Appetizer
Skip lunch LESS often. It’s rare that I actually skip a meal b/c I tend to get cranky and restless after about 4-5 hours without food, but when there is a meal to be skipped, it’s usually lunch. This is a bad idea. Lunch is the mid-day meal that re-energizes your body after breakfast and bridges the time until dinner. Plus, according to studies at George Washington University, skipping meals can actually lead to overeating later in the day.
Main Course
As many people are trying to accomplish more with less free time, lunch is often the first thing to go. One study found that 14% of American workers do not take a lunch break at all during the day, and those that do only stop working for an average of 36 minutes. Another study indicates that what used to be the lunch “hour” has been reduced to an average of just 19 minutes in many cases.
So, just what are people doing when they should be eating? Some are running errands, working out (great, but not at the expense of eating properly), shopping, or just gabbing on the phone, but most people are simply WORKING. And when these worker bees do eat lunch, according to the American Dietetic Association, most of them are eating in front of the computer at their desks.
Remember this…when you starve your body (that’s what skipping lunch is), you essentially deprive yourself of necessary fuel, causing your metabolism to slow down. This makes it even more difficult to lose weight because your body holds on to whatever it gets because it doesn’t know when it might get fed again.
Dessert
Today, I’m setting a new goal. I’m going to reclaim my lunch HOUR…the whole 60 minutes. The typical 8-hour workday is 8am to 5pm, but this is actually 9 hours. Why? Because 1 hour of the workday is allotted for me to eat! So, why is it that Corporate America has developed a culture that makes you feel guilty if you actually spend more than 2 minutes eating? Never mind the fact that I rarely leave right at 5:00.
My biggest problem is that I usually bring my lunch to work so that I have more control over what I’m eating (and to save $$$). Because of that, it just makes sense for me to eat in my office. However, while I’m enjoying my food, I would love to peruse a magazine or just sit quietly and think (What a novel idea!). Unfortunately, whenever I’m in my office – even if the door is closed – my co-workers see that as a sign of my availability. They will enter my office, without knocking, and begin asking questions and discussing work while I’m forced to swallow a half-chewed bite with the fork still in my hand.
I don’t blame them though. I blame myself for going along with the insanity for this long. And that is why I’m reclaiming my lunch hour. Starting today, I’m going to leave my office every day for lunch. There is a lovely park right next to my building, and I will take my lunch out there or maybe even start eating out a bit more @ the great Mediterranean spot down the street.
Yesterday was officially my last day of shoveling food down my throat in an effort to be a more efficient corporate auto-drone.
Care to join me?
About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.
