The pandemic health crisis and lockdown burnout made most of us reconsider our priorities towards our family and health versus our work goals and ambitions, and rightly so. We became more aware of the need to have a balanced diet and have the right kind of lifestyle.
With this realisation, came the need for making conscious efforts towards work-life balance and better all-round wellness for the mind and body. While most people are ensuring they live by their ‘work-life balance’ motto, there is one aspect which needs to be considered to make this lifestyle even more effective and fruitful.
‘Nutrition’.
Yes, you read that right. Good food and balanced nutrition play a crucial role in helping you maintain a ‘healthy’ work-life balance (pun intended) and helps you identify vitamin deficiency causes.
Wondering how? Let us elaborate.
Dunk the junk
People often end-up eating fast food, unhealthy snacks, or having too much coffee when at work for the instant gratification of taste and quick fix of caffeine. Stress eating is a thing too. However, these habits are detrimental to our long-term health and routine. When trying to build a balanced lifestyle, a good starting point is to replace these unhealthy foods with nutritious and filling alternatives that provide vitamins and minerals essential for the body. Replace chips with roasted fox nuts (makhana), cookies with almonds, coffee with juice, and so on. It’s okay to have your indulgence foods occasionally, just avoid making them a daily habit. A daily junk food habit can often become one of the vitamin deficiency causes in our body.
Tackle Fatigue
Did you know that deficiency of vitamins is one of the main reasons for fatigue, especially in men? These could be deficiencies of Vitamin B12, B6, and even Vitamin D. Eating clean and including raw food items in your daily diet will help your body feel fresh and energised for longer. Vitamin deficiency is a very common issue in our country, and it is important to include vitamin sources beyond our natural foods as well. Consider getting a multivitamin supplement that fulfils all your vitamin needs when taken regularly.
Time Your Meals
While you make sure to start and end your work on time to maintain a balanced lifestyle, don’t forget to assign a fixed time for your meals as well. Our body functions best when it gets habituated to a particular time for different tasks - waking up, working out, resting, as well as eating. Build a punctual habit of consuming your meals and watch your body go on autopilot to keep you healthy, energised, and illness-free.
Hydrate Frequently
Water is equally important to regulate bodily functions, which includes transportation of nutrients to all parts of the body. A simple hack to ensure frequent consumption of water is to place a bottle at locations in your house that you visit frequently, including your work desk.
Switch To Healthy Snacks
No, we don’t mean switching from fried chips to baked chips. Anything homemade is always a better and healthier choice. Whenever you feel the need to have a snack, take a short break and make a quick healthy dish like poha, upma, or oats that will satiate as well as fill the stomach while providing good nutrients like proteins, vitamins, and minerals to your body.
Improve Your Focus
Vitamin deficiency, especially Vitamin D, is also known to cause lack of focus and mood swings. This can be a tough issue to tackle when trying to maintain a proper work routine. You lose focus, you don’t like doing anything, you feel guilt, and then guilt builds up regret. That feels familiar, right? Break the vicious cycle, eat better to focus better, and add in a good multivitamin supplement to fill in any missing nutrition gaps.
Separate Your Spaces
Want to have a better work-life balance? Stop doing everything in one place. Fix a space to work at - a separate room, or least a fixed corner or table if you don’t have multiple rooms at your disposal. A separate room or corner to read and relax, and even a separate location to eat your food. Ensure not doing any other activity while eating. Mindful eating gives marvellous benefits in the long run.
Take Multivitamin Supplements
Did you think multivitamins and nutritional supplements are only for those diagnosed with health issues? Vitamin deficiency is a widespread issue amongst us Indians, and most people don’t find it out until they reach the age of 35 or 40 and start experiencing basic symptoms like fatigue and constant tiredness. It is essential to consume multivitamin supplements like HealthOK in the form of simple edible tablets every day after meals to ensure that any small micronutrient gap is filled.
So, work smart, eat healthier, and live a fuller balanced life.