There’s no doubt about it—maintaining healthy eating habits is a challenge. The temptations to devour sweet and savory snacks are there every day. If you’re not careful, your health goals can quickly be thrown off track. Perhaps nothing makes it more difficult than the 8-10 hours you spend at work each day. Office break rooms are often filled with snacks that are packed with sugar and fat. It takes an incredible amount of restraint to resist them.

But there’s good news for those trying to maintain healthier eating habits.

The growth of snack delivery services makes it easier for workplaces to provide employees with access to more nutritional foods. Having fresh fruit and low-fat snacks lying around the office is much better than traditional candy and chips. Nevertheless, maintaining proper eating habits is not easy. Here are five ways to keep you on track while in the office.

1. Eat a Good Breakfast

By now it’s common knowledge that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives your body the energy needed to get going and stay productive throughout the day. Skipping breakfast can throw your body’s rhythm of fasting and eating off-kilter, leading to overeating during the day. Probably not the best eating habit to develop. A good breakfast will also help regulate your metabolism.

2. Pack Your Lunch

Time is a commodity these days. There’s always a deadline to be met, which inevitably leads to a shortened lunch break. For many people that means fast food for lunch. And why not? It’s quick and relatively cheap. But talk about a bad idea if you’re trying to establish healthy eating habits. The solution is to pack your own lunch. Not will you be more inclined to prepare healthier meals for yourself, it’s also cheaper.

3. Eat Healthy Office Snacks

Healthy eating habits go beyond breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Most people snack throughout the day, and it does no good to munch on sugary, fatty foods. To ensure you don’t, you can bring your own snacks from home or have them delivered to your workplace through a snack delivery service.

4. Drink Healthier Beverages

Healthy eating habits include the beverages you drink as well. Consuming too many sugary drinks is perhaps even worse than unhealthy snacks because your brain doesn’t register the calories in the same manner. The fullness you get from food isn’t the same as the calories you get from beverages, so you end up consuming more calories overall.

This isn’t to say a refreshing can of Coca-Cola or Pepsi every now and then is terrible. It’s really a matter of moderation. Incorporating healthy beverages into your diet should not be overlooked. Some options include:

• Water
• Green Tea
• Coffee
• Sugar-Free Drinks

5. Keep a Food Journal

There are many benefits to keeping track of what you eat. A food journal not only can assist in your effort to lose weight, but it can provide insight into what foods agitate your digestive system or disrupt your sleep. For those trying to maintain healthy eating habits, a food journal keeps you focused and disciplined enough to help you reach your goals.

As the workplace continues to evolve in so many ways and so quickly it can seem difficult to keep up. Cultural and operational changes in recent years make the modern office hardly recognizable from its not-so-distant past. This includes the office break room. The days of boring wall art and clunky vending machines that might or might not steal your money are over. Your company break room can now be a source of inspiration. Here’s how:

Keep Employees Energized

Employees often use office break rooms to eat, whether it’s for lunch or a quick snack. (Shocking, we know.) But in all seriousness, the foundation of the modern break room rests on the ability to provide employees with a broader range of food and beverage products, which includes healthy snacks. Food that truly gives them energy versus a quick sugar rush only to be followed by a hard faceplant into the keyboard. Snack delivery services make this easily attainable.

Maintain Positive Levels of Morale

There are many elements that factor into improving morale in the workplace, but chief among them is sharing a sense of higher purpose with fellow colleagues. A welcoming and engaging office break room is the perfect place for employees to mix and mingle and share their enthusiasm for working towards a common goal.

Bold Design & Artwork

Have you ever been inspired by dull, neutral colors? What about those framed posters of mountains with the word “Inspiration” printed on the bottom? A bold approach to your break room design can have a positive impact on employees. Unique artwork often conjures up a sense of curiosity, while the right colors generate a feeling of enthusiasm.

Fosters Collaboration

Your office break room has a seemingly uncanny ability to bring people together. A common place where all employees are welcome–and actually like to be–can foster inter-departmental relationships, which may lead to stronger collaborative efforts among your employees.

As about one-third of our time is spent at work, we owe it to ourselves to have offices with comfortable spaces such as break rooms that not only provide a place to relax but offer a sense of inspiration.

Healthy snacks are all the rage these days and for good reason. With about 93 million Americans affected by obesity, one of the most common causes of Type 2 diabetes, poor eating habits are at the core of these and other health issues.

