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You work from home and everyone remarks how lucky you are.
“What a luxury you have to work from home.”
“You must get so much done with just cutting out the commute time alone!”
Personally, I always think, “Umm, not the case here!” I feel that I got more accomplished when I left the house each day. And now I’m struggling just to eat my lunch. The truth is I feel that lunch just cuts into the time I should be working. If I take the five to ten minutes to make my lunch and sit down and eat it I feel like I am only setting myself back. It’s easy to feel guilty when it comes to taking a break from work when you’re responsible for your own time management. Here are a few tips to help you elevate that feeling and take the well-deserved lunch break you need.
Order Out – Ordering lunch out may bring on another wave of guilt, but it shouldn’t. True, you work from home and have a full kitchen at your fingertips. Basically, if you can dream it up and your pantry contains it, you can eat it. The bottom line is that you are working and you have important tasks you must get finished within a work day. Just the same as if you worked in an office, you may not have time to stop and make lunch. So lighten up on yourself a little, remind yourself that you are at work, and order out.
Meal Replacement – Many of us find ourselves in an unhealthy eating rut due to time constraints, stress, etc. A great way to make sure you are getting enough healthy fruits and veggies is to make yourself a smoothie. A lot of people wince at the sight or even the name but they are not only healthy but super filling and something you can sip on while making your deadline. My personal favorite is a banana, pear, green apple, and spinach smoothie. Add some ice or freeze your bananas ahead of time and you have a healthy filling smoothie that will give you energy while staying productive.
Graze – Grazing is a great way to stay healthy and full. Keep a stash of healthy unsalted nuts, some sweet carrots, or another favorite healthy snack at your desk. This will keep your belly full and provide a lot of nutrition in your daily diet.
Don’t Forget Yourself – It’s Sunday night and you are packing lunches for school and work the next morning. Get into the habit of making yourself lunch as well. When it’s time for lunch you won’t take any time out of your busy day to think about what you are going to eat or how you’ll find the time to prepare it.
Search Online – Greatist shared a post titled 35 Quick and Healthy Low-Calorie Lunches – you can check it out here. There are many articles on the web for meal planning and/or quick and healthy meals. Look for some new one’s today.
Skipping meals is never the answer but sometimes we just find ourselves so overwhelmed and bogged down it’s hard to imagine stopping long enough for a break. Hopefully, some of these suggestions will help put your lunch break back into your busy routine.