Stay healthy in the office
Posted on by Forest in Diet, Exercise, General, Health, Opinion
I’m on a serious health kick right now (although social events are trying to throw me off the wagon) and one of the very important aspects of keeping the kick going is to stay healthy in the office. I work from my laptop so my office is a moving one but as I sit down for most of the day it’s no different from sitting in a cubicle at a company.
I fight a few demons throughout the day and have been developing ways to stay on track and make sure the daytime isn’t adversely affecting my health.
How to stay healthy in the office, my tips
1) Drink your coffee black with no sugar – Sugar and very milky coffee is a great way to start piling on extra unhealthy calories. You can learn to live without the sugar and if you absolutely need milk make it 2% and slowly cut back until you just use a little.
2) Keep 2 full bottles of water on your desk at all times – Keeping your body hydrated is essential to good health so by keeping the water there and available you will be tempted to drink it instead of soft drinks or even tea and coffee. Try and drink at least one full bottle per day.
3) Make sure you take your screen and chair breaks - You have to get up at least once and hour and spend 5 minutes at least walking around the office or taking a quick walk round the block if you can. I used to go down and help some people in the stock room at my last company every hour or two.
4) Eat your lunch on the go – By this I mean take your (healthy) lunch and go for a walk. Don’t sit in a cafe to eat or worse a bar, avoid soft drinks and alcohol and just opt for a walk, a healthy salad, sandwich or whatever.
5) Keep healthy snacks with you – If you get peckish you can go to the machine and grab a mars bar but we both know that’s not too good for you. Keep a selection of unsalted nuts, fruit and healthy snacks in your drawer or bag and graze on them when you need to.
6) Keep hand grips and exercise bands to hand – I just started this. I keep exercise bands near my computer when I am working and when doing things like reading I do a few arm curls or you can use things like hand grips to improve your hand strength. This isn’t a workout but it is a tiny bit of extra activity that you would not have been doing otherwise.
Out of work things to help you stay healthy in the office
1) Workout in the morning – Before you leave for work get a home workout, a run or a swim in. This way you won’t be pressured to work out at the end of a hard day and you will be alert during your work morning.
2) Eat a good wholesome breakfast - You must eat a full healthy breakfast to stop you arriving at work hungry and run down. This just leads to bad habits.
3) Eat chocolate at night! - More and more studies are showing that chocolate in it’s purest form can be very good for you, especially you heart. I now eat 1-2 squares of dark chocolate (over 70%, 95% if can find it) and this helps me stave off daily cravings for candy bars.
I would love to know what tricks and tips you have for staying healthy at the office.
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10 Responses to “Stay healthy in the office”
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Get Happy Life
01. Nov, 2010
Nice tips for staying healthy ! As I also work in the office, I tend to practice most of them.
Generally, making pauses and moving every hour is what the body wants the most, right ?
I have been wondering for long whether is possible to work in office without bad effects to your body
Get Happy Life recently posted..Setting Budget for Shopping
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Forest
07. Nov, 2010
Absolutely you need to move around, the body loves it!
I’m sure office work is not good for the body.
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Amy Dawson
01. Nov, 2010
I love your tips – great ideas! If you need ideas for packing lunch for work I have some great ones on my site: http://www.lunchtaker.com
Amy
Thanks for the great suggestions – I’m going to get some exercise bands – I already have the ball chair thing, but bands are a great idea
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Forest
07. Nov, 2010
Thanks Amy, hope you enjoy the bands.
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Money Reasons
01. Nov, 2010
Great tips! If I may, I’d like to add considering getting some of those flavored packets too like lipton tea white tea singles, or cyrstal light. Just for those times when you want something more than water!
I only use half of the packet, and it still tastes great! This is a lot cheaper than buying pop.
Money Reasons recently posted..Dividend Stocks- Lunch Experiment Update 5
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Forest
07. Nov, 2010
Hey Money Reasons, great tip and I absolutely agree. Water even tastes different when it’s all you drink and it loses it’s appeal. I like herbal teas to add to the mix (hot or cold) and a little sweet drink here and there won’t kill you!
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elsa
03. Nov, 2010
Great tips. I bet they are better than sitting on hawaii chair (the one in that infomercial)…!
elsa recently posted..Stop Snoring Without Surgery with 3-Minute Exercises updated Tue Nov 2 2010 6-59 pm CDT
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Forest
07. Nov, 2010
Ha ha, thanks Elsa, luckily I have not seen that informercial but it already sounds awful!
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Briana Ford
16. Dec, 2010
Thankfully we request healthy snacks from HR. As far as arm curls while reading, it’d be great but I’m sure it would distract my coworkers
Briana Ford recently posted..Looking Forward to 2011
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Forest
16. Dec, 2010
Hey Briana, good idea. what about a pedal thungy under your desk
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