The change in routines that usually accompanies the summer season is synonymous, in many cases, with a certain relaxation in dietary habits and a greater consumption of foods of low nutritional value linked to moments of leisure.
Given that many people continue to work from home at a time when uncertainty is still part of our daily lives, the risk of impulsive and disorderly eating between meals increases: in many cases, not so much because there is a physiological need , but to calm emotions such as sadness, boredom, anger, anger or anxiety.
For this reason, it is important to take into account certain guidelines to continue taking care of our digestive well-being in the hottest months of the year: try not to eat in front of the computer while teleworking, plan the meals of the week, cook in advance, avoid foods of low nutritional profile and highly caloric, and bet on healthy alternatives when enjoying a snack.
In this sense, a recent study carried out by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) showed that staying longer at home was the main cause that had led 37% of Spaniards to eat more than usual. Behind this data is the fact of continually having food within reach together with a poor management of anxiety, uncertainty or boredom. This is known as ’emotional hunger’: a sensation that leads to impulsive eating, often high-calorie foods with little nutritional value, to try to calm an emotional conflict.
Precisely, the risk of eating impulsively as a result of certain emotions is closely linked to the rise of teleworking, and is aggravated when there is a sedentary behavior, as pointed out by the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN). And it is that, to the problem of eating between meals, is added the lack of physical activity due to the reduction in trips to the workplace, which could cause, according to this organization, an increase in people suffering from obesity and the appearance of numerous health problems, such as diabetes or hypertension.
“Maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes a varied and balanced diet, adequate rest and regular physical activity is more important than ever, also in summer and during vacations. In many cases, the summer season is synonymous with a certain relaxation in our habits.If we add to this a reduction in mobility as a result of remote work, and that many people have difficulties living with uncertainty, we can be tempted to eat between hours of work. Therefore, it is convenient to follow a series of guidelines that help us maintain our digestive well-being in summer, learning to choose and plan meals in a healthy way,” says Dr. María Sánchez, e-Health Medical Manager at Cigna Spain.
Tips to improve our dietary habits this summer
1. Take care of the environment while teleworking
If you want to respect the meal schedule, it is very important to avoid eating in the space provided for work. This will make it easier to establish breaks in the working day coinciding with the hours to have a healthy snack and do it where appropriate, be it at the dining room table or in the kitchen.
2. Menu planning
The best thing to avoid falling into inappropriate dietary habits is to establish a weekly plan with the daily menu and its schedule, including lunches and snacks in the list. In general, it is recommended to eat five times a day, with three main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and two snacks between each of them. Having a well-planned menu will avoid feeling hunger spikes between meals.
3. Cook ahead
If at mealtime it takes a long time to prepare a recipe, it is easy for the variety on the menu to suffer. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare the dishes in advance to eat at the scheduled time, calmly, and enjoying a healthy variety.
4. During the purchase
bet on healthy foods, try to go to the supermarket without hunger and set a budget. One of the main tricks to avoid bad eating habits is to buy healthy. To achieve this, it is very important to go to the supermarket without hunger, detail on a list what you want to buy and define a budget. In this way, unnecessary or unhealthy purchases will not be made.
5. Change activities if hunger strikes
Get up from your chair and move around, stretch, practice some relaxation exercises… The goal is to distract your mind and occupy your time with other activities. Yoga is also very useful in these cases. A study published by The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity3 showed that practicing it daily helps lower cortisol levels in the body, the so-called ‘stress hormone’, making us less vulnerable to peaks of emotional hunger.
6. Look for healthy alternatives or satiating foods
If you really feel the need to eat something, there are plenty of healthy and delicious alternatives to choose from: fresh fruit, raw or roasted nuts without salt, natural yogurt, gherkins and pickles, fresh cheese, vegetable sticks (carrots, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, etc.) or small wholemeal bread sandwiches with avocado, hummus, turkey… Likewise, you can opt for satiating foods that prevent you from eating more than necessary between meals. This is the case with apples, bananas, sugar-free dairy products, or high-fiber foods. Everything that is ingested is recommended to be previously separated in a bowl or plate, thus avoiding overeating.
How should the menu be in summer?
During the summer, habits change and food too. For this reason, it is important to always bet on a healthy and balanced menu that adapts to the summer context. This must include a minimum of 3 servings of fruit per day, 2 servings of vegetables per day, 3 or 4 servings of dairy products per day, 2 or 3 servings of legumes per week and 3 or 4 servings of fish (varying between white and blue), also weekly. In addition, the intake of cereals, preferably whole grains, and 3 or 4 eggs a week should be taken into account. It is also recommended that you include the frequent consumption of lean meats, limiting the consumption of red meat, water as the main drink, the use of olive oil (if possible extra virgin) to cook and season the dishes, and the consumption of fruits dried daily. In this way, the energy and nutritional contribution necessary to face these months will be achieved, avoiding being overweight.
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