Healthy Eating While WFH

With millions of people now living a life where they work from the comfort of their home, there are new obstacles to navigate when thinking about our new eating habits.

There are a range of pros and cons that working from home has, and our eating habits are no exception. These are a couple highlights we can amplify while being home, and a couple areas we can focus on to make sure we are doing what's best for our bodies.

Create your own environment

You're in the comfort of your own home! You get to choose the snacks that are sitting out on the table. That means filling your environment full of the things that you want more of in your life is easier than ever. Wanting to eat more fruit? Have your fruit bowl setting out, or cut up fruits and veggies, and keep them in the fridge.

Get into the habit of asking yourself, "Does this support the life that I'm trying to create?"

The flip side of being in the comfort of your own home

You are free to eat whatever is in your home. This can lead us to mindless eating, overeating, stress eating, and not eating the things we want to nourish us. The best thing we can do is bring awareness to the foods we're eating by having specific times, a meal plan, counting our calories with an app like myfitnesspal, or whatever way you've found that works for you.

Having a specific place that you eat your meals

When we have a designated place to eat, we remind our brains that we are are eating and putting our focus on that. The dinner table or counter works well for this. Turn off distractions, and turn your attention to the way your food smells, the way it tastes and feels in your mouth, and where it all came from. Connect with the experience of eating and make it a ritual in your day.

“Be original, show off your style, and tell your story.”

Meal/Snack Times vs. Grazing

It can be easy to run to the bathroom and grab a snack on your way back to your desk. And then grab another snack when you fill up your water. And another snack when you let the dog out. We can get into the habit of grazing throughout the day and mindlessly eating more food than we wanted. This also doesn't give our bodies a time to rest and digest what we've eaten and can slow down our metabolism. It's best to find a schedule that works for you and stick to it. 3 meals a day? 1 snack? 2 snacks? Experiment with your calories, your intuitive eating, or however else works for you.

Don't Forget Your Water

I don't know if it's just me, but being at home makes it so much easier to get my water intake for the day. I fill up my gallon water bottle (I know, huge, but I love it, and it makes me drink a lot!) and have it next to me throughout the whole day. I don't have to worry about using a bathroom that isn't mine, and the trip is so short. Boosting your water intake can have so many great health benefits including: boosting your mood, your immune system, your skin, and your digestion -- take advantage and drink up!