Much like the rest of us, you want to improve your health, but you spend the majority of your life at work. Who has time to go to the gym? Or pack a healthy lunch?
We’ve all been there …
But there’s some good news in all of this. You don’t have to give up a minute of family time to work out or cook healthy meals (unless you want to).
You can start making small changes at work to improve your overall health.
Here are a few ideas to improve your health from the office.
- Take the stairs
If you work in an office that has stairs, take them. Sure, it’s quicker and easier to take the escalator or elevator, but why miss out on an easy way to burn some calories? If you take this simple step every time you enter and exit the building, you will see a difference over time. It is a baby step, so don’t expect drastic changes, but those stairs will become easier over time.
- Park further away
We all look for the closest spot in any parking lot. But what if you did the exact opposite? When you park further from your job, it’s like you’re forcing yourself to take a walk every day. It’s probably not a huge walk, but it’s better than nothing.
- Bring healthy snacks
If snacking at work is one of your biggest downfalls, bring healthy snacks to avoid this pitfall. If you bring packs of granola bars (low sugar), trail mix or mixed nuts, you’ll be less likely to hit up the vending machine when hunger strikes.
- Avoid liquid lunches
If you’re in the habit of having a beer or other alcoholic beverage at lunch, it’s time to stop. Not only are those drinks adding empty calories, but when it’s a habit, day drinking can easily turn to an addiction. If you think you may already have a problem, consider addiction treatment. This is going to be the fastest path to health that you can take.
- Stop drinking sodas
Whether sugar-loaded or diet, sodas aren’t good for your health. You probably already know that this one is a bad habit, but daily sodas can be detracting from your health more than you realize. Especially if you’re drinking regular soda, you’ll probably drop weight quickly after quitting. One can of Coca-Cola contains 39 grams of sugar, which equates to more than 2.5 tablespoons. To put this into perspective, one package of two Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups only contains 21 grams of sugar, which is about 1.5 tablespoons.
If you have the drive and ability to improve your health outside of work, it’s definitely a good idea. But even if you’re just making small changes during your work day, you can make a big impact over time.
