Laughing Through Lunch
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Important deadlines, back to back meetings and a full inbox are some of the reasons why many of us skip lunch. We work longer hours at the expensive of our health, but as Caitlin Reid dietitian, author of Health & the City, explains eating lunch can actually boost your productivity.
An alarming 55 per cent of us either skip lunch; shorten our lunch break; or use our lunch hour for work-related activities. And for those of us who do stop for a bite, almost 70 per cent of us eat lunch at our desk on a daily basis. Many of us believe that the more time we spend working, the more productive we are. However productive is not measured in hours, it's measured by how much you produce, and you'll get more done if you take time out to recharge.
Why you do lunch
Next time you're tossing up whether to stop for lunch or not, think of these great benefits that come with the midday munch.
1. Boost energy levels and motivation: Eating lunch gives your brain and body, a much needed energy boost, which improves mood and increases motivation. Work will be more enjoyable and your colleagues will find you more approachable - energetic and positive people are better to be around. Your postive attitude may even pay off when it comes to company promotions and pay rises!
2. Improve concentration and productivity: Your brain needs a constant supply of glucose for it to function properly. When your brain doesn't get enough glucose, fatigue, irritability, dizziness, poor concentration and forgetfulness set in. Lunch will improve your concentration and your productivity.
3. Manage body weight: Skipping lunch does not help you lose weight. Failing to supply your body with fuel pushes it into starvation mode, slowing down your metabolism and making weight loss harder. It also increases the likelihood of binge eating later in the day.
4. Ensure adequate nutrition intake: Eating a decent lunch boosts your daily vitamin and mineral intake, reduces your risk of nutritional deficiencies, which affect the way you look, function and feel. Lunch can also provide fibre, which is important for a healthy bowel, and protein, which is important for all bodily processes.
5. Improve workplace relations: A lunch break can rejuvenate and de-stress your mind. Enjoy a nutritious bite to eat in the sunshine while you relax and socialise with your work colleagues. Spending time with your colleagues outside of working hours can improve workplace relationships, which in turn increases workplace morale. Stepping outside into the sun will also boost your vitamin D levels.
What makes a healthy lunch
To build a healthy lunch base your choices on a few important principles:
• Low GI carbohydrates to give you longer lasting energy
• Include lean protein to keep you feeling full for longer
• A little bit of healthy fats to keep you functioning at your best
• Some vegetables or fruit for important vitamins and minerals
Some healthy lunch options include vegetable-based soup with lentils, lean meat or chicken and small mulitgrain dinner roll; rye roll with lean meat/skinless chicken/tinned fish, avocado and salad; 2-4 salmon and avocado sushi rolls with your choice of fillings and piece of fruit; toasted tuna, cheese and tomato sandwich with a side salad or wholegrain crackers with tuna, tomato, cucumber and lettuce.
How to fit lunch into your day
• Treat lunch like a meeting: Block out time in your diary. a scheduled appointment makes you more accountable for your actions.
• Start a lunch club: With work club start your own lunch club. Each person takes turns to prepare lunch for the others in the club.
• Keep food at work: Tins of tuna, crackers, nuts and dried fruit can be kept in your desk drawer, while bread, yoghurt, cheese, lettuce and tomato can be stored in the work fridge. This gives you easy access to nourishing foods.
• Get organised: Pack your lunch the night before or get up ten mintues earlier and prepare it first thing in the morning You could take in leftovers from dinner the night before.
• Grab and go: Purchase your lunch on your way into the office in the morning. Store it in the work fridge untiil lunch. Label it if you fear it may go walk-a-bout.
• Order your lunch: Get lunch delivered straight to your desk by using Menulog (see www.menulog.com.au)
More information on how you can incorporate health into your lifestyle see Health & the City (RRP $22.95).
Caitlin Reid
Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Caitlin Reid, is the author and founder of Health & the City® - a book and corporate health business that helps the hectic urbanite navigate their way through this fast-paced urban existence. With a keen interest in getting the most out of life, Caitlin knows how hard it is to juggle career goals, family and friends, a relationship and personal development, all while trying to make health a priority in life. Forget about being too busy - Caitlin almost effortlessly entwines health into the lifestyle of any hectic urbanite.
Caitlin works as the club dietitian for the South Sydney Rabbitohs; consults to the Australian Healthy Food Guide magazine and Ninemsn’s Shape Mate Website; has a private practice at Balmain Sports Physio; and is a sports nutrition lecturer The Australian College of Physical Education. Through her business Health & the City, Caitlin educates employees of Australian businesses on healthy living and empowers them to achieve the elusive work-life balance. Caitlin has also discussed nutrition and health topics on Kerri-Anne, TNT, A Current Affair, Today Tonight, Swish TV and a number of radio stations throughout Australia
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