Not sure what to make for dinner tonight? Check out these nutritious and easy to make meals from Eating Well. Time saving tip: make a double batch and freeze half for another night or save in the fridge for lunches or leftovers later in the week!
Healthier Take-Out Options
Convenience is king when it comes to dinner. With busy schedules at work and at home many more are finding it hard to find recipes, shop for ingredients and prepare meals on a daily basis. Back in the day we had only unhealthy choices, such as ordering pizza or hitting up the fast food drive through, but today there are much healthier options. Check out the following from Shape Magazine on a new trend that’s making convenience healthier.
Shape Magazine: Are Food Delivery Apps Making Us Slimmer?
Improve Nutrition As A Team
Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)
It is no secret that obesity is on the rise across North America. In fact, a 2014 study shows that obesity now accounts for 8.6% of youth and 25% of the adult population. (Després, Alméras, & Gauvin, 2014) The leading causes of this “obesity epidemic” are sedentary lifestyles, lack of physical activity and poor nutritional choices.
With the stressful lives being led by our generation, taking time to prepare and bring healthy lunches and snacks to work is difficult. Yet, without a healthy snack or lunch, the tendency is to purchase food that is not healthy, or to under-eat which, believe it or not, can also cause obesity as our body works to “hold onto” every calorie in fear of starvation.
Employers may ask “why do I care if my team is eating unhealthy”, but the answer is obvious: a healthy workforce is a productive workforce and workplace absences for health-related problems (including obesity, heart disease, diabetes etc) are hugely disruptive.
Here are a few suggestions that can be implemented at the workplace to help improve the health of your staff and organization:
1. Schedule Regular Healthy Pot-Luck Lunches — choose a day of the week and have each person bring in a healthy lunch item for a team-building activity.
2. Bring A Colleague A Lunch — people are more likely to prepare healthy meals for others than for themselves, so capitalize on this and arrange for “bring a colleague a lunch week” and see the efforts people will go to in order to promote the health of a colleague.
3. Recipe Of The Week — each week choose a member of the team to share make their favourite healthy meal or snack and bring it in to share with the team. Have them send each member a recipe via email for them to make on their own.
4. Education Opportunities — bring in a nutritionist, dietician or health coach to speak to the team about how to create healthy meals and snacks to help fuel their day at work.
5. Brown Bag Week — encourage the team to have a “brown bag” week. Eating out can lead to unhealthy choices and lack of portion control. Bringing your own lunch can help to ensure you are getting the nutrients you need and fueling productivity the entire day.
6. Russian Lunch Roulette — like secret Santa, have everyone bring a balanced lunch and randomly select who gets what lunch. It always tastes better to consume something made by someone else, so people should enjoy the surprise lunch they end up with. Of course, plan ahead for any allergies / food requests and ask people to put sauces / condiments on the side to be added only if desired.
In the end, lead by example. Employers have the ability to create opportunities that can help their workforce to engage in healthy habits. Use the strength of your organizational alliance to bring people together to help them achieve healthy goals. Everyone will benefit, including the organization.
Brown Bag It!
As nutrition month comes to a close we want to remind you of the importance of eating well 9 to 5 to boost your health and productivity. The best way to ensure you are consuming the nutrients you need, while avoiding ingredients that can be detrimental to your health, is to make and take your own lunch every day. The following from nutritionmonth.ca provides you with helpful tips and recipes to create healthy snacks and meals to keep you at your best all day long.
Eating for Energy
Guest blogger: Susan Culp, Certified Health Coach of Fresh Focus
www.fresh-focus.ca
Do you have an abundance of energy and vitality at work? If the answer is no, then you are among the vast majority! Imagine how much more productive and motivated you would be and how this would make you feel. Unfortunately, most of us have fallen prey to a few very common culprits that drain our energy and leave us wandering through our work week in a tired fog.
One of the main factors contributing to decreased energy is poor food/lifestyle choices — caffeine, sugar, soft drinks, alcohol, processed foods, tobacco, artificial sweeteners, refined starches, etc. Some of these ingredients (such as caffeine and sugar) give us an initial energy boost; however, they ultimately run us down by depleting us of minerals and nutrients and disrupting our natural rhythms and metabolic processes. We end up experiencing cravings for these foods — not only for the initial “boost” they give us, but also because they are HIGHLY ADDICTIVE.
Ask yourself: what do you depend on to get through your work day? As March is National Nutrition Month, we challenge you to identify one of your own “energy suckers” and then make the commitment to cut it out of your life, or reduce it, for at least 2 to 3 weeks. You’ll be amazed at not only your increased energy, but also the empowering experience of accomplishing a goal and kicking dependency to the curb!
Try these 7 Tips & Tricks to help boost your energy during that mid-afternoon slump:
1. Take a 5- or 10-minute walk down the hall (or up and down the stairs) — scheduling “walking meetings” (ideally outside in the fresh air) whenever possible is also a great way to get both your energy and creativity flowing.
2. Chew mint-flavoured, sugar-free gum
3. “Belt out” the lyrics to your favourite songs — this one may be more appropriate for your commute in the car, but singing really does work
4. Snack on unsalted, roasted nuts & seeds to stabilize your blood sugar levels
5. Massage the outer rim of your ear — sounds crazy, but it works!
6. Drink plenty of water during the day — many people feel tired or lethargic when they’re even slightly dehydrated
7. Having a plant on your desk can decrease stress and increase productivity
The best way to increase your energy over the long-term is to eat whole foods such as vegetables, whole grains, fresh fruit, and beans. When foods have not been processed, they keep their natural fibre, vitamins, and minerals. Try to also work in a couple of superfoods each day for an extra punch of nutrients — start with simple options like berries, greens, and seeds and work your way up!
Many of us already know what we need to eat (and/or what we need to stop doing), but still just can’t seem to break out of our current patterns. Therefore, we encourage you to find a group of co-workers and do it together — the key is having enough support, not more willpower. Create a challenge between groups (or across departments) to make it fun and motivating — the bonus is that you’ll also be creating a healthier and happier workplace environment.
Make this month the start of a healthier, more energetic you!