At Fresh we work a lot and as such we need a lot of fuel to keep our creative juices flowing and maintain high-performance. Thankfully (or not) almost within arm’s reach of where the team sits is an open table chock full of Costco products – products as diverse as Easy Mac, Red Vines, Kirkland Signature Almonds, Fruit and Nut Medley, Sun Maid California Organic Raisins, Fruit by the Foot, Sweet Potato Terra Chips, Nature Valley Trail Mix Fruit Nut Bars, Orville Redenbacher Popcorn, Chocolate Macadamia Nut Clusters, Fun Size Candy Bars and an office favorite … Smuckers Uncrustables. If you haven’t tried those, you must(n’t).

You may be thinking that many of the aforementioned products are not that FRESH. Well, we feel the same. So in the spirit of freshening up our eating habits, we’ve come up with five simple suggestions for improving your eating habits so that you can perform to the best of your ability.

1. Eat Breakfast Instead

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eat a good breakfast in order to stay sharp and avoid daydreaming about lunch!

A 1998 from Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital on children from Philadelphia and Baltimore showed that children who regularly eat breakfast performed better in math, reduced hyperactivity, decreased absence and tardy rates, and improved psycho-social behaviors than children who did not.

Furthermore, you can even lose weight by eating breakfast. “90% of weight loss maintainers do not skip breakfast” according to a recent study by Richard Lipman M.D. who has been professionally dealing with weight and metabolic problems for 25 years.

For a wealth of other breakfast research and statistics read this article compiled by Mr. Breakfast himself.

If you are complaining that you and/or your family is just too busy for breakfast, it can be helpful to remember that you don’t really need to ‘cook’ anything. The following items don’t take much time and are easy to grab on the go:

• whole-grain bread
• whole-wheat English muffin
• low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt
• medium banana

Easy enough, right? For more quick healthy breakfast, read Quick Healthy Meals for Busy Families.

2. Bring Fresh Produce or Microwave-Ready Food

If you are still struggling to eat breakfast, consider bringing fruits or vegetables to work. In many offices (including our office!) shelves are filled with dried, canned, and/or frozen food. While it’s ok to eat those foods, do so occasionally, because it’s not really going to make a difference in helping you be healthier.

Some of you may not like to eat vegetables all by their lonesome. In that case, you can bring additional ingredients with you to work and heat them up in a microwave:

• Microwave tomato, mozzarella cheese, olive oil, and basil. Add chili beans for more volume.
• Microwave sliced potato, salt, and black pepper. Add cream cheese afterward.
• Microwave cabbage. Add sesame oil, sesame, and soup base.

Gathering additional ingredients in the morning is not only relatively easy, it makes for a delicious light lunch.

3. Stock Fresh Food at Office

If you are STILL struggling with suggestions one and two, it is highly likely that you are just too lazy to bring anything from home. In that case, you should consider stocking up on Fresh food in the office. You will have to bring in new arrays of Fresh food at least once a week otherwise you will smell it.

Roots of vegetables tend to last longer:

• Potato
• Onion (put in water before you eat if you want sweet taste)
• Carrots
• Green Onion

Wataer-rich and green vegetables tend to NOT last as long:

• Tomato
• Spinach

For fruits, citrus fruits and apples tend to last the longest.

4. Stock Canned / Frozen Food at Office

Even if you can’t stock up on fresh foods at your office, there is still a glimmer of hope. MyFoodDiary.com claims that canned or frozen food can be as nutritious as fresh produce, as long as you avoid canned fruit with syrup or canned vegetables that are skinless, you are good to go.

5. Just DO IT

Now, there are no excuses. Just try one of the four methods described above and stick to it if you want to stay smart and healthy. It will save you tons of money in health care costs down the road AND increase your salary as you outperform those not-so-fresh co-workers around you.

Any other Fresh tips and tricks for eating healthy? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Here are additional articles you might consider reading:

13 Things to Avoid When Changing Habits
Healthy Grocery Shopping Tips