The ‘What’, ‘Where’, ‘When’ and ‘How’ of Healthy Eating When Working from Home

March 1, 2022

Man with a beard eating a healthy meal by a window

Man eating a healthy mean

We all know the importance of healthy eating – it combats illness, decreases fatigue, and improves work productivity. Eating is also one of life’s simple pleasures, and if it is done healthily, we should embrace it without guilt.

But we eat for reasons other than hunger – social reasons, emotional, or sometimes just for entertainment. And the pandemic has made it worse, with many of us saying that we feel intense stress and loneliness. Our bodies are designed to crave calories when we are experiencing more stress. Couple that with more of us working from home near a fridge that is stocked to our liking, and it is easy to see how eating can happen for reasons other than hunger.

With our bodies and our environment setting us up to make poor food choices, know that eating is one of the things that we can control in our lives to make us feel better – if we do it right.

Here are 11 tips for healthy eating when working from home, organized according to WHAT we eat, WHEN we eat, WHERE we eat, and HOW we eat.

What We Eat

Pack your lunch – Just as if you were going to the office. This allows you to waste minimal time on deciding what to eat and preparing it, and it decreases the likelihood that you will give in to a craving for something quick and unhealthy. It also ensures that your food is portioned out before eating.
Focus on real food – Keep it simple and choose whole foods that don’t have a label, such as fruits, vegetables, or nuts. These foods are not only nutritious, but they keep you feeling full for longer and help productivity, particularly if you include a protein.
Stay hydrated – Drink plenty of water and avoid sugary drinks and energy drinks. Water, whether naturally flavoured or served in a non-caffeinated, herbal tea, is the best fix for dehydration, which can cause headaches, fatigue, and decreases productivity. Aim to drink at least 8 glasses, or 2 litres of water, per day.
Limit caffeine intake – Try for no more than 2 cups of coffee or tea per day, ideally. Too much caffeine can cause headaches, anxiety, digestive issues, fatigue, palpitations, and insomnia. Caffeine can also initiate sugar cravings, and interfere with our ability to taste sweet flavours, leading to more intake.
Don’t buy junk food – If you don’t bring it in the house, you can’t eat it, and you make this choice when you’re at the store. Go with a list and stick to it, avoiding items like cookies, chips, or even crackers and muffins. If you must bring junk food in the house, keep it out of sight, away from the other food so you don’t accidentally see it when you’re hungry.
Avoid alcohol – It can interfere with blood sugar levels, decreasing the effectiveness of insulin, and it can also increase our cravings for fatty foods. It is also easier to stray from your healthy eating goals after consuming alcohol.

When We Eat

Schedule your snacks/meals – It is easy to eat more often when working from home, or to forget to eat entirely, only to end up ravenous and weak at the end of the day. Instead, plan the times you would normally like to eat and schedule those in your day. Ideally, you should eat 3 meals, your first within 1 hour of waking, and then every 3-5 hours after that. You can also schedule a small snack mid-morning and/or mid-afternoon. Finally, you shouldn’t eat for a few hours before bed.

Where We Eat

Don’t eat where you work – You’re less likely to eat mindfully (see below) and more likely to overeat.
Work far from the kitchen –It is much less tempting to graze in the kitchen if you can’t see it from your workstation. Impose a rule in which the kitchen is closed until your next planned snack/meal.

How We Eat

Eat for physiological reasons only – Don’t just eat, but think about whether you’re hungry, and how long it has been since you last ate. If you’re genuinely hungry, you should notice physiological signs of this – a growling stomach, for example, and you should eat. Learn your body’s hunger signs and avoid eating if those signs are absent.
Eat mindfully – When you eat, just eat, and focus your mind on every bite. Enjoy all the different textures, smells, colours, and tastes of the food. Don’t eat while you work or watch TV. Studies show that being distracted while eating can lead to overeating.

Additional Resources

Great recipes at Bon Appetit: https://www.bonappetit.com/
Best calorie counter apps & websites: https://www.inkin.com/blog/en/9-Super-Useful-Calorie-Counter-Apps-To-Help-You-Lose-Weight