Workplace Wellness Tips

To maintain energy and focus throughout the morning it’s important to start your day with a nutritious breakfast.

Try our 5+ A Day breakfast ideas:

• Grate an apple or pear into porridge, mix mashed banana or other fruit puree through cooked porridge.
• Slice bananas into cereal. Try adding peaches, berries and kiwifruit when in season
• Freeze bananas and blend with low fat milk, yogurt or fruit juice to make a smoothie. Peaches, berries, apples, pears and kiwifruit also work well
• Slice tomatoes, cooked mushrooms or bananas onto wholemeal toast

• Add chopped vegetables like peppers, onion, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms or tomatoes to omelettes or scrambled eggs
• Spread peanut butter on wholemeal bread and roll it around a banana
• Add peaches, apples, berries or bananas to your pancakes or pikelet batter

Take every opportunity to include fresh fruit and vegetables in your day to maximise health benefits. Check out our Facts & Tips and ideas for a 5+ A Day Workplace below:

• Sponsor a healthy morning tea
• Arrange a workplace fruit delivery (for Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch fruit deliveries visit Produce Pronto)
• Hold a healthy shared lunch once a month and offer 5+ A Day recipe suggestions
• Encourage employees to bring a healthy lunch from home
• Order 5+ A Day resources for inspiration
• Run events that promote healthy eating, e.g. cooking challenges
• Create a work herb garden - vertical gardens are great for small spaces
• Download our Workplace Wellness Recipe booklet here

Creating a supportive environment for staff contributes to improved morale. Consider ways that may improve your work areas:

• Improve the physical environment with plants
• Enable social interactions for colleagues
• Make the lunch room appealing – hang colourful 5+ A Day posters on the walls
• Introduce policies of eating in a communal place rather than at desks

Encouraging a culture of physical activity provides physical and mental health benefits. These include improved energy, posture, healthy weight and decreased stress levels. Increasing physical activity also reduces the risk of some cancers, depression, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity. If jobs within your organisation are sedentary roles, try some of the following ideas to get your workforce moving:

• In an office environment, place the printers away from computers so you walk to pick up your printing
• Encourage short breaks outdoors
• Provide ‘standing desks’
• Use the stairs instead of lifts
• Use Swiss balls instead of chairs
• Organise lunch-time walking groups
• Enter teams in organised sporting events
• Allow flexible working hours to allow for physical activity before or after work

Water is essential to good health. Drinking enough water can help energise us, prevent headaches, maintain a healthy weight, keep our digestive system regular and many more benefits! Consuming water throughout your workday can be easy:

• Install filtered water coolers in the workplace
• Provide company water bottles for workers
• Eat your water – fruit and vegetables contain up to 95% water plus the added vitamin and mineral benefits fresh produce offer
• Take regular water breaks
• In office settings, provide water jugs so sliced lemon and herbs can be used to make infused water
• Offer herbal teas in addition to regular tea and coffee