How to Stay Energized When Your Lunch Breaks Are Short

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• RELATED EPISODE: Break Bad Eating Habits With Mindful Eating (Even with a Busy Schedule!)
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Read the Transcript:

How to Stay Energized When Your Lunch Breaks Are Short

Hi there, welcome to the Eating Habits for Life Podcast. Let’s talk about staying energized for your very busy day as a career woman. And if you’re a woman in healthcare like me, you’ll definitely find this episode so valuable.

When you have a demanding day, whether it’s a demanding work day or demanding home or social life, you’re going to want to not hit the wall halfway through your day.

It’s so much harder to get tasks done, to focus, to feel like you’re present with others. And if you get drained quite easily, then you’re less likely to have the energy to do the things that you really would enjoy doing after work or on the weekends.

So whoever is listening right now who feels like they either get home after a work day and just feel absolutely exhausted or the week is so exhausting that they feel like they need the first part of the weekend just to recover, I hear you. I’ve got you.

So let’s talk about how to stay energized when you have a busy and demanding schedule, but even more specifically when your lunch breaks are short.

Now, the whole purpose of a lunch break is to provide that revitalization and the refueling for the afternoon, right? It’s to give people a physical break, a mental break, and eat calories which is energy and nutrients so that they can actually get through the rest of the day.

But over the years, life has gotten so busy, and workplaces have gotten incredibly busy, shortening many people’s lunch breaks from an hour to just 1/2 an hour period or maybe from 1/2 an hour to 15 minutes. Some of you might not even really have a lunch break.

And you just power through the day until you can’t. Or you find yourself overly hungry and grabbing the candy from the vending machine or eating the cookies that a colleague brought in. Never really feeling like you’re getting good nutrition, but almost desperate for something just to help you through the day.

Or, maybe some of you are relying on caffeine instead of food. So if you’re identified with any of that or anything close to that, then this episode is absolutely for you.

So in this episode of how to stay energized when your lunch breaks are short, I’m going to talk about 5 key things or tips to help you with this. The first several have more to do with things that you can do ahead of time and then the last two are things that are more like in the moment.

So tip #1 is going to be to make it quick and nutritious. And i just want to note, nutritious doesn’t mean that it has to be perfect or 100% nutritious. Any step up is going to be helpful.

When your lunch breaks are short or sometimes non-existent, having a plan in place for quick fairly nutritious meals is key.

So think about meals that can be prepared in bulk and stored in the fridge, ready to grab and go.

For example, you could cook up a bunch of rice or quinoa, some sort of protein, cut up a bunch of veggies or even use a bag of frozen veggies, and then maybe some other toppings. Then, divide them up into containers or even Mason jars if you wanted, to make it easy to take with you to work.

These things literally take about 5 minutes to eat, maybe 10 tops. They’re also very easy to eat, because you can just mix it up and eat it right out of the Tupperware or jar, so even if you had to eat a few bites in between patients or in between meetings, you could do that.

And I know that meal prep can feel like just another task on your To Do List, but investing that little bit of time upfront can save you so much time and also stress later on in the week, especially towards the end of the week where you’re starting to get really tired.

Also, you make the decision once, at the beginning of the week, and then you don’t have to worry about what to bring to work or what to eat for lunch for the rest of the week.

And you can also think of a way to make meal prep fun. Maybe you can get your kids to help. Or blast your favorite music while doing it. That’s what I like to do When I make our bulk dinners in advance.

Tip #2 is to have an emergency snack stash. This is like your backup plan for if you forget your lunch, or if you’re really hungry at the end of the work day and are just running out of energy. Keeping something that is considered very nutritious and also non perishable somewhere at your workplace can help just give you that little energy boost.

I would definitely not do something like crackers or chips or cookies, because these don’t actually satisfy hunger that well, and they also don’t provide great energy.

They can provide that quick little boost because of the carbs, but you actually can also feel more fatigued after eating foods like this. You might have already noticed this yourself when you’ve eaten foods like this, As tasty and convenient as they are.

My next tip is to stay hydrated. If you are dehydrated, your energy will definitely feel zapped. It can be very easy to forget to drink water throughout the day, but it’s so counterproductive to not stay hydrated, because you’re going to be less productive if you’re dehydrated. You’ll feel fatigued, you may even have less focus and get a headache.

