[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]QikServe has a new face in the office! Eilidh has been working in our Edinburgh HQ as part of her university internship programme. With a keen interest in health and fitness, Eilidh has been sharing hacks on how to keep healthy in the workplace, as well as interviewing staff to find out what they eat to keep their brains fuelled.
Top tip – make sure you have a pen and paper to hand because she’s also included a recipe for her delicious I-can’t-believe-these-are-good-for-me chocolate peanut butter granola bars! Rest assured these did not last long in the QikServe office.
Staying healthy at work
Staying healthy in the office can be challenging. With snacks being brought in, coffee breaks (which always lead to that chocolate biscuit) and the convenience of fast food restaurants, it can be tricky to keep our healthy eating routine up during the week. It’s important to have a healthy diet, particularly at work as it will improve your concentration levels, productivity and make you more alert to problems.
Here are some tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle at work as demonstrated by the QikServe team.
Start your day as you mean to go on with a nutrition-packed breakfast. Those who eat breakfast in the morning are far less likely to grab a high sugar snack mid-morning. For the perfect breakfast, start with one of your five a day, combine carbohydrates with protein, include wholegrain foods and stay hydrated. Tomorrow morning why not try wholegrain bread with smashed avocado and poached egg, or porridge with fresh fruit, chia seeds and nuts.
QikServe Data Analyst Anna goes to the Stockbridge market every Sunday to collect ingredients for the super green juice she has every morning. Today’s juice is made from; kale, cucumber, ginger, fennel, lemon, spinach and celery. She also has a tablespoon of organic sauerkraut before each meal. For those who don’t know, sauerkraut is fermented cabbage which is packed with vitamins, fibre and probiotics.
Stay hydrated. Did you know you’re meant to drink at least 6-8 glasses of water per day? Water is another huge factor in maintaining a healthy lifestyle as it helps to hydrate your body, keep you focused and improves reaction time. Hunger is commonly mistaken for thirst, which leads to people eating unnecessarily when they actually just need a drink of water. Everyone in the QikServe office has a personalised QikServe water bottle, having one of these on your desk encourages you to drink more throughout the day.
Meal prep for the week. At the start of the week, plan what to have for your lunch every day. Make big batches of foods on the Sunday night that will last in the fridge until Friday. This could be something as easy as putting some chicken and vegetables in the oven and cooking some sort of grain such as brown rice or quinoa. Then pop it into a microwavable box and enjoy chicken, quinoa and roast veggies for your lunch. This’ll provide you with the perfect amount of protein, carbs and vegetables to keep you fuelled until dinner. Preparing your own lunch means you’ll know exactly what ingredients have gone into it, it’ll save you money and you’ll always know what you can look forward to and be more likely to turn down that McDonald’s trip!
The QikServe team is so diverse, lunch time is always interesting as there is so much variety on people’s plates. Paul, our Product Manager, often enjoys a wrap with humous, falafel and hot sauce as part of his vegan diet. While Software Engineer, Priya loves rice cooked with turmeric and curry power with scrambled eggs and onions.
Go simple. When making your lunches for the week, make sure to not go over the top thinking of new ideas every day. As long as it’s colourful, tasty and easy to have at the office, it’s a winner. Not to mention being healthy too, add your greens! One of my favourite simple lunches to bring in is chicken breast on a bed of spinach, red pepper and tomatoes with avocado on the side to keep it fresh.
Make healthy snacks to have during the day to relieve your sweet tooth cravings. As easy as it is to pop to the shops and buy a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps, you’ll gain hardly any nutritional benefit from this, and most likely will be left wanting more. Bring in snacks that will be easy to pack and easy to snack on. Try to incorporate some of the brain foods into your snacks such as blueberries, avocados, leafy green veg, dark chocolate, flax seeds and nuts. Homemade granola bars are a great snack to make on a Sunday night and will last you the whole week… unless you bring them to the QikServe office! As you can see, they are nutty, moist, fudgy and delicious.
Granola bar recipe:
-
- 1 1/2cups rolled oats
- 1cup raw nuts
- 1cup raw walnuts
- 2cups pitted dates
- 3/4cup cocoa or cacao powder
- 1/4cup natural peanut butter
- 1/4cup agave nectar or maple syrup
If you’re at the QikServe office, take advantage of all the free fruit! This gets delivered every Monday. From bananas, plums and apples to the occasional fig, our fruit deliveries are a sight to behold.
Having an active lifestyle is also important when sitting down in an office nine-to-five. This is why Dianne, Human Resources Manager, set up a running club every Wednesday during lunch time. This is so important as it keeps staff active and as recent studies show, running has been found to improve mood and help fight depression.
Eilidh returns to university next week – we’re super sad to see her go but it’s been great having her in the office and hope she’ll come back to visit us soon (with granola bars in hand, pretty please?!)
Matt interned with us at the end of 2018. Check out his blog here![/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”white”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
