Health Breaks Not Lunch Breaks
Ditch the lunch break and take a health break instead.
Humans consume everything. We inhale food like its air, often the kind that hurts us, or worse, that we don’t even really like just so long as it fills us. The need to fill a void that runs deeper and deeper in our lives is powerful and eventually consumes us.
To that end, we don’t need a dedicated time for lunch— we’re adept at fitting food in at any moment, for any excuse, and we’re experts at eating while mindlessly consuming equally unfulfilling content, whether by requirement or out of habit.
What we really need for our break in the day is to tend to our health needs. Instead of calling it a lunch break, we need to start thinking of it as a Health Break, and start using that time period to do things that are specifically for our health.
Ideas for a 30–45 minute Health Break:
- Walking: the most straightforward and least complicated of the options. Spend time walking in nature if you can, otherwise drown out the noisy world with a podcast or an audiobook.
- Running: while I’m not the prettiest sight as a runner (I turn bright red and my nose constantly runs — masks are a great if not disgusting accessory), a 30 minute run leaves enough time for a 5 minute cool off and a shower before getting back to work.
- Rowing: probably my all-time favorite, I love the efficiency of cardio and strength-training all in one. As with running, though, I keep it to shorter 30 minute sessions focused on intensity to leave me time enough for a quick shower.
- Kettlebell exercises: strength training is so important for everyone because it really is a matter of use it or lose it, and the midday break period is perfect for lifting. I chose the kettlebell specifically because you can do so many exercises with a single piece of equipment that is easy to stow just about anywhere. I have a line of the different kettlebell weights I’ve progressed through, but you don’t have to have any more than one.
- Body weight exercises: think push-ups, lunges, planks, and the like. Strength and core conditioning are great focus points when trying to keep the health break activities short and sweet.
- Yoga: if you have a physically taxing job already, take the time to relax some of those tensed up muscles. Stretch away the craze. Elasticize your body. Get some blood flow to the brain and remember to breathe.
- Meditation: sometimes what we really need for a health break is to do nothing. Technically you’re still doing something when meditating, but the difference is that you’re actively practicing mindfulness and focus to combat the chronic hopping around from one distraction to another. Remember that with meditation it’s perfectly normal for random thoughts to keep popping up. The point is to acknowledge the thought exists then let it go without judgement. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
- Reading: with an actual book or a dedicated eReader that doesn’t have you popping from app to app. Like yoga and meditation, sometimes what you really need is to escape from all the things you do on a regular basis — work tasks, interruptions via text or phone calls, social media, news, and so on. Diving into a book or a long-form essay shuts out all the chaos and gives your brain a chance to focus deeply.
Here in the U.S., people like to wax on about how the French take leisurely two hour lunch breaks and how we should follow suit, but when it comes down to it, most people spend their current allotment staring at their phones, mindlessly scrolling. The only thing they’d get adding more time to the break is more time wasted on social media and news feeds. A better habit is to take that hour, or for many people, the half hour, and use it in a way that is both mindful and completely different from the work setting.
For the work-from-home crew, this means getting up and out of your work space whether it’s your dedicated office or the kitchen table. For those still at in-person positions, get away from your desk, out of your car, and steer clear of the depressing break room. If you can’t bear to move another inch, pick up a book or simply shut your eyes and go inward, center yourself.
In the midst of a pandemic, “go outside” is more than a mantra or the desperate plea of tired parents. It’s also an opportunity to escape. Put your (fun) shoes on and go play for a bit. You’ll always, always find a time, place, or excuse to eat. You have to make room for your health.
