Oct 29, 2008

10 Ways You Can Be Healthier In The Office

Office work is notoriously unhealthy - sitting down at a computer for 8-12 hours straight. It’s not fun and not’s not something that’s going to help your struggle for a lean body…Here are 10 simple ways which you can be healthier in the office - and exactly how they will help your body!However, there are ways which you can work around the inconvinient idleness of the office environment and actually become healthier in the office:

1. Drink Plenty Of Water
Hydration is probably the most important factor of survival. Not only do we depend on water to live but even if we have a small defecit of it, we can be bedridden thanks to the headaches and thirst that it brings.But there’s a much more important reason to keep yourself hydrated (I.E drinking 4 pints a day) - even if you are mildly dehydrated, your metabolism could be affected by as much as 3%! That means that it’ll be even harder for you to lose any weight in the future.

2. Walk Around. A Lot.

Office work, especially if you’re sitting down at a computer, is notorious for not giving you the chance to stretch your legs and do some much needed calorie burning. Take every opportunity you can - even if it’s to just head to the photo copier - to walk around and keep the blood pumping around your legs.

3. Take Fruit As Snacks
Ever been tempted by that delicious-looking cookie or those birthday cakes someone brough in? Forget them…. unless you’re taking a large dosage of fruit to keep the balance of “good” and “bad” foods :-) Fruits not only keep your hunger under control but they also give our bodies much needed fibre which helps with your digestive system. It’s far more beneficial to eat an orange or banana than a dohnut or candy any day!

4. Get A Good Night’s Sleep
Being tired not only makes concentrating more difficult but it’s also been suggested that it doesn’t do much good for your metabolism. Getting a good night’s sleep (I.E going to bed EARLY if you need to) will not only make your office life much more enjoyable but healthier too.

5. Make A Point Of Going Outside For Lunch
If you’ve got a cafeteria or eat at your desk, it will be much more healthy to get some fresh air outside for obvious reasons - the first being that you can actually stretch your legs to get the blood pumping freely around them again. The second being that you’ll actually be able to give your eyes and brain a much needed rest from the stressful office environment. Believe me - it pays to get out at lunch time!

6. Have A Filling & Healthy Breakfast
There’s nothing worse than glancing at the clock, seeing the time’s 10:55 and feeling your stomach groaning and rumbling with starvation. It’s a fact that we need to eat every 3-4 hours which means that many people stick to having elevensies to keep them going mid-morning. However, this could have a diverse effect on your metabolism which means that you should always try and eat as much as you can for breakfast to keep you going until 12:00 or 13:00 (whenever you have lunch).

7. Don’t Skip Meals
Skipping lunch is commonplace and is possibly the worst thing you can do for your metabolism. Not only does it make your body cling onto every last ounce of energy but it also means that when you eat your next meal - it will hoard as much of that as possible as fat. In other words - you skip lunch and you put a huge spanner in the works of your metabolism.

8. Don’t Go The Gym At Lunch
This is on the same lines as the last point - whereby if you skip eating lunch and just go the gym to burn as much fat as possible, you could actually be doing more harm than good. Since your metabolism will think that you’re not getting a frequent amount of food, it will attempt to store as much of the energy you do eat as fat - meaning when it comes to dinner time - your waist line is going to expand instead of remaining the same.

9. Try And Walk To Work
Okay - different people have different circumstances - but if you’re lucky enough to live locally to your place of work, then the health benefits of walking will be profound. Not only will you be able to burn off some morning calories but you’ll also feel more awake and ready to go when you get to work!

10. Get Involved With (Or Start) Sports Clubs
Basketball, football, baseball - whatever tickles your fancy… get a bunch of the lads from work to get together one night and make a little social gathering of it. This will not only bond the team but it will also help you burn a LOT of extra weight. This point is possibly the most overlooked one which MILLIONS of people could be benefitting from right now!

So there you have it - 10 ways to stay healthy in the office!!