Jackie arrives at work at 7:45 am on Monday. She’s already behind for the day and feeling rushed. She immediately starts working. Sipping on coffee until it’s cold, she handles phone calls, deadlines, clients, and an endless stream of demands. At 11 am she thinks “How the heck is it this late already?”
At 12:30 pm she gets a reminder for a 1 pm meeting. ‘I should have lunch but I need to prep for this Zoom meeting. I’m just too busy. I’ll eat after.’ The meeting runs late and the next thing she knows it’s 3 pm. She grabs a fresh cup of coffee and a chocolate bar from the vending machine for a quick ‘pick me up’.
Now it’s 5:15 pm. Time to pick up the kids, head home and start something for supper. Jackie is starving, grumpy, and stretched thin. Later when she finally has time to herself, she snacks away on a bunch of things, not satisfied.
Sound familiar?
Lunch can be a huge challenge!
We all know we should be eating lunch but when we’re away from home, or busy working, it can feel like an impossible luxury. Yet skipping meals is like trying to drive a car with no gas. Sure the car can move if you get out and push, but it’s faster and easier to drive it with gas in it.
Eating lunch is the same. Taking the time to eat midday can help you be more efficient and focused in the afternoon. The investment in time will pay off in productivity, reduce mood swings and make it easier to avoid late-night snacking.
This then sets you up for a better night’s sleep, which improves the following day.
Here are 3 simple steps to help:
1) MAKE time to eat. Set a timer for what you can reasonably spare. 15 minutes? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? Then close your laptop, log out of your PC, and leave your desk. If you literally CAN’T leave your desk, spin your chair around to a different view.
2) HAVE food available. This can be different things for different people. Maybe it’s a pre-packed lunch of leftovers, or a picnic lunch of cold food, or even delivery from one of the restaurants in town.
3) QUIT the guilt. Silence the inner bully. You deserve the small amount of time needed to invest in your health. Is your entire day going to be derailed by taking 15 minutes to eat?
Get support for building healthy habits!
A coach can help you build the habits needed to meet the challenge of regular meals. You don’t have to be perfect to feel better and see improvement.
Book a No Sweat Intro here and ask how we can help!