Two weeks ago I was invited to speak to a large team away day at Vodafone’s HQ in Newbury.
The theme for the day for them was well-being, and alongside an hour and a half of me chatting productivity, the team received a wealth of advice about everything from nutrition, to sleep, to exercise, to relaxation.
It was fantastic to experience the rest of the day as a ‘delegate’ (something of a rare pleasure for me!). Whilst there was lots of advice I’d heard before, there were some very powerful reinforcements for me. Not least, the idea that food containing anti-oxidants ‘displays itself’ with loud, vibrant colours saying, “eat me! I’m good for you!”.
In the couple of weeks since the event, I’ve found myself eating lots of healthy salads in the middle of the day. The great thing about salads is that they take only a few minutes to prepare and also are low in the kinds of carbohydrates that play havoc with your afternoon attention span.
My typical lunch now is tomato, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, avocado, beetroot, hummus and a few seeds. Occasionally I’ll add a bit of tuna or cheese or crisps just for a bit of variety. But basically, it’s all raw, all fresh, all available from your local greengrocers or supermarket and the only thing stopping you eating healthily like this is you.
I realised I was simply in the habit of going for pasta and carb-based lunches and all it took as a gentle prod to shift my habit. My afternoons in the office over the last couple of weeks have been a remarkable transformation: I’ve felt much more alert, had much better levels of proactive attention and get much more done.
Common sense… but just not that common.
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