This week’s blog is a guest post from Kevin Arnason, Owner of Motive 8 Fitness in Halton Hills, Ontario.
You are living in the fast-paced world of a corporate career woman. Your days are long and full of never-ending tasks. You can’t find the time to pee, never mind eat your lunch. The thought of adding anything to your current schedule makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time. Does this sound like you?
The one thing you can take comfort in is that you are not alone. What I just chronicled describes the lifestyle of the majority of corporate career women in the 21st century. The bad news is that this type of lifestyle takes its toll on your overall health and wellbeing not to mention the productivity at your workplace.
You might not initially intend to, but you probably find yourself skipping meals either some of the time, or the majority of the time because of your tight schedule. This will leave you deficient in the vitamins, minerals, and protein you need for your body to function normally. Consequently, your memory, motivation, efficiency, and alertness will suffer in the process. Your body will start to lose muscle mass, which will cause you to start gaining fat around your mid-section. This causes high blood pressure and high blood sugar, which could eventually lead to things like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
BREAKFAST:
You might not have a lot of time in the morning to prepare your meals for the day but that’s okay. There are many healthy options available to you that are not only delicious but nutrient dense. A good example of this is overnight oats. You can find countless recipes for this great timesaver online. It takes not even five minutes to prepare the night before and all you do in the morning is grab your breakfast and go.
LUNCH:
Many corporate professionals find themselves eating lunch out at a restaurant while having a business meeting or meeting with a client. Most restaurants have healthier menu options. Instead of thinking about what you are craving, or what will sustain you until the end of the day; think about the nutritional value of what you will be putting into your body. The more nutrient dense the food is, the longer it will keep you full, and the sharper it will keep your mind. Examples of some great food choices are salmon with rice and vegetables or a strawberry spinach salad with chicken.
SNACKS:
Nuts, raw vegetables, dried fruits (in moderation), organic peanut butter, fruits, and cheese, are all fast and easy healthy snacks to munch on throughout the day. Eating a snack in-between each meal will keep on top of your metabolism and keep your energy consistent during the day.
The best advice I can give you is to never skip meals and to eat as many nutrient dense foods as you can. If you need help thinking of nutrient dense foods, refer to this list.
Staying on top of your nutrition will greatly increase your ability to deal with stress and you won’t feel as tired and lethargic as a result of poor eating habits. This will increase your productivity immensely. You will get sick less often which will cause you to take less sick days and will save your company money for any related medical expenses.
Kevin Arnason is the founder of Motive 8 Fitness, an in-home personal training company that has been changing lives across the GTA. Having originally gone to university for computer science, Kevin found a love for fitness after making his own life changes and losing 60 pounds. With a shifted focus towards health, Kevin now shares his passion and knowledge of fitness with others in hope to inspire them to follow his lead and start living their lives. Kevin has been helping hundreds of people change their lives and become healthy since 2006.
Kevin can be reached at kevinarnason@motive8fitness.ca or 1 (844) 668-4838.