In this episode, I speak with Dana Chapman, a nutritional therapist, about practical ways to fuel our bodies and minds for success and joy at work. Dana shares insights on the importance of nutritious food, movement, and sleep, emphasizing the role of protein in maintaining energy and motivation. We discuss the signs of inadequate nutrition and practical steps to start making sustainable changes in our diet. Dana also shares her personal journey to professional joy and offers advice for mid-career professionals looking to enhance their well-being and performance through better nutrition.

Speaker Links:

Website: https://www.dc-nutrition.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-chapman-85b73316

Dig a little deeper:

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my Life Satisfaction Assessment. It's a 30-minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you down. I call it Derailed and it's a fabulous place to begin a joy-at-work redesign.

https://www.midlifeunstuck.com/derailed

If you're anything like me, there's so much data out there on fueling

body and mind for success, it's hard to see a path through to practical changes

you can make to fuel you for success in life, and of course, joy at work.

I invited Dana Chapman, a nutritional therapist I've known for years, to

speak to you because she cuts through the noise and easily translates the

latest research into practical know how.

That we can understand easily and implement this weekend.

Let's dive in.

Hello, I am Dana Chapman.

I'm a nutritional therapist.

I'm so excited to speak to you today.

I've got lovely questions and I can't wait to hear the answers.

Okay.

Dana, I think it's impossible for us to experience joy at work

if we're not fueling our bodies and minds with nutritious foods.

Honestly, there's so much information out there.

It's a bit overwhelming for most of us.

Can you tell me the cornerstones of a healthy body and mind?

Absolutely.

And I think it's more than food and nutritious food, but I can

start with nutritious food.

And I always say, going back to how our ancestors ate, as in, let's go back

to Meat and two veg, and that doesn't necessarily only need to be for dinner.

Let's bring that in lunch and at breakfast as well.

So what we're really wanting, especially for happiness, is lots of protein in

the diet, and that is all day long, not just at dinner, you're wanting breakfast

and lunch as well, but you can't negate the impact that movement and sleep have.

For our happiness and joy as well.

I mean, there's so much research into how movement is important for happiness

and how sleep is important for it.

And I think we all know how a poor night's sleep affects our mood.

Big time.

So it's not just food, it's everything.

Okay, but protein, particularly at mid career, we've just

got to focus on that all day.

Okay, so what are some of the signs that you see in your daily

work of a professional who isn't fuelled for success or joy?

Lack of energy is generally one of the most ones.

Depression or anxiety creeping in.

So these are all symptoms that your body is not working as it should.

And it may even be things on paper as well.

So going to the doctor and them saying that you now have high cholesterol

or you've got high blood pressure or you are going into type 2 diabetes.

All of these are symptoms or signs that you are not fueling yourself

correctly because they are all symptoms and signs that your body isn't coping

with the foods that it has been given.

But more than that lack of energy throughout the day, lack of

motivation, all of those play into just not being fueled correctly.

And again, it starts with what you eat first thing in the morning.

Not only what you may eat just before feeling lethargic or not

having energy in that afternoon.

So many people get that afternoon slump and it might be because of

what they've had for breakfast, not because of what they've had for lunch.

Ooh, all right.

And then the opposite.

So when a body and brain are fueled for joy, what does that feel like?

I think it's vibrance, really.

I always like to say, When you feel yourself correctly, you think

well, as well as feeling well.

So you have that energy, you have that vibrancy about you.

You have motivation to do things.

You can think clearly throughout the day.

You don't get those periods of time where you can't actually sit down and

concentrate for an hour to two hours.

So it's that being able to.

Do whatever you want to do without feeling like it's your

age that's holding you back.

Oh That's good.

So I like that sort of there's a cognitive part of that There's a

feeling part of that and there's almost a heart part of that like a

motivation a drive part of that as well.

Lovely

Okay, so if someone is listening and they're very interested in what you're

saying but they're not feeling tip top and they suspect their nutrition or

their health status choices generally may be at fault, practically speaking.

Where can they start to make a difference this weekend?

I would be starting with small simple changes that become

sustainable, bigger changes over time.

We all know that small habits that are achievable are much better than

trying to overhaul the diet altogether.

So my advice is always pick one thing to change.

So be that I'm going to add more greens into my diet, or I'm going to focus

on having protein with each meal, or I'm going to focus on my breakfast

and getting my breakfast really balanced so that fuels me for the day.

And once you've got that habit down and implemented, then you can

start to think about what other changes you can make as well.

So pick the area I would say that you think needs the most change

and start there, but it needs to be achievable and attainable.

So something like more greens.

It can be fairly easy because you can just add a handful of leafy greens to

a dinner or to a lunch and you can cook it or you can have it raw in a salad

dressed with olive oil and some vinegar.

Focusing on protein with each meal, that can be sustainable as well because you

can think about, okay, just each meal, how can I get more protein or a sufficient

amount of protein into each meal?

So those are my small implementable, is what I suggest, small

implementable changes that lead up to bigger changes over time.

Brilliant.

So we've always, so we've got the dream of eating beautifully every

minute of the day, but the reality this weekend, if you did that twice,

or if you made one little change and repeated it Saturday and Sunday, that

would be a change starter, wouldn't it?

Fabulous.

Now my very final question for you is, What does joy at work

look like or feel like for you?

Oh I am one of those very fortunate people to absolutely love what

I do and this is a second career for me.

And I knew once, whilst I was making the career change that I didn't

want to work a day in my life.

So I wanted to do something that I absolutely loved.

So Joy at Work for me is helping people understand how their bodies

are working and to practically get their bodies to work that little bit

better so that they can feel better, think better and perform better.

Fabulous answer.

Thank you very much, Dana.

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my Life Satisfaction Assessment.

It's a 30 minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas

of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you time.

I call it D.

It's a fabulous place to begin a joy at work redesign.