STRESS has become has become a part of modern day executive's life. Work pressures, meeting goals, hectic life-styles lead to excessive physical and emotional stress which pushes them to an unhealthy diet and lifestyle. This has an adverse effect on their health which in turn results in a decline in their performance at work.
Most of them even skip their meals and resort to easy solutions like Fast Foods, Coffee/Tea or even Energy drinks. All this piles up into myriad of short term problems like acidity, indigestion, gas, irregular bowel movements, lethargy, skin problems, hair fall, etc and eventually end up in long term diseases like cholesterol build up, diabetes and hypertension. Clearly, the crucial deadlines and tough targets at work have to be met, but the question to be asked is "Isn't the Price too high?"
A survey conducted in India reveals that these young white-collar workers are aware of how to lead a healthy lifestyle; they just find it difficult to put it into practice. You must have already heard of the phrase, "Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dine like a Pauper". If you feel that you are grappling to put this phrase into practice then we have some really good tips that you can use to avoid any disorders in the future:
Tip 1: Breakfast like a King
Most people skip breakfast because they do not have the time or the inclination to have something to eat in the morning. The result is an empty stomach which demands something by about 11 am, which people fill by having some biscuits and drinking lots of Tea/Coffee which leads to acidity, gas and weight gain.
Although it is advisable to have a good fulfilling breakfast, alternatively you can have a glass of lassi/cold coffee or a banana or boiled egg with a cup of tea/milk or watermelon juice or papaya juice. This prevents the craving for tea/coffee and also keeps the acidity down. It also prevents the unnecessary consumption of sweet biscuits.
Tip 2: Lunch like a Prince
Most people do not want to eat lunch for 3 reasons:
- They are very busy and usually skip the lunch hour.
- They feel very drowsy after lunch so they prefer to skip it.
- They do not enjoy eating out of packed Tiffin which mostly becomes cold.
For people who do not enjoy a packed Tiffin with cold rotis, it is better to carry food which tastes good in the cold form and yet is very filling and healthy like boiled channa chat, cold potato salad made with imli chutney or pudina chutney, stuffed masala idli, whole wheat sandwiches etc.
If your day has begun with a heavy breakfast then lunch can be comfortably skipped. You can just have a light snack like whole wheat sandwich or idli or dosa in the evening. But eating something for lunch, however small, is advisable as it helps you avoid overeating at dinner.
Tip 3: Dine like a Pauper
Heavy dinners, the bane of all of us living in the metro, can be prevented by couple of measures like:
- Not skipping lunch
- Eating a wholesome snack in the evening like idli, lassi etc
- Eating lots of salad, vegetables and perhaps a chapatti for dinner
- Dining heavy only on weekends
Apart from diet, regular mental and physical exercises coupled with sufficient sleep is also necessary. The much needed relaxation and energy thus gained will prepare you for the next day. Lastly small steps make a big difference hence, it is important to make ONE change every week and sticking to it.
