Food for thought - healthy food tips for business owners

You know the feeling. You’re pulling an all nighter because you’ve got something that needs to be done. Owners of small businesses and startups will undoubtedly recognise this scenario all too well. You're running on empty - and struggling to stay awake - time for a pick me up. You ask your business partner if he or she can run down to the petrol station and buy a bag of Krispy Cremes. You slog through and get what you need done - great or is it? Just because you are a stressed out business owner doesn’t excuse you from making poor eating decisions.

Now we aren’t saying you should be buying solely organic products or attempt to imitate the #cleaneating cult that populates most Instagram filters.  It is actually okay to have a pizza or a doughnut every so often to treat yourself. But, keeping healthy, is incredibly important - and maybe even more so when you are a business owner and you are facing constant daily challenges. So what are the best ways to keep up a healthy lifestyle when your days are jam packed with tasks, meetings etc…

Bring in healthy snacks

Pretty simply really, bring in snacks/pick me ups which are good for you. If you have an office populate it with dark fruit like blueberries when you have sweet cravings. Nuts such as almonds, walnuts and cashews are fantastic because they release energy off slowly - ensuring you have are powered throughout the day. Buying these items don’t require any planning, you can purchase all of this from most local supermarkets. So go and stash the crisps and chocolate away and bring out the healthier alternatives, and be fuelled the right way throughout the day.

Plan your meals for the week

In the same way that you plan out your week ahead for business related tasks you should apply the same methodology for your meals. Look at your schedule and think of how many meals you should plan in advance for your week. This will all depend on what is going on. If you have a manic week ahead it might be a good idea to get a few meals prepared and frozen in advance perhaps over the weekend when things are a bit more quiet. This will give you one less thing to worry about and more time to think about the hard slog you have coming up. There are some fantastic companies such as Hello Fresh and Gousto who provide raw ingredients along with recipes to give you the tools to create nutritious and delicious meals for your week ahead.

Embrace the good fat

The popular perception is that fats are bad, this is actually incorrect. We would not recommend eating just greens.There are plenty of good fat foods out there which are absolutely fine to eat. So don’t think you need to restrict yourself just because you want to have a healthier lifestyle. Some of the trendiest health foods out there are actually high fat foods. Whole eggs, nuts, cheese and the ‘social media darling’ avocado are all considered to be foods that are high in saturated fat. These are all excellent for any balanced diet (not to mention delicious as well). It’s vital that you incorporate as many good fats into your diet as possible. It will make healthy eating seem less like a chore and something to be enjoyed. When your time is precious the last thing you want to be doing is massively restricting your food choices.

Don’t skip meals!

There is absolutely no benefit to be had from skipping meals. No one is ever too busy to to have 3 meals a day and business owners and entrepreneurs are certainly no exception. That means breakfast is not to be skipped either. Most nutrition experts strongly warn against skipping meals as it increases tiredness and generally helps foster an unhealthy lifestyle. It is far more advantageous to you and your business to be in fine fettle and having a healthy lifestyle with regular meals will help enormously.

Regular exercise

If you want the healthy food to really benefit you then you need to complement this with regular exercise. There is nothing better then getting the blood flowing through regular cardiovascular training - not to mention that it's a great reason to pause your working day for a little bit. And when you have done your exercise why not use your nutribullet and make a delicious smoothie. You’ll find that you’ll be fit and firing for the ‘afternoon grind’.

We hope you enjoyed these healthy food tips to keep up with a healthy lifestyle. At Payzone, we're dedicated to supporting UK small to medium-sized businesses. Find out more about us and take a look at our card payment solutions.