The new normal has forced so many things to shift online that now it seems as if working from home and ordering online grocery delivery in Karachi is the way things were always meant to be done. Working from home naturally has its own joys and perils, while we continue to walk down this uncertain terrain new challenges and solutions begin to appear before us. We don’t have to wear pants to get our work done, point taken, but what about the toll staying indoors takes on our mental health. Many of us outgoing and sociable types feel claustrophobic when we are stuck indoors and several others feel they are developing unhealthy eating habits because it is much more convenient to do so while they are working from home.

It is easy for our brain’s reward system to associate the resolution of all our work problems with snacking between tasks since we are isolated, bored and close to the fridge. Mindful eating becomes really important in such a situation as opportunities to go out and engage in physical activities are already limited and overeating can lead to massive health risks that nobody wants. One basic tip for eating mindfully is to start planning your meals ahead of time. Being close to the kitchen is amongst some of the basic drawbacks of working from home because you are more likely to take food preparation lightly. Once your desk is full with all sorts of tasks you probably won’t have enough time to whip up something and you will end up either eating a prepackaged processed food item or skipping a meal altogether. This will obviously mark the demise of a healthy diet plan or your mindful eating habit.

Strategic roadmap to eating mindfully

Most people who have been working remotely are familiar with this situation. We don’t pack lunch boxes these days because we don’t really leave the house but work is usually so crazy that we rarely get a chance to take a breather and think about food in advance. You can overcome this by preparing yourself for the entire week’s diet plan over the weekend. Buy groceries online in Karachi on Saturday or Sunday and also plan your menu according to the diet plan that goes with your health goals. You can take this even farther by working out what you want for breakfast, lunch and dinner for each of the days. You can batch cook gravies and dishes that you can then divide into separate meals. Similarly, you can also prepare healthy snacks in all sorts of varieties with their utility in mind. The future and its contingencies will become really easy to confront if you have covered everything beforehand, like cutting up vegetables in the morning to be used all day – as snacks, for making omelets and any other dishes.

Smaller portions mean smaller dietary problems

Several dieticians recommend that you should eat smaller portions throughout the entire day especially if you feel hungry quite often. This can be a great help for remote workers because most of the time the only reason for unwanted appetite is either boredom or easy availability of food. Portion control can lead to health benefits like regulating your metabolism, appetite control, etc. but more importantly for people working from home it can really help you stay conscious and mindful of what you eat. If you feel lost with regards to the starting point, just cut back the portions for your lunch and breakfast. You can move on to adding a few snacks for the day after that because of the extra room while making sure that they are healthy. For instance, grab a fruit or some vegetables an hour or two after each of the meals so you don’t starve yourself while reducing portions. Another easy way of controlling your portions is to get the right utensils, dishes, containers and cutlery. The smaller ones you have the more reinforcement there will be for your brain to register that you have had your fill.

We don’t always realize this but more often than not we are only snacking out of restlessness. When our tasks seem unrewarding and work seems to hit a dead-end we normally socialize or look at the plight of our fellow colleagues at the office to blow off some steam. But that is no longer an option while we continue to work from home and the frustration piles on. An easy solution to this is to take your mind off of work and get a proper break. You can take a walk down the block to improve your blood circulation and get some fresh air, the change of visuals is also likely to break your mental inertia. You can also try meditation, yoga or simply to read a book for a few minutes.