Many people seemed to have taken note.

Awareness of the positive impact a healthy lifestyle provides can be seen all around us. You can’t go anywhere without passing by a fitness club or yoga studio or seeing an advertisement for products or services meant to improve your health. 

But can eating healthy all the time be bad?

As it turns out, it can. Sort of. There is such a thing as eating too healthy. It’s called orthorexia. Though not an official diagnosis, some experts in the medical community recognize it as problematic and see similarities to other eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. 

Does this mean by offering just healthy snacks in your workplace will have an adverse effect on employees? No. Not at all. But is it terrible to induldge in the occasional candy bar or bag of chips? Nope.

What is important to consider is the variety and balance of snack products you offer in the office.

Why Balance Healthy Snacks & Junk Food in The Office?

Eating habits are largely a personal choice. It’s one thing to stock your own home with nothing but healthy snacks, but in the office there are other factors at play.

The diversity of the workplace is perhaps the biggest reason you want a good balance between healthy items and junk food. Not everyone is a health fanatic, and one employee’s definition of eating healthy could be different from another’s.

For example, some employees might eat as healthy as possible for their main meals and exercise routinely, but they allow themselves to snack on sweet and savory items throughout the day.

Furthermore, even if encouraging healthier eating habits are part of your company’s approach to employee wellness, it’s okay to provide a little candy or some cookies. 

And what of the stress factor? Sometimes the pressure is on at work and while a healthy snack can help you power through the day, sometimes you just want a cookie or piece of chocolate to get through the stressful moments.

What is a Good Balance?

It depends. Because of the diversity among employees vary from company to company, a balance of healthy snacks and junk food will be just as different. 

The best way to find out what ratio will work for your office is to ask your employees. A simple email or a survey will do. Just try to refrain from assuming what everyone will like, as doing so can lead to signing up for the wrong type of snack delivery service for your office.

Finding out what types of snacks your employees want will help you choose a snack program that offers the variety and balances of products your workplace needs. 

Office snack delivery services help busy managers save the time and hassle from grocery shopping for their offices. Right from your desk are dozens (hundreds, really) of snack and beverage options from which to choose. No wonder so many businesses are opting for this approach to providing snacks for employees.

But as many choices there are for products, there are seemingly as many options for delivery services. Which one should you choose? Which is the best snack delivery service for your office? Here are five options to help you decide.

1. Snack Nation

One of the core elements of Snack Nation’s snack boxes is variety and their focus on healthy items. They offer something for every preference or dietary need. Prefer low sodium snacks or need gluten-free products? Snack Nation can deliver.

Their pricing starts at $299/month per box, and there’s no contract needed. This is a great option for those looking for variety. However, it’s not a local service, so if you run out of a few items you’ll need to wait until your next box is delivered. They also don’t offer beverage options.

2. Instacart

Instacart is like grocery shopping from your desk. As a grocery delivery service, Instacart connects you with a local grocery store. One of their employees gets your order, does the shopping for you, then delivers the items to your office.

Instacart is good for those wanting fresh items in the office, like fruits or vegetables. Like Snack Nation, there’s no contract. But there are added fees per item purchased.

3. Urthbox

Urthbox is another snack delivery option for your office. This service has a large focus on non-GMO and organic products, which includes beverages.

The boxes they send are always filled with different items, so employees will have new options to try with each delivery. The downside to this, though, is not having control over the products you order. A box of 25+ snacks starts at $49.

4. InstaCandy

Sometimes you just need a tasty treat to satisfy your sweet tooth. If that’s what you’re after, InstaCandy is a good option. This delivery service provides, as you might have guessed, candy. All kinds of it.

InstaCandy delivers a box at the same time every month full of candy from around the world. It’s the 21st century version of the ol’ office candy jar!

5. Supply Wizards

Many snack delivery services lack the local distribution of products. With Supply Wizards, your office can order all the items it wants (by individual piece) and get them delivered by a local vending operator.

And not only with they deliver, but they can help stock your break room for you. Get the items you need fast with 1-2 business day delivery. There’s no contract to sign. Just create an account and start ordering!

Offering free snacks as a perk for employees is common practice these days. Workers enjoy the convenience and employers get more productivity since no one has to leave the office for a little nosh. A snack delivery service makes it even easier. With just a few clicks on your computer, you can have a wide variety of products delivered quickly.

