Achieving a positive ‘work-life’ balance - where your career, social life and family life are all equally fulfilling - feels like the ultimate goal, right?
But what if we told you that the ‘work-life’ balancing act you’ve got your sights set on achieving may not be as satisfying if it doesn’t include a third component: food?
Molecular nutritionist, tells SBS we should all be aiming for the more holistic goal of achieving work-life-food balance. That’s because food is a key component that we all need to consider when creating a lifestyle that fulfils our mental, emotional and physical needs.
“If you're too busy at work or at home, it makes it a lot harder to make nourishing food choices,” says Dr Beckett, senior lecturer at the School of Environmental and Life Sciences.
“So it’s really important that we think about food and how it relates to our work-life balance, because your work, personal life and diet are all holistically interconnected. We usually don’t give ourselves enough credit or time to think about that.”
Time for holistic change
Achieving dietary balance is about eating well. But it’s also about deriving fulfilment from good food in a very personal way.
For some people, striking a healthy balance will enable them to work hard through the day and take a break to eat a nourishing lunch. Or, perhaps it could allow them the space to eat breakfast in a peaceful way prior to the start of an energetic day.
No matter how it applies to your life, dietary balance should sync your personal priorities of eating, working, tending to your family, socialising and having ‘me’ time so you feel well physically, emotionally and mentally.
“I don't want to guilt people and say things need to be perfect all the time, because they don't need to be,” says Dr Beckett. Sometimes we are busy and tired. We make a less than optimal food choice just to survive and meet work or personal life pressures. That’s okay.
“But long-term, what we ultimately want is more than just survival. We want to find a work-life-food balance that suits us so we can thrive.”
Balance your food needs with the realities of life
There's no one-size-fits-all solution to achieving dietary balance. But in general, Dr Beckett explains, it revolves around your relationship with food and your perception of eating.
“If you put too much pressure on your career or family life and view food as fuel to survive the day, or as a reward for getting through the day, then you’re not going to thrive physically, mentally or emotionally,” she says.
“Remember that food is an experience. We've got taste buds for a reason.”
We want to find a work-life-food balance that suits us so we can thrive.
Dr Beckett recommends considering these five elements when creating a personalised eating plan that enables you to ‘balance’ the food-related aspects of your wellbeing with the other parts of your life.
1. Think about your cultural values
“Our genetics, where we come from and how that influences what we find palatable, our religious practices and our traditional understanding of what food means will make a difference to what we prefer to eat and what balance means to us.”
So take the time to consider your cultural values but take note not to be overwhelmed by them.
2. Keep it simple
Culinary satisfaction doesn’t always require fancy food. “That's not necessarily where we all find joy in food. You can get nourishment out of simple, easy foods.
“For example, you could start the day with something easy and quick for breakfast like a high fibre cereal that you think tastes good. It's about eating wholesome meals that suit your day-to-day life.”
3. Routine v mindfulness
Some people will derive more pleasure from the food if they eat mindfully. But if that’s not you, don’t fret.
“For some, being very routine about their eating will work and provide satisfaction. For other people, the joy of eating is found in variety and spontaneity.”
Find what works for you and stick to it.
4. Time
The one thing that’s fixed in our life is time: we can’t create more of it. “So we need to make decisions about where we allocate that time, and in doing that, convenient food can sometimes be healthy food.”
Dr Beckett refers to frozen vegetables, canned beans and tomatoes, dried pasta and wholegrain bread as examples of time-saving healthy staples.
5. Eat what you love
“Diet culture wants to tell us that there is a right and wrong way of eating. So everyone agonises over which fruit, vegetable or wholegrain product they ‘should’ eat.
“But if you eat the fruits, vegetables and wholegrains you love, then eating well will be easier and you’re more likely to achieve a better work-life-food balance.
“So remember: it doesn’t matter which one you eat. Just eat the fruit, vegetables and wholegrains you love that fit in with your life and keep it simple. If you do that, everything else will fall into balance.”
