Want to know the 9 habits of healthy shoppers? Get your free guide and shopping list here!
Working in a fast-paced office may not be physically taxing but it’s certainly hungry work. If you’ve ever been trapped in a four-hour meeting without any lunch, you’ll know just how difficult it is to maintain your professionalism while battling a rumbling tummy.
My good friend Debbie and I suffered a lot in client meetings back in the 1990s. If we were left too long without any food, I would get a bit light-headed and spacey (not too helpful if you’re a consultant) while Debbie, alarmingly, would actually start to shake.
We certainly ate for England while at work. There was our toast and butter phase; our malt loaf and butter phase; our crumpet phase; and our cup of Horlicks at 11am stage (rock ‘n roll!)
[As an aside, I was once on my way to make a cup of tea for a client when I stuck my head back round the door and heard myself enquire cheerfully: “Oh, by the way Alan, do you fancy a bit of crumpet?” Cue much beetroot-faced mortification on my part and embarrassed silence from Alan.]
Looking back, I can see that Debbie and I were both feeling the effects of blood sugar crashes. We were filling up on lots of white stodge which was only compounding the problem. At the time, we were completely unaware of the effects of refined carbohydrates on our blood sugar. Neither did we realise that the brain is the most energy-hungry of all our organs (it only weighs around three pounds but uses a whopping 20 – 30% of our energy intake). No wonder we struggled to concentrate.
Now I’m a health coach, I’ve finally learned how to keep my blood sugar stable. Last week, while doing a workshop on eating for energy at work, I listened to participants sharing what happens to them when their energy sags. Some explained how, when they’re hungry, the screen in front of them “goes fuzzy” and they get brain-freeze; others get a headache or feel short-tempered if they haven’t eaten properly. Most said that, by the time they get to this stage, they just grab whatever is most available to just get some energy down them: so a trip to the shop for a bar of chocolate or bag of crisps.
With a bit of organisation and tweaking to your schedule, you won’t need to resort to raiding the office biscuit tin to avoid passing out. Here are five easy ways to ensure you’re buzzing with energy throughout the day:
What’s your go-to snack at work? And how does it affect your mood and concentration?
My mantra with all things work-related used to be a resounding “crack on!”. As overstretched managing director of a [...]
read moreAs lockdown drags on, I’m hearing more and more people saying that they are struggling to get through the day and [...]
read moreEven without the help of a global pandemic, human nature pushes us to dwell on the negative. We’re more affected by [...]
read more