Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Five Healthy Moves at Work

As some of you may know, I stopped teaching over three months ago. I haven’t really talked about it on here because, let’s face it, this is the internet and everyone can read what I say. So although I don’t feel like publishing the multitude of reasons why it was time for a change, I’d like to tell you about where I’m at now.

After leaving teaching, I began working an office job. I work an eight hour shift with a one hour lunch in between. I don’t take work home with me; I don’t stress about it when I’m not here. I also spend the entire day in a chair in front of a computer. You could say it’s the polar opposite of teaching. While the lack of stress and limited work hours are huge perks, I haven’t fully adjusted to sitting all day, and I sometimes feel I’ve traded off one bad health choice for another. One of the reasons I left teaching was because I knew I was no longer healthy or happy doing what I was doing, so although my coworkers probably think I’m weird for it, here are five simple ways I keep my desk job from ruining my health (and five things you can adopt for your own job).

1. Set a Water Drinking Goal
My first year of teaching, I was sick all the time and something I always heard from my doctor was that I was terribly dehydrated. As other teachers can testify, dehydration is the only choice when you get exactly two bathroom breaks a day (and that’s if you can run fast enough). Now that I can get up and walk to the bathroom whenever I want, I make it a point to drink a glass of water each hour. This ensures that I not only stay hydrated, but that I also have a good reason to get up and walk every hour. Win-win.

2. Dance in Your Seat
With the type of work I do, I’m allowed and able to listen to music throughout the day. Whether I have music on or not, I am definitely a foot-tapper. I’m always shaking, tapping, twisting in my chair and I like to think that when you add up all these tiny movements, they count as some form of exercise.

3. Bring Your Own Snacks
I work in an awesome office space where we have an endless supply of soda, tea, juice, coffee, granola bars, pop tarts, and chips (to name a few things). When I first started the job, I got into the habit of having a fruit bar each morning. While I do recognize every ingredient in the bar, it’s still an extra 150 calories I wasn’t consuming before. The best way I’ve found to combat this is to bring my own apple slices to munch on in the morning. Yes, I know apples also have calories and sugar, but at least they’re an organic whole food.

4. Use Your Lunch Break Wisely
People who stay inside and eat in the cafeteria every day make me want to cry. Our office is located by other office buildings, apartments, and hotels, so we’re lucky enough to have several walking paths close by. Depending on the weather and if I remember a change of clothes, I like to either go read outside on a picnic table, or walk for a couple miles. I honestly feel great after doing either activity because I’ve been outside getting some fresh air and sunshine.

5. Change Your Seat
Sitting still in an office chair is probably one of the worst things you can do for your health. Just Google “health effects of desk jobs” if you don’t believe me. I work in a very open airy office space and they take great lengths to make sure we have natural light, amazing views, and a pleasant environment, but I still wouldn’t feel comfortable saying, “hey, mind if I bounce on a yoga ball instead of sitting in a chair?” so instead, a friend turned me on to an inflatable disc that is like the top of a yoga ball but fits on your average chair. The way it moves makes you engage your core while you sit, keeping you from slouching and having awful posture the way a normal chair does. I’ll let you know if I end up with a six pack just from sitting.

Although I truly miss most of my students (you know who you are) and coworkers from teaching, I’m enjoying having less stress in my life and the chance to make positive changes in my health. If you have other ideas of how to stay healthy in an office setting, I’d love to hear!