Posted by
Sara on
Friday, March 21st, 2014 with
3 Comments
In the middle of a busy work day, food delivery from a favorite takeout spot can be a lifesaver… until your meal leaves you zapped of energy, feeling overstuffed, and guilty for breaking your dietary goals. Isn’t lunch supposed to make you feel nourished and ready to take on the afternoon?
Healthy looks can be deceiving when it comes to Chinese takeout.
Image source: Flickr user RobynLee
Why is it so tricky to find healthy takeout orders? Thousand-calorie salads. Savory sauces full of sugar. And let’s not even get started on portion sizes. Really, any restaurant meal has the potential to be a diet-wrecker, but perhaps no cuisine is as problematic as the kind that arrives in a little white folded box. Vegetables, rice, shrimp, chicken: Chinese takeout sounds like it should be quite healthy, but that’s only true if you know what to look for. Many dishes that sound like smart choices are actually laden with more oil, salt, and sugar than you might imagine.
Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Thursday, March 20th, 2014 with
Comments Off on What Can The School Lunch Overhaul Teach Us About Healthy Business Lunches? Comments
It may sound silly, but this nutrition news isn’t child’s play: in the last few years, school lunches have gotten a lot healthier. Prompted by the continual rise in childhood obesity, and driven by Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative, the national school lunch program underwent its largest overhaul in 30 years. The result? More vegetables, more whole grains, less salt, less fat… and perhaps a few lessons that business lunches and office meals could stand to learn.
What can grown-ups learn about healthy eating from school lunches?
Image source: Flickr user USDA.gov
Eating healthy meals helps us perform better on our daily tasks – regardless of whether we’re taking a spelling test or compiling a quarterly earning report. From consuming enough essential vitamins and minerals to avoiding sugary foods that may harm our memories, what we eat has a real impact on how we work.
Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 with
Comments Off on From Meditation to Office Meals: 5 Simple Ways to Boost Employee Happiness & Productivity Comments
Wish your office was a more productive place? Rather than investing in a new software system or creating another measurement tool, take a look at the faces behind all those computer screens. If there are more furrowed brows and frowns than smiles, it might be time to invest in employee happiness. Not only is an office full of happy staffers a more pleasant place to spend your days — it’s also likely to be a much more productive workplace. And it’s worth the investment: unhappy workers may be costing the American economy as much as $300 billion per year.
Investing in employee happiness can pay off in productivity.
Image source: Flickr user Rsms
In 2011, Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile published a New York Times column describing her findings from a very detailed, decade-long study of workers’ moods and motivators — her team analyzed more than 12,000 diary entries recorded by hundreds of workers. Their conclusion was very straightforward: “Our research shows that inner work life has a profound impact on workers’ creativity, productivity, commitment, and collegiality. Employees are far more likely to have new ideas on days when they feel happier.”
Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Tuesday, March 18th, 2014 with
Comments Off on Pass the Hummus: How Mediterranean-Inspired Office Meals Can Make Your Employees Happier Comments
We’ve been hearing rave reviews of the Mediterranean diet for several years now. Maintaining a diet rich in fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, and olive oil (along with the occasional serving of fish, yogurt, and other dairy product) has been linked to a wealth of health benefits. Mediterranean dieters can boast a lower risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. Their cholesterol tends to be lower, along with their blood pressure, and they’re less likely to be overweight.
This plate may be a key to improving happiness.
Image source: Flickr user ozmafan
Now, however, a new benefit is being touted: people who eat a Mediterranean-style diet may be happier as well as healthier… which means, as an employer, it’s just smart business to focus your corporate catering routine on Mediterranean-inspired office meals. Including nutrition education and cooking classes in the employee wellness program couldn’t hurt, either. Happy employees make for more productive employees, and a growing body of research shows that our diets may have a much larger impact on our mood and well-being than we’ve previously considered.
Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Monday, March 17th, 2014 with
Comments Off on Are Your Office Meals Eco-Friendly? 6 Ways to Go Green in the Break Room Comments
A lot of office break rooms will be green today, from cardboard shamrocks to garishly frosted cupcakes. And while we heartily endorse an office-friendly St. Patrick’s Day party, it brings up a good opportunity to contemplate the other way your office can “go green” at lunch time — every day of the year.
This company has “low carbon lunches” with their real plates and flatware.
Image source: Flickr User 1010uk
Sustainability and eco-friendly practices aren’t just buzzwords anymore. Companies across the globe are going green with the aim of reducing costs, improving their images, and, yes, benefitting the environment. Giant companies may get the most press — Starbucks’ recycled coffee cup sleeves, Wal-Mart’s increasing investment in renewable energy — but small offices are also joining in by emphasizing eco-friendly habits, like producing less waste and encouraging recycling.
Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Friday, March 14th, 2014 with
Comments Off on Hit the Employee Appreciation Jackpot With a St. Patrick’s Day Office Party Comments
St. Patrick’s Day lovers may be feeling a bit of a buzzkill this year: the notoriously hard-partying holiday falls on a Monday. While that may be a disadvantage to bar-hoppers, it could be a big win in the workplace… because there might not be a better occasion for an office party!
