Work From Home (WFH)– The never-ending phenomenon
Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet have become our new office venues. Work from home (WFH) is the new normal. WFH has helped us maintain our workflow in the comfort of our home environment, with flexible working hours. But balancing office schedules exaggerated online meetings, and deadlines with our daily household chores can be a challenging task. And the routines have not really set in, ever since last year, for many of us. The work stress and anxiety with periodic waves and lockdown have really taken a toll on our physical and mental health.
How have we responded?
We did understand that food has a larger role to play than just to suffice our taste buds and hunger pangs. Consciously or unconsciously, we have started making food choices. The immunity boosters won hands down followed by the vegetables and fruits. “All about foods” lessons started from learning new food sanitizing techniques to new methods of cooking, though many of us are still struggling in lockdown with the right method and technique.
We made efforts to prepare restaurant-like home-cooked meals using new ingredients and new flavours. No doubt the new skill and Work From Home leisure allowed cooking to reach new heights giving way to exotic sauces, preserves and spices reaching our kitchen shelves with a great sense of pride and a ready wish list in our carts.
Online ordering has undoubtedly provided unlimited access to the markets unlike the local grocery, but
Do we actually know what to look for?
Do we really read the labels of what we order?
Do we look for any additives or preservatives in our accompaniments enjoyed with our home-cooked meals?
Expanding waistlines - A concern!
Besides the mental stress of maintaining the office and work front, some factors are acknowledged but silently neglected – negligible/limited physical activity, irregular meal timings, late hours stimulants and mindless snacking that have led to the weighing scale going upwards.
Are snacks the culprit?
No, snacks are an important part of our daily food consumption that provide the required energy and nutrients for the activities throughout the day. If taken in the right amount, these help to avoid overeating at meal times. Night snacking is not bad if one allows sufficient time for digestion to happen after the snacks.
In fact, the body digests food and uses calories the same way regardless of the time of day, and whatever energy gets stored at night while sleeping will be used during the following day’s activities but during the resting hour, the metabolism is slow. One can occasionally enjoy late-night snacks and work but make sure to have simple walks, enough brain work to provide sufficient time for it to get digested. And don’t forget to choose the right snacks.
Choosing the right snacks – what should we know?
We surely can’t change the current working scenario but we can certainly change our eating habits by understanding what to consume and how much. Let us invest some time in choosing the right snacks for ourselves. Snacks that satisfy our taste buds and also that nourish our body.
Our Food and Nutrition Board has estimated the amount of nutrients and calories needed per day by individuals based on their gender, age, activity levels, and physiological conditions. This is called RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance). Going by our RDA, one serving, i.e. one small bowl in simple household measure, of an ideal snack should provide us with 120 to 150 kcal with not more than 5g of fat. So ideally, a snack should not be empty calories but a small meal that should have the right amount of protein, fibre, and micronutrients.
Snacks should not make us sluggish but should keep our body and mind alert and full of energy. Thus, good snack choices can be made while choosing snacks made of unconventional yet traditional ingredients like Amaranth, Bajra, Jowar, Ragi and other millets which can be healthy, fulfilling and tasty besides providing additional benefits of improving bone health, muscle health, and digestion.
Remember healthy ingredients full of fibre will help limit portions and provide those necessary nutrients for alertness and energy required for managing the chaotic Work From Home.
Choose from Earthspired range of readymade snacks and innovate new dishes using our nutrient dense and delicious products. We have other healthy snack options available like Earthspired Multigrain, Gluten-free Cookies
Nutritious snack recipe of the day
Amaranth Bhel
Rashmi Gulrajani (Freelance Dietician)
For consultation contact at asthagulrajani@gmail.com
Iksha Chhabra (Nutritionist)
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