I work for an organisation that puts a lot of emphasis on keeping staff comfortable and content as they know it helps staff-retention which ultimately works better for the organisation. They don't want a revolving door of staff coming and going, that's costly, and due to the specialised skills needed to do the work I completely understand it.
They have a lot of benefits for staff, some of which I've spoken about in a previous post, and some specific rules/guidelines they like to enforce designed to help keep staff happy and healthy - one of those rules is: no eating lunch at one's workspace, desk or office.
It may seem an odd rule considering having staff eat their lunch at their desk while continuing to work may seem productive, but it's a good rule in my opinion; it ensures people take a proper break, eat in the (very lavishly appointed) kitchen-dining-lounge area and promotes interaction with their peers which promotes a more social environment, better culture and helps people feel more relaxed for a time before getting back to work. I think it's a very good idea and, despite breaking the rule sometimes because I'm just so busy, I mostly take the time to sit with a few of the team, chat, swap stories, bond a little and relax over some food; we sometimes even share or swap food which is nice too...although no one really likes my food much...too boring apparently. 🤣
I tend to eat in a very healthy manner and rarely over-eat. I bring my lunch from home most days and spread it out over the entire day as I like to eat smaller meals more often. Above is my workday lunch and snacks from a couple days ago.
Carrots, capsicum, cucumbers, a few slices of hot salami, some cheese and one piece of low-carbohydrate bread. That was lunch. The nut bar and assorted nuts were my mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack to have with a cup of tea or coffee. Healthy? Yeah I reckon so. Boring...yep, that too! I mix up what I take for lunch, but it's pretty much always vegetables, some protein and nuts as per the image above.
I'm surrounded by people eating way better and tastier food and used to get comments about what is a very basic lunch from others but over time I noticed people taking my lead, bringing more healthy foods or buying them at the shop not too far away. We'd have conversations around health, eating habits, likes and dislikes and all sorts of other things which is exactly what the organisation promotes and why they ask us not to eat at our desks while continuing to work.
What's your work lunch situation? Do you bring your lunch from home, buy it, eat with other staff in a communal area, or at your desk while you work? Do you even eat lunch at all?
Feel free to comment below, tell me about your work lunch, show me if you like in a photo, talk about your healthy or unhealthy work lunch habits or just comment on my boring work lunch picture above. If you're keen to comment I'm keen to hear from you.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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Image(s) in this post are my own
I like that menu, so I wouldn’t mind swapping with you mate, I like to eat healthy and everything in that picture looks delicious, so we can switch. I’m lucky to work/study close to home, so I have time to have lunch at home (there’s no better lunch than that) I guess that’s the perks of living nearby and with family, but sometimes I bring lunch from home, I never buy it, here it’s a bit hard to get food and there are some really creepy stories about stuff they put in cafeterias, so I prefer to eat “the boring food from home”.
I do a lot of work from home and when I do it's nice to enjoy a lunch here, even though it's basically the same as you see in the image above.
Anyway, I hope you're well and will have a good weekend. Mine is a challenge...the whole week has been to be honest, I did a post about it just now.
... the week has been quite calm, vacation week ... I just read your post and of course I left my comment over there, but I tell you here ... I hope the situation improves soon
Life tends to do what it does and while it can be influenced in places sometimes the best we can hope for is the opportunity to be reactive. The last week is one such example.
I love what you eat, so if I were near you, we'd make some trades for sure. It's easier for me to have those kinds of meals than to try to make one that will probably turn out as bad as concrete. Hahaha...plus I think that when you work, you should eat light things. Because otherwise I'd get too sleepy, instead of going to work relaxed after lunch, I'd go to work asleep.
Good things stick, just as much as bad things. But you are very wise and so you expand that habit of eating healthy. Good for you.
I agree with you, it's best to eat light foods at work especially if one is sitting at a desk working rather than being more active. I try to stay off carbohydrates also, for a few reasons, and I feel much better for it. What I found interesting is how people started to eat more healthy around me after a while, not always of course, but many are making much better choices now.
My friend @galenkp I think you give very good advice and it is clear that you take good care of your health. You should not eat so much but what is good and maintains a balance for the body.
I don't work anymore but at home I try to eat a lot of vegetables and reinforce breakfast and lunch. I think I have to learn a little from you. Thank you very much. 😍
I'm pretty sure I know how much I should and should not eat.
