When working from home, lunch plans often take a back seat, meaning it can become all too tempting to eat unhealthy food. This is bad news because eating healthy – particularly when working from home – is very important.

Why is it so important to eat right when working from home? The unique circumstances of working from home mean that it can be particularly difficult to enjoy a healthy diet.  Studies suggest that an unhealthy diet plays a part in 678,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone.  Work from home workers must make a concerted effort to eat healthily, exercise, and socialize regularly to stay healthy and productive.   

If you’re working from home, eating healthy can help you to stay fit and reduce the chances of suffering from serious diseases. And it’s not as difficult as it seems.  By following some simple rules and accessing the right information you can set yourself up for success.

The Risks of a Poor Diet

Modern nutrition continues to shine a light on just how devastating an unhealthy diet can be. The World Health Organization understands, however, that dietary habits aren’t just an individual problem, but are shaped on a societal level according to things like class, location, age, and occupation.

Thanks to improvements to digital technology, working from home has become a viable option for many workers across the world. While there are lots of benefits to this in terms of freedom, flexibility, and autonomy, there are health risks.

Without trips to cafés and restaurants – and without the pressure to prepare food – many remote workers fail to eat a balanced diet. Paired with extended periods of inactivity, this can be very hazardous to a person’s health.

In the short term, a poor diet can lead to tiredness, susceptibility to stress, and lower work productivity. This is not why you started working remotely.

Over the long-term, however, the prognosis gets far worse. An unhealthy diet can lead to:

• high cholesterol
• eating disorders
• heart disease and stroke
• type-2 diabetes
• some cancers
• depression
• being overweight or obese
• osteoporosis
• tooth decay
• high blood pressure

The World Health Organization Definition of a Healthy Diet

In its guidance on diets, the World Health Organization notes that a healthy diet includes:

“eating more fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains; cutting down on salt, sugar and fats. It is also advisable to choose unsaturated fats, instead of saturated fats and towards the elimination of trans-fatty acids.”

The overall rules are simple but to improve your chances of having a healthy diet, you may want professional advice.

Finding Dietary Advice

There are a number of sources remote workers can learn about nutrition. Of course, the internet offers a wealth of information with studies and research from nutritionists being published regularly.

This information is condensed and interpreted by a range of blogs and podcasts which can educate and inform remote workers in a casual way. These sources are also complemented by a wealth of websites which host recipes and cooking tips.

If you’re seriously concerned about how your diet will be affected by working from home, you could even consider enlisting the help of a nutritionist. Nutritionists can help develop a meal plan designed for what works for you.

Danger Foods to Avoid

Working from home means that cookies, sweets, and other tasty treats can be just a few steps away. The fruit bowl from the office is no longer there, and our sweet tooth can tempt us to make the wrong decisions.

As a rule of thumb, it’s important for remote workers to avoid meals which contain too many calories as well as excess fats, saturated fats, and trans fats. Too much sodium and sugar can also wreak havoc on a person’s health, so they should be avoided too.

Taking the Right Breaks

Many remote workers explain that work can tend to dominate their day and take over. Given that there’s no physical distinction between work and home, it can be easy for the hours to blend together.

This is why it’s important for remote workers to take proper breaks at lunch (and dinner). This can be time to unwind, prepare some nutritious food, or even meet with a friend or colleague to eat together.

This leads to healthier eating habits while also helping remote workers to get some light exercise and avoid the social pitfalls of working from home.

Leveraging New Technology

In recent years a variety of health applications have rocketed to prominence. These apps include calorie counters, meal planners, and activity monitors. When it’s so easy to get lost in work and make a healthy diet an afterthought, these apps can give remote workers important reminders.

Wearable technology can also be a powerful tool in the fight back against unhealthy lifestyles among remote workers. Devices like the Apple Watch can prompt their wearers to take regular breaks and short walks to ensure they are achieving regular activity. These devices also monitor a person’s activity and are becoming more sophisticated with each passing year.

Complementing Diet with Exercise

While a person’s diet is incredibly important, the essential role of exercise cannot be understated. The World Health Organization again has a range of guidance when it comes to the amount of exercise an adult should enjoy.

As a general rule of thumb, adults between the ages of 18-64 should,

“do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or do at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.”

• Tip: try walking while taking phone calls

Related Questions

What is the biggest step a remote worker can take to improve their diet? Eliminating junk foods is an important step that remote workers can take to dramatically improve their diet. These foods provide empty calories, affect concentration, and lead to mental fatigue.

Snacking on these foods can be replaced by consuming fruit in order to receive more natural and healthy sugars which can energize workers and improve performance.

• Quick tip – I’ve found avoiding sugar before 12 pm has dramatically reduced my tendency to crave and eat junk food.
• Second Tip – Don’t buy junk food during your weekly shop.

How much water should a remote worker drink? When we talk about diet it’s all too easy to forget about the essential role that water plays. Water is the best drink available and various studies have demonstrated its efficacy in improving mental performance and reducing tiredness.

Many health authorities recommend that a person drinks at least 2 litres of water each day. Without the water cooler, this can be difficult to achieve when working from home, so it’s important to stock up on bottles and ensure they are always available.

What are some tips to help change dietary habits? Dietary habits aren’t just a personal choice, but they are also influenced by a range of factors around you. Thinking honestly about what is shaping your dietary choices rather than getting frustrated with yourself is an important step and can lead to the development of fruitful strategies.

How can meal planning help? Lots of remote workers report getting absorbed in their work and being unable to find the time to cook healthy and nutritious meals. To remedy this, it’s recommended that remote workers attempt to set aside specifics times to enjoy cooking.

This could mean cooking in batches on the weekend or setting distinct times to cook throughout the day. “Meal prepping” isn’t just a great way to ensure a consistent quality of food, but it also helps remote workers to make the most of being at home and save!

Is takeout food a good option for remote workers? Takeout food has a reputation as being very unhealthy, but that all depends on the type of food that the remote worker decides to order. In recent years, more healthy options have emerged and depending on where you’re located, you’ll find a range of restaurants which offer healthy takeout options.

It can be a fun activity to explore new food options from the comfort of your own home and help you to take a nice break from work for a while.

How does grocery shopping differ for remote workers? Given that you’ll be working from home, you may find that you buy more groceries in the supermarket to enjoy at home. This can have a positive financial effect, given that you won’t be going to stores or restaurants to eat.

It’s important, though, to set strict limits in terms of the foods that you will purchase and bring home. One of the big dangers of working from home is having easy access to your favourite snacks and guilty pleasures!