet there always seems to be a struggle to drink enough water each day. Drinking from a glass of water instead of bottled water also helps up to squeeze in more steps each day to the kitchen, take screen breaks and radically improve concentration.
We have tried some apps to help us monitor how much water we are drinking such as plant nanny and my fitness pal. If you have a whiteboard or post it to hand, keep track of your water intake for the day, and strive to drink at least 2 litres a day.
We’re getting inspired
If we are going to stick to collectively eating better, we are going to need some variety! We have put together a Pinterest board of healthy meal alternatives to help us choose healthier packed lunches and snacks.