Anyway, it's good that you maintain a healthy eating habit and I think it's a good way to ensure less problems moving forward.
All the best for the end of the week and the weekend ahead.
I found that as I got older, boring is becoming the norm. Eating healthy, cutting down on carbs, sweets, and cholesterol are the priority. Getting sick and recovering is harder, and takes longer since I'm older. I usually take lunch with my coworkers, but we don't have a lavish area. We just go to a canteen or sometimes eat in a fancy restaurant.
Cutting down on the things that are less healthy is a good thing and will help a person maintain health as they get older, I guess it's be good to do from a younger age also. Unfortunately those unhealthy things often taste the best, but discipline is required and to have a longer and healthy life one must put in some effort I suppose right?
I was talking to someone on Hive about this very thing the other day. I forget who... someone in Discord, maybe. Anyway, it seems like the older I get, the more I love vegetables. Boring, maybe, but they are really good. I could add broccoli to every meal. And without the strong sweet or salty tastes, they also keep my cravings for snacks under control, so it's win win. Healthy too.
I remember when I worked in IT a lifetime ago. People eating at their desk was one of my biggest frustrations. Cleaning keyboards full of food and covered with oil from chips... ugh.
The eating at desks thing can be a worry. I worked in a place where it happened a lot and the office ended up smelling like a combination of many different foods for the back half of the day - it wasn't good. That's actually one of the reasons my organisation don't permit it (even though some do it still, like me on occasions). With what I bring there's no heavy smells though so it's not too bad. Food in keyboards...not ideal. 😊
That hot salami looks pretty dang awesome. I bring my own lunch pretty much every day. It is usually leftovers from the night before. I eat it at my desk. It's just easier that way. My wife eats hers at her desk as well for a couple of different reasons. First, she usually has an office full of students, so she needs to herd those sheep. Second, if she ate in the teachers lounge with the rest of the staff she would probably punch someone. The teachers vent without abandon in the lounge and she can't stand the way they talk about some of the kids.
Haha, yep I understand the probably punch someone comment. I don't always eat with others, sometimes I take a walk and eat as I go, or sometimes I eat at my desk first or after a walk. I find it makes me more productive. I walk most days regardless though, at some stage during my day.
I walk to the bathroom and back... 😃
Lol.
I understand why no one likes your lunch. Lol
People often need crispy and juicy meat. Haha, I don't bring lunch in university, rather I bring money and buy the eating stuff from the university cafe.
Fair enough, you must have a lot of money to be able to buy your lunch every day. Good for you.
Well, not a lot of. But thankfully enough for me (provided by my parents)🙂
Bon appetit my dear Galen and that rule of working coexistence is great to have lunch sharing our food, and some little things "hallway rumors" with ears wide open in the company dining room. Here I also have lunch and I do it in the dining room for everyone, without marking lines of professional strata.
My meal is also very healthy fruits, a diet dessert and maybe salad or a chicken or turkey sandwich, and lots of water to roll the meal, 😂
Eating healthy foods helps keep the brain working well and that's good for productivity. I also make sure I drink plenty of water. I have a coffee or tea here and there also, but I have a jug of water at my desk as well. Staying hydrated is important.
My lunch nowadays is at home and always with homemade and healthy food, nothing pre-made or bought but when I worked as a salesman I had to eat in a square, or places like that if I didn't want to be paying and go to a restaurant, as I was out all day. I would take my own food, homemade... the only thing is that I would eat it cold, of course, but I knew what I was eating.
But I've seen my colleagues eat very badly, fast food, poor quality food... or not eat at all. And you have to take care of that detail to have a very good health.
Fast food or not eating at all effects performance and that's not very productive. Many people don't have the discipline to eat well though and so eat what makes them most happy rather than what's best from a health perspective. I like to eat certain things like most, but I limit them and when at work try to eat in a healthy way, fresh foods not processed and that means I feel less guilty at those occasional times I eat a treat. Besides it keeps me looking good externally and internally healthy as well. It seems logical.
Choosing the healthiest of what is available is the best thing you can do, health deserves it and of course it is logical. Well done!
I usually make it a point to have my lunch outside of office because it always feels better to go out, have a walk, get some fresh air, get some sun. The choice of food depends, it could be at some food courts or fancier places if we go in groups.
Yep, me too sometimes...in the park mainly.
People likes the unhygienic food. Good For you thee boring food.
They sure do.
yes healthy food is boring but still taste good though
I agree.