Nutrition Tips For Working Women

We just celebrated Mothers’ Day last week, saluting mothers worldwide for dedicating themselves to raising a family and running their homes.

The lockdown due to the global pandemic has led to several women working from home, apart from handling household chores and managing their family life simultaneously. Juggling so many things together often becomes very stressful, and they are often unable to spare enough time for themselves to relax and unwind.

Read Also| Diet Tips To Battle Anemia

Stress is a part and parcel of everyone’s life. But excess stress can have a negative impact on both physical and emotional health. Anxiety, restlessness, headaches, lack of focus from work,
irritable bowel syndrome, etc. are some of the common manifestations of excessive stress. Coupled with stress, not following a proper dietary routine can also contribute to more health issues, thus affecting overall wellbeing .

Having a balanced diet and managing stress are the key points to a healthy life for all, including working women. These healthy habits, if developed over time, will help an individual achieve a healthier self.

DIET

A healthy diet is essential to keep ourselves fit and boost immunity, especially in these troubled times. Bringing positive changes in our diet and following some basic dietary rules can do wonders to our health. Here’s a few simple tips:

Never skip breakfast: Ensure breakfast is your largest meal of the day. It helps the body to jump start the metabolism. A sumptuous breakfast comprising carbs, proteins and fruits is highly recommended for good health.

Do not skip meals: We often tend to skip meals due to our hectic schedules. This is not a healthy habit, as skipping of meals leads to slowing down of our body’s metabolism, eventually leading to unhealthy weight gain. Therefore, we should always make it a point to eat at regular times.

Eat small but frequent meals: Eating meals every 2.5 to 3 hours helps in digesting food uniformly, and prevents us from overeating.

Drink plenty of water:  Water accounts for about 2/3 of the weight of the human body. Drinking about 2 to 2.5 litres of water per day keeps not only keeps us well-hydrated, it also helps in detoxifying the body.

Don’t avoid fats in diet: Our body needs fats for optimal metabolism. Nuts, flax seeds, olive oil, Sesame oil etc. are good sources of fats.

Include fruits and vegetables in your diet: Eating fresh fruits and vegetables regularly provides antioxidants to our body, which also help relieve stress. Natural stress busters include citrus
fruits, amla and guava; nuts such as almonds and walnuts; oily fish rich in omega-3 and raw vegetables like lettuce, carrot, cucumber and tomato.

Cut down your sugar intake: Consuming foods with high sugar content poses a threat to our health. Reducing consumption of sugar-rich items such as cookies, pastries, cakes, colas and health drinks is highly recommended by dieticians and nutritionists.

Consume foods rich in proteins: Proteins are considered to be the ‘building blocks’ of life, that help our bones and tissues become healthy. Therefore foods rich in protein, such as meat, fish,
milk and milk products, and pulses such as dal, chana, beans etc., should be included in our regular diet.

MANAGE STRESS

Managing stress in a constructive way can help boost our mood. It can also have a positive impact on our health, thus preventing us from being susceptible to illness. Here are a few helpful tips to combat stress:

1.Regular yoga and meditation can be really helpful in relieving stress. It also helps the mind to focus.

2. Exercising regularly promotes physical stamina. It is also great stress reducer.

3. Breathing exercise is a common relaxation technique Beginners can start with simple deep breathing exercises.

4. Maintain a positive attitude and approach towards life