HEALTHY DIET FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS

VIMHANS Dietary/ Nutrition Team

In today’s fast pace society, lifestyles when everyone is busy, career orientated, doing multitasking, and having a heavy workload stress, majority of persons have put their physical and mental health at stake. The office life can be fun for the presence of social life, enhancing your capabilities, intellect, creativity, financial independency, prestige issue, is a main desire of most of the individuals now a days. However, being in an office for 8-9 hours, engaging long hours in front of computers, seating in one position for 7 to 8 hours without taking breaks, touring multiple times in a month may have long term negative effects. When, we talk about working professionals, they hardly have time to have healthy meals. Mornings are the busiest part of the day. This is the reason why a majority of professionals skip breakfast without giving it a second thought as skipping breakfast is related to weight gain, diabetes, coronary heart disease and mood swings. Weight loss occurs when you are on calorie deficit. Calorie deficit means when you burn more calories than you are consuming so with time you may have weight loss. Working professionals often get so exhausted with their work and busy schedule that they forget about mealtimes and eating healthy diet. Every professional faces a common problem regarding their physical and mental health.

The attitude that employed people to have poor nutrition is that they don’t blame themselves. They blame their long working hours, stress, work pressures, impossible deadlines, sitting jobs, touring jobs, 5 to 6 working days a week, don’t have appropriate time to eat, children's homework, projects, their curricular activities, social activities etc. Hence it results in choosing unhealthy meals, erratic food habits, skipping main meals, long gaps in between meals, switching over to fast food, and packed and processed food often without any nutrients, which further leads to many health issues? Human body has become a machine. This machine needs time to rest so it can function and performance on its highest level. In order to this one should ensure to have correct nutrients and healthy balanced diet. Having a consistently good diet will not only play an effect on your energy levels but also help your mental health. One requiresa balanced diet with the right proportions of all food groups. Indian Diet is one of the healthiest diet, rich in taste, texture and most of all satisfying, if prepared with minimal oil and healthy cooking methods.

Few Tips for working people:

• Don’t skip Breakfast-It is advised to kick start your day with a nutritious breakfast, within a couple of hours after waking up. A healthy Breakfast gives the stamina to work the whole day in the office. Don’t take a cup of tea or coffee with 2 bread slices for breakfast, as when you wake up in the morning, your sugar levels are usually low so you should replenish your blood sugar levels to make your brain and body active for the whole day. Consume high fibre foods like vegeatable dalia, stuffed roti with gobhi, methi, mooli, gajar, palak, theplas. Idlis, dhoklas, fruits along with fat-free milk or high protein rich breakfast like sprouts, boiled channa or lobia salad, boiled egg and any besan preparations.
• Drink plenty of fluids: It is advised to drink plenty of water as it is required by the body to control temperature, digest food and regulate blood circulations. For most people, water is the most efficient fluid for rehydration. Also person working at a high pace or in a very hot environment loses water and salt through sweat, so to compensate the loss of fluid or salts from the body one must drink plenty of liquids in the form of fresh lime water, coconut water, fresh juices, green tea, milkshakes, lassi, buttermilk, tea, and soups.
• Take small Healthy snacks: Try to include some healthy snacks in between meals, like Besan namkeens, roasted channa, roasted makhana, murmure, salads, dryfruits, roasted seeds, fruits, idlis, dhoklas and some healthy beverages. Take 3 large meals and 3 to 4 small meals. Avoid overeating.
• Do not postpone Dinner: postponing your dinner may affect your body clock, sugar levels, gut system which can lead to acidity, bloating, constipation. If not feeling hungry, grab a bowl of soup with some high protein salads or take a glass of milk with cornflakes with dryfruits. As the day pregresses, the quantity of your meals should reduce and you must do portion control.
• Be Active: Do not forget to exercise. This is one of the most important workouts ever. If you are in the office, you can move—bend your head, stretch your neck, move your shoulders, and walk around your office while talking on the phone. Visit your colleague’s desk, but remember Not for Disturbing. Use stairs instead of elevators.
• Request and arrange for refrigerators and microwaves at the workplace so people can carry healthy lunches from home to store and reheating their meals. Try to pack healthy snacks one night before, so in the morning you gain time on other important chores of your routine.
• During meetings and parties at the workplace, if snacks, lunch or drinks are provided, choose a healthy option rather than a fried, junk, processed, packed or aerated drink option.
• Encourage a potluck lunch featuring healthy food choices once a week or in 15 days, so everyone can sit together and eat together in the workplace. In this way, one can share healthy recipes with each other. Remember, not to overeat.
• Have lectures, discussions on importance of healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, have positive outlook towards oneself frequently. Addressing employee’s health issues directly or indirectly may boost their spirit to work more efficiently.

Following a 8.30am to 5.30pm schedule plus approximately 2 hours commuting with no breaks and sticking to one routine, consuming unhealthy diet can have an ill effect on one’s health. It is advised by experts that you should take breaks in between and follow a nutritious diet regime to stay fit and healthy. A nutritious diet with sufficient amount of rest can rejuvenate your body and mind to take up tasks with renewed energy.

Healthy eating habits include:

• Plan your meal what you and your family members want to eat beforehand for a week, and buy smart groceries accordingly. Involve your family members in planning and preparing the meals. Divide the task among yourself, to avoid confusion.
• Enjoy your food. Eat meals together whenever possible be at home or the workplace. Include your culture and food traditions. Choose foods with healthy fats instead of saturated fat.
• Avoid discussions related to work, gadgets like phones, laptops, I-pads while eating your meals. Listen to some soothing music or songs while eating.
• Eat mindfully, notice your hunger cues, when you are hungry and when you are full. Make water your drink of choice so sugary or aerated drinks can be replaced.
• Limit your intake of highly processed and packed foods. In case you choose these foods, eat them less and in small amounts.
• When eating outside the home like in restaurants, and food courts, try to identify and include healthier choices of food and accordingly order the meals.Eat in a safe and clean area to avoid any kind of infections.
• If you have eaten unhealthy food, junk food, or you have overeaten, do not worry. Compensate your meals next following day, by including light dal and vegetables with less oil, adding more salads and fruits, eating fermented foods like idli, dhokla, plain dosa and drinking plenty of beverages.

Views expressed are the author’s own and are for informational purposes only.