No one is forcing you to take a lunch. No government agency is going to fine you–as a self employed person–if your only employee (you) doesn’t take their lunch break. There are so many days where I forget to eat until I am past the point of no return. Or I eat lunch while working because, “I have so much work to do.”

It’s easy when you are self employed to get so focused on your work that you just forget to eat. It sounds silly, forget to eat? What? But I do it all the time. I like my work so much that I just get wrapped up in it. Or even in school, I would get so entrenched in a project that the hours would slip away.  Just stop it. Work, even work you love, isn’t more important than eating your lunch. That’s my challenge to you.

As one self employed person to another, take your lunch break. Take an hour! Take no less than 30 minutes. Trust me. It helps keep my energy up and focused throughout the day. It actually helps my daily productivity vs. cutting in to it.

For me, it makes a huge difference. If I don’t have my lunch packed, I’ll end up not eating enough or getting some quick crap food or not eating enough. This leads to feeling more tired, being cranky, and not doing quality work (cranky+tired=crappy work). It is so important to eat healthy. I know, you hear that all the time. But seriously, it is SO important.

It’s a three part deal: pack a great lunch + plenty of snacks + take time to eat them = more productive happier me (and you!). Promise.

It’s easy to get in an endless cycle of “not enough time.” I have finally come to the point where I have put on the brakes and started thinking about food in terms of quality of life.

If I am running here and there without taking time to pack lunch and eat lunch, what’s my quality of life really like? Is that what I really want for myself?

If I say “I don’t have time to eat” every day, what is that saying about my priorities in life? How is that effecting my health? What’s so important that makes me shovel crap into body or skip lunch all together?  The truth is that nothing is.

I remember the days when I was giving myself 10 minutes to eat lunch or dinner at work, or eating standing up, or eating while working. No more. Screw that. I realized that even though I am self employed, I am still scarfing down my food like when I was working at Old Navy. I had 10 minutes to eat and use the restroom. So now I’m scheduling a 45 minute lunch break each day. I step away from the computer and I eat slowly. I enjoy the food I’ve prepared. I rest. I recharge. Then I tackle that mile long to do list. I hope you will try to start doing the same.

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Two weeks ago I posted about making meal plans. I have to say, that is the first huge step to keeping your healthy eating on track.  I explained how I map out my meal plan and asked how everyone maps out their meals. There are a a few really great comments that are worth reading for ideas + you can add your two cents.
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Happy crafting and happy lunch breaks!
Kristin