St. Patty’s Day is all about celebrating — celebrating Irish culture, celebrating the color green, even traditionally celebrating a lift on the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol! — so it makes perfect sense to incorporate celebrating your coworkers and employees. On a day when many workers will already be in a festive mood (or at least wearing green out of fear of being pinched), the office should become part of the fun, instead of an obstacle to overcome or suffer through on the way to happy hour.
Break up the Monday monotony with a St. Patrick’s Day office party!
Image source: flickr user Peej’s Photos
After all, demonstrating employee appreciation has been established as one of the key factors in job satisfaction and morale in today’s workplace. Take advantage of this lighthearted holiday to show employees that they’re part of a fun, festive team, and set apart some special time to celebrate together.
Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Thursday, March 13th, 2014 with
Comments Off on Can Your Company Catering Create Happier Employees? How Food Affects Our Mood Comments
Imagine this scenario: You were late to the office, and were on the receiving end of some “constructive criticism” at a morning meeting. You skipped lunch to meet a deadline, and by 3 pm, you’re starving and stressed. And, if you’re like most people, you aren’t thinking about how refreshing and nourishing a nice salad sounds — you’re making a beeline for the vending machine, and ravenously trading your quarters for your favorite plastic package of chocolate-chip cookies or salty potato chips.
Emotional eating involves more than sadness & ice cream!
Image source: Flickr user Joelk75
We all know that how we feel and what we eat are intertwined. Our collective image of emotional eating usually involves a crying person and a tub of ice cream; it’s news to no one that we tend to reach for “comfort foods” — ones that reward our sugar, fat, and salt cravings — when we’re upset. But, in truth, the interplay of foods and moods is a little more complicated than a breakup and Ben & Jerry’s. Examining a few recent studies can shed some light on how the workplace can influence our dining choices — in some cases, for the better. Whether you spend your days in a cubicle or a corner office, it’s worth paying attention to the science behind our moods and our foods: what we eat can have a drastic impact on our performance in the workplace, and these studies should probably be influencing your company catering plan. Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Wednesday, March 12th, 2014 with
Comments Off on 4 Sandwich Shop Secrets That Could Undermine Your Healthy Office Lunch Comments
Between the infamous Subway Jared, Panera Bread’s not-so-secret “power menu”, and advertisements practically glistening with fresh vegetables, lean turkey, and whole wheat bread, it seems like your average sandwich shop is an easy place to grab a healthy lunch. And it should be — but, as with any restaurant, there are some land mines that people should watch out for.
It’s easy to eat healthy at a deli… right?
Image source: Flickr user stevendepolo
After all, eating a healthy lunch isn’t just about watching your waistline. The food you consume on your lunch break — especially if, like many American office workers, you eat at your desk — can dictate how you’ll feel the rest of the day. Will your energy levels crash around 3 pm, or will you feel focused and have a productive afternoon? A lot of that depends on whether you eat a healthy office lunch!
Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Tuesday, March 11th, 2014 with
Comments Off on Employee Appreciation to Wellness: How 4 Companies Won Awards for Psychological Health Comments
Last weekend in Washington D.C., the American Psychological Association recognized the recipients of its ninth annual Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards. The APA, the nation’s leading psychological professional organization, defines a psychologically healthy workplace as one that “…fosters employee health and well-being while enhancing organizational performance and productivity.”
Office celebrations and employee recognition are key to a psychologically healthy workplace.
Image source: Flickr user CPXi
Large or small, every company can work to promote the health and well-being of their employees — and they should! Research has shown that healthy, happy employees are more productive, and cost employers less when it comes to missed work and health care.
The APA’s awards are based on five categories: employee involvement, work-life balance, health & safety, employee growth & development, and employee recognition. Get a jump-start on your company’s psychological health by learning a few lessons from this year’s honorees:
Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Monday, March 10th, 2014 with
1 Comments
Every year, Gallup conducts an extensive phone survey that essentially takes a snapshot of American eating habits. The 2013 edition of the survey was released last week, and the news isn’t good: fewer of us reported eating healthy all day “yesterday” than we have in the last five years. And only a little over half — around 57% — reported that within the last week, they ate the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables (five servings per day) for at least four days.
For productive employees, more office lunch rooms should look like this!
Image source: Flickr user ChampionshipCatering
We tend to focus on our physical health when we consider these kind of statistics. And it’s clear that our collectively inadequate diet has consequences: not coincidentally, another report from the end of February shows that obesity rates rose to a new high (or should we say low?) of 27.1% last year. However, our waistlines aren’t the only things that suffer when we don’t eat enough fruits, vegetables, or the other mainstays of a healthy diet, like quality proteins and whole grains. Our mental health is also impacted by our diets — and for employers, that means your workplace productivity.
Read the full article…
