The Demise of Healthy Habits in the Workplace

The corporate world is riddled with junk food vending machines, doughnut filled meetings and the co-worker candy drawer. We pump ourselves with soda and coffee to keep ourselves awake as we sit for hours on end staring blankly into a computer screen. Our increased sedentary lifestyle coupled with poor food choices/options has left us with bulging bellies and badonka-donk behinds. Having only worked in the corporate world for a short time, I quickly noticed my healthy habits diminishing and I resolved to do something about it. Here are my top tips for staying on track with your health under the extremely unhealthy conditions of a cubicle job.

1)   Sunday Funday – What was once a leisure day of continued drinking and eating in college, Sunday funday has taken on a new meaning. “Fun” is subjective after all, so hopefully you consider (or can try to consider…) cooking as a fun activity. Cook a bunch of chicken and veggies that you can easily pack in Tupperware to bring with you to work during the week. This is a great way to increase your veggie intake as well as work on portion control. Portion out your food properly (as I talked about here and here). Increase the fun factor by cooking with your roomies, friends or significant other. Your belly and your wallet will thank you, as packing a lunch is also much cheaper than eating out everyday!

2)   Snack attack – Always bring healthy snacks to work, that way when hunger strikes, you don’t have to resort to an unsatisfying candy bar in the vending machine. A little cup of soup, cottage cheese, grapes, an apple, and a little baggie of nuts are a few of my staple snacks. Being able to graze all day will decrease your chances of experiencing crashes that evolve to sugar cravings that evolve to total diet sabotage!

3)   The emergency stash – I always have a stash of dark chocolate or a serving of my favorite avocado chocolate pudding. Sometimes, you just need something sweet, and you can’t function until you get it. It’s ok, as long as you have healthy options that satisfy you so you don’t cave and dig into your cube buddies draw of leftover Halloween candy.

4)   Take a hike – I get up every hour or so either to stretch, walk around, or go up and down the stairs a few times. Not only does this kick start your metabolism out of its sluggish state, you also get blood flowing through your body, which goes to your brain making you more awake and focused. Take every chance you get to get some form of movement into your day. Whether you get up and walk to your co-workers office rather than calling them or you make a lap around and say hi to everyone – get up and move.

5)   H2O some mo’ – Drinking water throughout the day is key to curbing your appetite, staying hydrated and getting you up out of your chair to walk to the restroom. Try to drink several glasses of water a day. I always have a “green” water bottle at my desk as well as tea and sparkling water.

———————————————————————————————-

Do you have any tips you can add to this list?

What are your favorite go-to healthy snacks?

Do you usually go out to lunch or pack a lunch?

———————————————————————————————-

In other news:

My fellow blogette Chelsey, over at Clean Eating Chelsey, is giving away The Real Food Diet Cookbook to one lucky winner. Enter to win at tp://wp.me/p11BDk-1cV

Have a blog? Want to win a $100? Check out the Swanson Health Blog.

Bloggers can enter to win a $100 gift certificate from the friendly folks at Swanson Vitamins. The contest runs until April 11^th so get your vote in before then. Enter here.

Thank you so much to everyone that voted for Dish Nutrish for the Women’s Health Magazine Health Blog Contest. I appreciate your support and will keep you posted on who wins! (P.S You can still vote so the more votes the better 🙂 hehe! Click here to vote)