The question is (with so many options), what do you choose? Obviously, you want only the best for your office so here are the top snacks to purchase for your break room.

Sweet Snacks

• Snickers
• Skittles
• Twizzlers
• M&M’s
• Starbursts
• Twix

Savory Snacks

• Doritos
• Baked Lays
• Fritos
• Pringles
• Pretzels

Granola Bars

• KIND Bars
• Nature Valley bars
• Nutri-Grain bars
• Quaker Chewy Bars

Healthy Snacks

• Chobani Yogurt
• Salads
• Fresh Fruit
• Vegetables
• Sabra Hummus (individual packs)

You get a greater variety of products with a snack delivery service and the convenience of ordering right from your office. With the Supply Wizards platform, you can order by the piece which eliminates having to store inventory somewhere and get 1-2 day delivery from a local supplier.

Putting together a break room for employees is no easy task. There’s an abundance of options to consider when it comes to designing a comfortable space for employees to seek short refuge from a busy workday. For example, buying the right break room furniture. It might seem like an easy thing to do. After all, it’s not your house you’re trying to decorate. It’s just the office break room, so whatever’s cheapest works, right?

Wrong. There is no *just* anything.

Not that cost isn’t important, but we’re talking about the place where your employees can gather, relax, and grab some office snacks. It helps them regroup after that stressful phone call or a long, data-filled meeting. Break rooms can enhance the workplace in ways you wouldn’t think of, such as increased engagement and productivity. In short, a well-designed break room can improve day-to-day operations within your office.

What to Consider When Buying Office Break Room Furniture

Before you jump into purchasing furniture too fast, take some time to consider what your specific needs are, such as:

• Price/Budget
• Spacing
• Style
• Comfort

You’re better off taking your time with your buying decision to make sure you get exactly what you want. To help with this process, get the whole office involved. Have everyone vote on the break room furniture you want to buy. It’ll make things easier on you and make employees feel valued.

7 Online Sources to Buy Break Room Furniture

1. National Business Furniture

Since 1975, NBF has been providing office furniture for a variety of businesses and institutions. In addition to furniture, they also provide free office space planning. All of their products are backed by a lifetime guarantee.

2. Wayfair

Although Wayfair’s specialties lie within the home decor category, they are also another great online source for break room and office furniture.

3. Officefurniture.com

Officefurniture.com is an NBF company offering a full range of furniture for offices an break rooms.

4. Office Depot

If you’re on a budget or looking for something more practical, Office Depot/Office Max is a great source for folding tables and chairs.

5. Amazon

What doesn’t Amazon sell, right?

6. Worthington Direct

Worthington Direct’s specialties include church and school furniture, so if you’re looking for items with a little more flare, this could be a good source.

7. Staples

Staples has plenty more to offer than just, well, staples. Check out their website for your break room furniture needs.

Now that summer has (unofficially) begun, it’s time to ask your office coffee service about adding some cold options to the regular mix of coffee products. But before you put in the request, do your employees prefer cold brew or iced coffee?

Cold Brew vs. Iced Coffee: What’s the Difference?

The short answer is that cold brew is made without any heat at all, while iced coffee is made the same way as regular hot coffee, except that it’s cooled and then poured over ice.

But that’s just the difference in how they’re made. What makes them different from each other is the taste, which is determined by the temperature of the water while brewing the coffee.

How Temperature Affects Coffee Flavor

A regular cup of hot coffee is typically brewed between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, more acid and solubles are extracted, which gives coffee its light and floral notes. So when making iced coffee (that is, pouring regular coffee over ice), it tastes similar to hot coffee, but it’s cold.

With cold brew coffee, the acidity levels are much lower because the water isn’t hot enough to extract the same amount as a hot cup. This decrease, however, means that more grounds are needed to make the coffee taste just as good.

Two Ways Cold Brew Coffee Is Made

There are two ways cold brew coffee is made: immersion and slow drip.

• Immersion: This process involves steeping ground beans for 12-24 hours, and is better for home brewing as it is a simpler process.
• Slow drip: Although faster, 3-5 hours, this process is more expensive due to the equipment needed. Ice water is dripped onto ground beans then collected in a carafe underneath.

Compared to cold brew, iced coffee is a lot easier to make. The good news is that both cold brew and iced coffee should be available through your local office coffee service, so you can have it delivered right to your office. You just need to do a quick survey to determine which kind is more popular among your employees.