Just eat real food – and don’t go hungry!
These key principles provide a strong foundation for well-being through nutrition, which itself is one of the 5 key contributors to a long life (the others being exercise, no smoking, sleep, controlling stress, and…love). So we learned from Dr Brendan Egan, at the first 2468 Well-being workshops for our own team in Dunboyne, Basingstoke and Warrington earlier this year.
As well as being associate Professor in Health & Human Performance at DCU, Brendan has worked as nutritional advisor for Leinster Rugby and Dublin county GAA panel. He’s also a keen sportsman himself, playing intercounty GAA Football for Sligo and at club level for St Vincents. As he explained himself, he finds that his expertise being called on by the corporate world more and more as organisations realise that their people’s performance can be driven – or damaged – by how they eat as much as on the playing field.
Brendan’s talk was highly practical, providing key steps and guidelines for making healthier choices in our daily lives – be those days desk based, in manual role, or on the road. He suggests that we make clever choices guided by basic principles like Just Eat Real Food (such as your grandmother would recognise), starting the day well with protein and ‘better’ carbs, and keeping an eye on calories. Hydration naturally is important, as we at 2468 know, up to 2L per adult will help prevent thirst being mistaken for hunger and the ill effects of dehydration.
It’s a fact that eating affects performance, daily. But more compelling is the connection between diet – and long life. In fact, by making better choices daily, we can help reduce the risk of chronic disease by a whopping 80%.
The 2468 Wellbeing Workshop is designed to be, above all else, practical. As Brendan acknowledged, we know that turning around a diet isn’t necessarily easy. This is about making small changes, starting with for example one meal and adjusting it to feature healthier non-processed nutritious food. With such small gains we can build momentum, and with momentum come larger gains – and ultimately new habits.
We spend 80% of our waking lives at work, so healthy eating during and after working days translates to healthier eating for life – which translates to healthier happier lives.
Brendan recommends aiming for healthier eating 90% of the time. He’s a realist, ultimately, and knows that everyone needs and deserves a treat once in a while. After all what’s life and well-being without a little joy?
For more information on how 2468 can help your company support your employee well-being through nutritional content, programmes and healthier snacking solutions, just get in touch with us here.
