Workplace Ideas to Celebrate Nutrition and Hydration Week

National Nutrition and Hydration Week might be months away, but it won’t hurt to pursue inspiration and be prepared ahead of time.

If you are searching for creative ideas to celebrate the event with your team, friends, and co-workers, we’ve prepared a list of recommendations that shouldn’t take too much time or effort to complete, so let’s start from the top.

1. Share Nutritional Meal Recipes with Co-workers

You don’t have to wait for March to bring a wholesome atmosphere to the upcoming Nutrition and Hydration Week. Even months before it starts, you can share some of your favourite nutritional meal recipes with friends, and possibly inspire them to adopt a healthier diet plan.

Whether it be a simple zucchini pasta, a hearty fruit salad, baked fish with some spinach on the side, or something as basic as a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, you can start fostering nutritional habits in your co-workers so that Nutrition & Hydration Week has additional reasons for celebration.

2. Petition to Install Additional Water Dispensers

There aren’t any strict laws that would mandate businesses to have a predetermined number of water dispensers per room, floor, or entire facility.

Regardless of where you work, the chances are that the firm is faced with a water dispenser shortage, so you may want to organise with your colleagues and petition to have more units installed.

Consider contacting Aqua Libra if you need a UK-based provider of pristinely clear water in all shapes and sizes. From installing and maintaining hydration stations to delivering more comprehensive Aqua Link systems that can cover large spaces, there’s something for everyone.

3. Set Hydration Goals & Milestones

According to the latest research by the Mayo Clinic, most adults should drink between 12 and 15 cups of water, or between 3 and 3.5 liters each day. However, most people don’t hydrate properly for various reasons, such as busy schedules or poor hydration habits.

What you can do to ablaze the spirit of Nutrition & Hydration Week is collaborate with your colleagues on setting hydration goals and milestones. This can be something as simple as carrying a water bottle and refilling it every few hours, drinking a cup of water together on every lunch break, or casually socializing by the water tank (as it may inspire thirstiness).

4. Shop Nutritional Snacks As a Group Before Heading to Work

One of the simplest ways you can contribute to creating a meaningful Nutrition and Hydration Week is to organise your co-workers in a group snack-shopping effort.

If you’re all commuting from different areas, you can set a store nearest to your office as the starting point. Stock up on smoothies, nut packs, popcorn, energy bars, bananas, and almonds, and you’ll each have a solid nutritional bump readily available when you reach the workplace.

If you don’t mind putting in the extra effort, you can even organise a snack cook-out session before the week starts. Look for kale chips, hummus, and string cheese recipes, as these boast immense nutritional value while being equally tasty.

5. Inspire Vegan Friends to Lead the Charge

While many mainstream snacks and popular recipes contain at least some gluten or meat content, there are hundreds of delicious vegan meals that can pump the group with a hearty dose of nutrition.

If you’re not a vegan personally, you may want to ask any colleagues if they might be and if they’d be interested in hosting a vegan-only day of the upcoming Nutrition and Hydration Week.

From whole grain trail mixes and rice cakes to veggie-stuffed humus and plant-based smoothies, you’d be surprised by how many savoury easy-to-make veggie meals exist.

Not only will you foster a more inclusive workplace environment this way, but you’ll also have an opportunity to learn more about vegan culture.

6. Download Nutrition Tracker Apps and Set Week-long Nutrition Benchmarks

Countless free nutrition trackers are available on Google Play and Apple App Store, such as MyFitnessPal, Lifesum, Fooducate, and Calorie Counter. Take some time before the Week begins to test some of them and propose to your team that they download the same application.

With everybody on board, you can set unique nutrition benchmarks for each day of Nutrition and Hydration Week.

For example, you can start the Week with a Whole Foods Day, enjoying whole oats, fish, veggies, beans, and eggs. On the following day, try reaching the target nutrition level with plant-based meals only, so dip into rice salads, bean pasta, and fruit salads to your heart’s content.

7. Host a Nutrition & Hydration Awareness Event

Although many people celebrate Nutrition & Hydration Week between the 12th and 18th of March, some might not be aware of it. Hosting an Awareness Event at your workplace may encourage some of your colleagues, especially from different teams that you might not know too well personally, to participate.

The Awareness Event is particularly important if you’re working in an inclusive and diverse environment where people from different backgrounds or countries might be working.

8. Host Taste Testing Contests

Various forms of taste-testing challenges are hosted in cooking shows like MasterChef or Chopped, so you can draw inspiration from them to host a unique event at your workplace when Nutrition & Hydration Week begins.

If possible, you can try hosting a cook-out session and have the participant taste the meals while blindfolded to determine which ingredients were used. If not, you can simply put a variety of snacks, whole foods, and chopped fruits & veggies into a bag, spice them a bit to diminish the original taste, and have your co-workers take turns guessing the flavour.

Conclusion

It’s important to stay hydrated and stocked on nutrients at all times, not just one week per year. That’s why most of our recommendations revolve around practical tips that can be deployed before, during, and after the Week.

Stay creative, stay hydrated, and keep an open mind to improvise when Nutrition & Hydration Week begins, but most importantly, have fun and strive to uplift your co-workers so that the event kicks off and retains a wholesome atmosphere.

Bio: Emilia Jacobs is Innovation Lead at Connect Vending, delivering innovative food and beverage solutions to organisations all over the UK