Healthy eating habits/Food For Thought: The downside of eating lunch at your desk & choosing for your health when dining out

Food for thought
It is common in today’s workplace to skip lunch breaks or consume lunch at your desk. This may be due to high workload, strict deadlines, convenience or comfort at your desk. However though many believe this increases work productivity it has been shown that having a lunch break away from your desk improves productivity, mood and energy levels. With chronic diseases increasing in prevalence it is vital to combat sedentary work behaviours and improve health behaviours in the workplace.

Choosing for your health when dining out
Eating out at restaurants and cafes is very popular in today's culture. Australians are spending more of their weekly budget on eating out than ever before. Therefore it's vital to know what choices to make when choosing your meals to ensure you're getting optimal nutrition.

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Protein
Protein comes from a variety of sources including: Protein helps you feel more satisfied with your meal and leaves you feeling fuller for longer. By doing so, you're less likely to snack later in the day.
 * Lean meats and poultry; such as lamb, beef, chicken
 * Fish
 * Nuts, seeds and legumes; chickpeas, lentil, almonds, walnuts
 * Eggs

Carbohydrates & Fibre
Carbohydrates and fibre often go hand in hand. High-fibre carbohydrates include: Carbohydrates are vital source of energy and are great for brain function. Fibre can help satisfy you for longer as well as assist with digestion. Fibre acts like street sweeper through your digestive system, sweeping along your bowel and assisting in emptying it out leaving you feeling lighter and helping you stay regular.
 * Brown rice
 * Quinoa
 * Wholegrain bread

Vitamins & Minerals
Fruit and vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals. It's great to aim for a few different colours of fruit or vegetables as each colour often represents a different group of vitamins and minerals. To help in understanding why these are important you can think of vitamins and minerals as little keys that help to unlock all the goodness in the protein and carbohydrates. Though they seem little these are vital for your health. The Australian dietary guidelines recommends 5 serves of vegies (about ½ cup cooked is 1 serve) in a day for optimal health so by having one or two at lunch it makes it easier at dinnertime.


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