Welcome to the Snackwize Blog!

Australia is a country of snackers. In fact, a report from the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) found that two-thirds of residents snack between meals.

Your office is probably very diverse with people from all areas of the country or world. Everyone is truly an individual. There are different personalities, motivators, and preferences for each employee. Just as each employee is unique in what they do and how they do it, many have unique dietary needs, too.

As an employer, you should assist your workers that travel for the benefit of the company. These employees are sacrificing time with their family to support the company. You should help them make better decisions when it comes to what they eat and what they do as a traveller.

The shift from only eating once a day to the carefully prescribed three meals a day took thousands of years to change. But just in the past few decades three meals a day has become much more flexible with snacks becoming a big part of modern eating.

When thinking about employee wellbeing, two major points are always front and centre: nutrition and health. To completely integrate these into your workplace culture, it’s important to step back and look at the entire ecosystem.

Every year on April 7, World Health Day, developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is celebrated. While it only marks one day on the calendar, it's philosophy should be considered every day of the year.

National Heart Week is more than seven days of education and focus on this vital organ. It’s a time to really consider how you treat your heart.

Being educated about snacking allows you to make better choices, and if you are responsible for building a healthy workplace, these tips and ideas can help you get your staff on board.

Planning an office breakfast, lunch or meeting? You may think you have few choices that both fit your budget and are healthy. Your regular go-to's may be pizza and doughnuts, which are cheap and easy. They are also some of the worst things you can feed your staff. These high sugar carbs lead to glucose crashes that may make people fill weak and irritable, which is not the outcome you want for your staff.

Healthy snacking in the workplace is something that does more than just feed your employees.

The vending machine represents convenience, but does it really offer healthy snacking? 

Healthy employees are happier and more productive. It only makes sense that if they feel good, they will be more engaged and thus deliver better work. As a company that cares about employee health, you know that participation in a wellness plan is a key to success.

Creating a healthy and engaged workplace is the ideal way to create a happy workforce. Read on to find some great starter suggestions from Snackwize!

We love to snack here at SnackWize. So much so that we built an entire business around it.

It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. And that includes the really difficult job of sourcing and taste-testing some great new products to launch this December. We scoured the globe to find the healthiest, most delicious snacks around. Say goodbye to the 3pm slump/bloat/hanger. You’re welcome.

Expect to find some of the following goodies in your subscription box this month…

More and more it feels like exercise is as complicated as rocket science. There are so many classes and protein bars and new styles of activewear. But living well and staying healthy is as simple as two words: bodyweight training.

So, are you looking for a way to gain in strength, boost cardio fitness and burn fat? Let us introduce you to all the reasons why you’ll love bodyweight training.

There’s so much advice out there about how to be more productive at work. But our mental health is just as important as how many meetings we can squeeze into one day, or how quickly we can file that report.

So instead of focusing on getting more done, why not put a bit of focus into ways to be happy at work. After all, there is a whole lot of research to suggest that a happy employee is a productive employee.

Here are 10 ways to be happier at the office – from things you can do today to things you should implement within the month.

We firmly believe everyone should eat more nuts.

Of course, we’re not talking about the salted peanuts you have with your beer. We’re talking about raw nuts like hazelnuts, macadamias, Brazil nuts, pistachios, pecans, cashews, almonds and walnuts. All have been proven to provide significant benefits to your health.

Here’s why we’re nuts for nuts...

Office parties. Christmas parties. Going away parties. New Years’ parties. Christmas Lunch. Christmas Dinner.

The silly season is full of opportunities to catch up with friends, family and yourself. But it’s also tricky to cope with all the overindulgence, late nights and morning-after blues.

That doesn’t mean you have to lock yourself away until mid-January. It just means a little preparation is in order to keep your good habits in place. Here are our top five tips for staying healthy during the silly season.

Hopefully it goes without saying that cigarettes and sun damage make you older (well done for diligently quitting and putting on sunscreen!). And in order to preserve your youth, you might be hitting the gym, eating lots of salmon and taking your vitamins.

But if you’re trying to slow down the clock, don’t overlook these daily habits that might be sabotaging your efforts.

Several years ago, The New York Times reported that a typical office worker gets interrupted every 11 minutes – yet it takes nearly half an hour to get back to what they were doing.

You’re probably not that surprised.

Between phone calls and emails and meetings and phones that buzz and computers that beep, it’s a wonder we get anything done at all!

Here’s some of the major distractions we find in office environments, and a few suggestions to overcome them.

our brain isn’t just for remembering your mum’s birthday. Throw a ball, turn the steering wheel or make a presentation at work – your brain controls everything you do.

That’s why you need to keep it healthy!

Luckily research has uncovered plenty of ways to boost your brain and keep your mind active. Here’s some of our favourites…

There are certain truths you learn in adulthood. Electricity bills need to be paid on time. Shots are never a good idea during the work week. Cake does not constitute as dinner.

Good break rooms are an overlooked feature in an office environment.

Maybe it’s the fear that employees will spend too much time in there, or that it’s wasted space in a limited floor plan. But the break room is where effective teams re-charge throughout the day. It’s the hub of everything that keeps your team motivated – water, coffee and snacks!

Creating a great break room for your employees is one way you can empower their healthy decisions throughout the day as well as encourage a collaborative, fun work environment. One extra tip: assign someone to make sure the break room is always in great condition, whether it’s a rotating roster or a specific staff member.

Here are four easy tips to implement some healthy living while travelling for work – none of which will inconvenience you or break your per diem. It’s all about maintaining some consistency and planning just enough ahead.

hen we talk about calming foods, we don't mean comfort foods – we mean foods that will actually soothe you through their nutrients and energy.

Time to get snacking!

‘Stress’ and ‘work’ shouldn’t go hand in hand. Sure, sometimes there’s time pressure or financial restraints, but the workplace should not be stressful for your team all the time.

Of course, we hear time and time again that there’s a point where stress is detrimental to one’s health – hence the rise of meditation apps! Long hours and intense demands are the main culprits of a stressful working environment, although difficult co-workers/bosses and poor working conditions can also be factors.

If you’ve noticed a change in the ‘feel’ of your office, consider these warnings signs...

We all have habits we’re a bit ashamed of – that fifth cup of coffee every day or never being able to keep our desk tidy. Most of these habits are harmless (although five cups of coffee every day might not be!), while some are really very harmful to your health and mental wellbeing.

Here are five habits you should break to increase your quality of life...

Instead of walking to the vending machine – or reaching for the office donuts – when the 3pm slump strikes, be prepared with this round-up of delicious, healthy snacks from around the web. Featuring high-protein, fibre-packed bliss balls and trail mixes, these recipes will keep you going all the way to dinner – and feel like a treat when you want one most!

There’s no shortage of research to suggest that our working lives take a toll on our health. Not only are we sitting for longer periods than ever before, but we’re working long hours that make active lifestyles even harder – all in drying, air-conditioned comfort!

But living well at work is still achievable. With some small, simply changes, you can emphasise how important health (both physical and mental) is to your company. It’s about a encouraging the right culture (such as not eating lunch at your desk) and enforcing this message with healthy benefits. Your team will thank you for it!

If you experience anxiety on a regular basis, you are not alone – in Australia, one in five people experience symptoms of a mental disorder. There’s no need to just ‘deal’ with it; your doctor can help if your nervousness starts controlling your life. But in the meantime, here are some small ways you can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety naturally, and reclaim your day..