Healthy nutrition in the home office

How to eat properly at home during the corona lockdown

Healthy nutrition in the home office

Since the second lockdown phase to combat the coronavirus, working from home has become the daily workplace for many employees. Even the government wants employers to enable their employees to work from home as much as possible. But why is a healthy diet so important when working from home?

Working from home and then possibly with the additional burden of “homeschooling” presents many of us with the big challenge of where there is still time to cook and prepare a healthy meal.

Consciously taking a lunch break and eating a suitable and, if desired, warm meal in the canteen is not possible for many people now. Instead, the fridge is just a few steps away and we now tend to help ourselves to it more often. Instead of a regular meal, we suddenly have small treats at our disposal throughout the day. cPeople often eat throughout the day instead of taking a break to eat consciously and healthily.

In addition, you may also move less than in the office. The way to meetings, to the canteen or the lunchtime walk with colleagues is canceled.

As a result, less exercise and an unhealthy diet can weaken your immune system and increase the risk of infection.

Do you also tend to work even more when working from home because work or checking emails is just a click away?

Today I have a few tips for you on how to maintain a balanced diet and keep fit despite working from home.

1. maintain familiar routines in everyday life

If you don’t drive to the office, you save time on the commute. Perhaps take this opportunity to sleep longer. Perhaps you now go to bed later because the alarm clock doesn’t ring early the next morning. As we are not on site in the office, nobody actually sees us sitting in front of the computer in our pyjamas at lunchtime. However, this is not good and tends to throw off the daily routine.

Try to maintain your rhythm, get up at the usual times and use the rest of the time in the morning for an extended breakfast for yourself and your family. Or you can use the remaining time in the morning to prepare lunch or some fruit and vegetables as a small but healthy snack between meals.

Get dressed and consciously prepare yourself for working from home.

2. take breaks

If you take regular breaks in the office, go to the canteen at lunchtime or go for a walk, then plan this time in your home office too. Make a conscious effort to use your lunch break at home for a healthy diet and some time out in the fresh air. Why not combine your next shopping trip with a lunchtime stroll?

3. healthy diet

A balanced diet starts with shopping. Make sure that plenty of fruit and vegetables, protein-rich foods such as quark, fish, eggs and healthy fats such as nuts or linseed oil,
OMEGA-3 fatty acids

and carbohydrate sources such as potatoes and couscous are on your shopping list.
This will ensure that you get the vitamins, fiber and minerals your body needs.

You don’t usually have breakfast at home or the coffee-to-go accompanies you on the way to work?
Then take the time to have a balanced breakfast in your home office to get your day off to the best possible start. Eat a sensible lunch, e.g. with a fresh salad, a tasty soup, a light meal consisting of fish and vegetables or an Asian rice dish.

An apple as a healthy snack when working from home

Prepare sliced fruit such as apples, pears, persimmons, bananas, grapes or vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. for the small hunger pangs that may arise in between meals, so that you have them ready to hand when you need them. Replace the chocolate bar with a handful of nuts and dried fruit.

Plan meals in advance, a daily or weekly plan with the whole family can be very helpful here, save precious time and still ensure a healthy diet. Just cook a little more at the weekend or cook in advance and freeze meals on a rationed basis. This means you can quickly have a healthy meal for the whole family during the week.

Here you can find some of my recipes on the blog, e.g. for
sugar-free jam

, for a quick
vegan pumpkin soup
, a
vegetarian burger
or a
buckwheat rice pudding with coconut milk
.

Do you need tips or recipes for quickly prepared healthy meals?
Talk to me, I will be happy to help you.

4. drink enough

Whether you’re in the office or working from home, drinking plenty of fluids is important for your body. Make sure you drink water or tea and avoid drinking too much coffee, juice or soft drinks.

Especially in the cold winter months and in the hot summer months, it is important to ensure that your body is sufficiently hydrated.

A little tip: set yourself an alarm clock to remind you to drink a glass of water at least once an hour. Stand up briefly and have a drink to prevent sitting for too long.

5. fresh air and exercise

Get some fresh air despite working from home

Ventilate regularly, even when working from home. Fresh air lets you breathe again, especially during a stressful day, and helps to revitalize your grey matter.

As already mentioned, regular exercise is also important when working from home. Just 30 minutes of exercise in the fresh air can strengthen the cardiovascular system and help your body to provide sufficient antibodies.

Avoid sitting at your desk for too long. Many types of back pain or tension in the neck and lumbar spine result from too much sitting at work. Stand up briefly once an hour, stretch, do light relaxation exercises or a short stretching break for your arms, shoulders, back and legs. Open up the chest area and then strengthen yourself, for example with a few squats, let your arms circle while you ventilate and perhaps drink something.

Perhaps you also have the option of switching your workstation between sitting and standing? A height-adjustable desk can provide very good support here. And if you are sitting, then change position, if necessary also change the chair with a dynamic sitting stool or an exercise ball.

Find out how to get
fit through the corona winter

in my blog post.

Would you like a few tips for quick and easy stretching exercises at work?
Just contact me, I will be happy to advise you.

We have been dealing with the coronavirus for a year now. For many of us, the pandemic has turned our entire lives upside down. Quarantine times, distance learning from home for children, home office for adults, contact restrictions, compulsory masks and many other measures are currently demanding a lot from all of us. Despite these circumstances, it is therefore important to make sure that you eat healthily and stay physically fit while working from home.

With a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, you can strengthen your immune system and ensure sufficient resistance.

During Corona, I will continue to be available by phone or email to answer any questions you may have about healthy eating and I am already looking forward to being able to accompany you in person again soon.

Stay healthy,

Your nutritionist in Munich – Silke Schweitzer