So, I would get yourself a brightly colored water bottle that you feel like is easy to drink from, and that is also easy to carry around as well.

For my women in health care, many of you may be running around the hospital, and not necessarily be at a desk, so finding a water bottle that you can throw into your bag without fearing it’ll leak, or one that you can hook onto a bag is key.

I actually have a specific bag that is for water bottles. I wear it like a crossbody bag when we take long walks with our dog, Jonny. I got that on Amazon.

And if you don’t love the taste of just plain water, you can consider making a big batch of iced herbal tea or you could put a few pieces of fruit or maybe cucumber and mint in your water to just give it a hint of flavor.

You’re going to want to sip as frequently as you can throughout the day. If you have back-to-back patients, tasks, or meetings, even just a few sips in between each of these is beneficial. It all adds up.

Tip #4 is to manage hunger. I know that this can seem a little bit challenging when your day is a little bit unpredictable. But think about this, why did we decide that lunchtime was going to be at noon or around noon? Is everyone in the world hungry right at that time? No.

So it’s really important to pay attention to when you’re actually hungry and feed yourself. And you don’t want to get to the point of over hunger, because that’s when you’ll probably start seeing your energy decreasing, but also, you’re more likely to overeat at that point.

Because over hunger is so uncomfortable, it feels urgent to get food in your belly. And then that can lead to overeating.

Now because your day is so busy, it may be difficult for you right now to pay attention to hunger signals. But, if you try to start being intentional about paying attention to when you’re hungry, then you will start to notice it more. And then honor those hunger signals by eating, at least a little something.

It might not take much. It might be a handful of nuts that satisfies those hunger signals and then gives you that boost of energy.

If you find that you get so absorbed in work tasks, you may find it helpful to set an alert on your phone or even multiple alerts, to remind you to check in with yourself to see if you’re hungry.

Also, just to note sometimes hunger signals are actually a sign that you need water, rather than food. So if you can’t necessarily eat at that moment, try drinking some water. That may be what you needed and also that water will just give you that little energy boost as well.

Tip #5 is eat as mindfully as you can.

So, when you think of mindful eating, you might think really slow eating, but that’s not necessarily accurate. It’s more about focusing on that present moment and being focused on you and what you’re eating, rather than outside distractions.

Pay attention to what the food looks like, smells like, of course the flavors and textures. You might have to chew it a little bit more slowly to really do so, but it really is not going to add much time.

You will also likely be more satisfied when you focus more on the different aspects of the food, because you could actually enjoy it more. You will likely find that you will eat less volume, just naturally.

This also provides a nice little break for you from work. That lets you take your mind and focus off of work stuff and bring your attention to food, eating, and your body.

Alright, so just to recap on how to stay energized when your lunch breaks are short.

Number one plan some quick and nutritious meals ahead of time. This even includes snacks.

#2 is have an emergency snack stash. Try to keep it healthy if you can so that it provides good nutritional fuel and isn’t something that’s going to be so tempting to just munch on because it tastes too delicious.

#3 is to stay hydrated. Don’t underestimate the energizing power of water.

#4 is to manage those hunger signals as best as you can. You might just need a little something to satisfy those hunger signals. But try not to ignore them for too long.

And #5 is to try to eat mindfully, even if you only have 10 minutes.

And, if you are thinking about making permanent change and you are ready to find out how this could be possible for you, let’s meet via a free 60 minute consultation.

This is simply where you and I talk about where you’re struggling, ultimately what your goals are and if you’re not sure I can help you find those goals that align with your values, and then I would Essentially tell you my treatment plan.

So think of it like if you’re going to the doctor for a diagnosis and treatment plan. And then you decide if you would like to go forward with said plan.

And I am currently offering something that I have never offered before and that is if you book your consultation with me and would like to commit to going forward with one-on-one coaching and have your first session by the end of August which is very fast approaching, then I will gift you my 8- week confidence continuum program for free.

I can tell you more about that during the consultation. So book your free consult with me with the link in the episode description or right on my website https://katemjohnston.com.

Take care and I’ll talk with you next week….or at your free consultation.