5 Easy Ways to Make Your Work Day A Little Healthier

Staying healthy at the office can be a real challenge. I should know, I’ve worked in offices my whole adult life.  Whether it’s grabbing food on the go, eating at your desk and loading up on coffee or indulging in muffins and biscuits at meetings, cakes at your colleague’s birthday or sweet treats somebody brought back from their holidays, it can be hard to make the healthier choice.

Our work days are usually pretty structured and is more or less a routine (get to work at a certain time, have lunch at a certain time, leave at a certain time, work at a computer most of the day etc.).  You’d be surprised how much we go through it on autopilot.

However, with a little awareness, foresight and preparation, you can work some healthier habits throughout the day.

Here are five easy ways you can do just that:

Hydrate

• Drink a glass of water (or two) first thing in the morning. We’re often dehydrated in the morning so drinking some water will help hydrate your cells.  Even better, squeeze some lemon into the water to help detoxify and give you a vitamin C boost.
• Make sure to keep well hydrated throughout the day. Leave a water bottle on your desk and set yourself a reminder to drink from it throughout the day.
• If you drink a lot of coffee (which is a diuretic), try swapping out some of those cups for herbal tea.

Have breakfast

• Having a breakfast that has a good balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat should keep your blood sugars balanced throughout the morning, keep you satiated, give you energy and keep you from grabbing the sugar laden muffin at the morning meeting or eating all the things later in the day.
• A good example of a breakfast could be eggs (scrambled, hard boiled etc) with smoked salmon, spinach, butternut squash or sweet potato with some avocado on the side.

Take a Break

• It’s said that our sedentary lives where we sit at a desk for seven or eight hours a day are as bad for our health as smoking is! While some companies are bringing in treadmill desks or standing desks for their employees, for most of us this isn’t an option.
• So what can you do? Get up and walk as much as you can throughout the day.  Take more bathroom breaks (you may need to if you are drinking more water), walk to your colleagues desk to ask a question (instead of emailing) or make sure to get out for a walk during your lunch break.

Lunch

• Bring in your own lunch and swap your sandwich or wrap for a soup and salad, making sure to get a good balance of protein, carbs and fats to avoid the 3 o’clock sugar imbalance slump. Not only will it be healthier, it’ll probably save you money too.
• If you can’t bring in your own lunch, do a little research and know where you can get healthy options on the days you need to grab and go.

Snacks

• Make sure to be well stocked on good snacks to keep hunger at bay and to balance out your blood sugars throughout the day. Our willpower depletes as the day goes on from decision fatigue.  If you have these options already prepped its one decision less to make throughout the day.
• Some good snacks include: prawns and avocado, an apple and nut butter, berries and coconut yogurt (or greek yogurt if you eat dairy) or a piece of fruit with some nuts.

 

What are your tips for staying healthy at work?  Am always on the lookout for more health hacks.