The rat race, otherwise known as working in an office job, can be truly detrimental to the human body if adequate measures aren’t in place to take care of oneself.
The fit, strong body you once had coming out of college can be reduced to a cocktail of back pain caused by excessive slouching, an endlessly revolving door of fast foods entering your digestive system because you don’t have time to eat anything else.
You deserve better, but you don’t need to quit your job to get it. Here are some tips to counteract the negative effects of an office job and stay in an adequate physical (and mental) shape.
1. Invest in Your Health
The first step towards leading a healthier lifestyle comes in the form of making a conscious investment in knowing what your body requires. If the money can be spared, seeking professional advice from industry experts would be a wise decision – whether that be figuring out a solid diet with a certified nutritionist or developing a workout plan based on your needs and availability with a licensed fitness trainer.
Other alternative measures one could take include booking annual checkups with qualified physicians who utilize EHR software. This is employed to keep track of previous ailments and medical diagnoses. This way, you can easily review your medical history and how you should treat your body in the future.
You may also book massage appointments if you suffer from work-induced back pains.
2. Establish Intuitive Habits
Time and money are luxuries that some of us simply don’t possess in abundance, necessitating smaller changes.
Minor adjustments to your daily routines and lifestyles can make an underrated difference in your quest to become a fitter person. Here are some of our favorites:
- 30-40 minutes of exercise can offset a whole day of sitting, according to a study by the World Health Organization. This could be something as simple as a brisk walk each day.
- If you’re not a big fan of exercising, there are small “exercises” one can incorporate into their daily routines, such as parking their car far away from their workplace’s entrance, standing up to stretch every now and then throughout the day, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Drink more water! There is an innumerable number of roles that water plays in keeping your body in check. Consider bringing a refillable bottle to work next time to reach your daily intake requirements.
- Small tweaks to your diet can go a long way towards establishing healthier eating patterns; for example, swap out regular bacon for turkey bacon.
3. Find a Balance & Purpose
After a while of consistently exercising and eating healthily, it’s easy to feel burnt out and seek comfort in the vices you indulged in before making these lifestyle changes.
Everything good requires a sense of balance. You don’t have to drop the beer from your diet on a permanent basis. However, it’d be wise to drink it every now and then, rather than having a lot of it every day.
Finding something you enjoy would also do wonders for finding an overall sense of fulfillment from exercising. If you enjoy hitting the local park to play pick-up basketball, try and make that a part of your routine. Don’t settle for mind-numbing HIIT workouts you suffer through because people say they’re the best workout.
Add Healthy Habits for Your Mind and Body
No matter what you do to counteract the effects of the desk job lifestyle, living a long and healthy life as someone who spends most of their days sitting in an office is a challenge. Despite this, with the right changes to your daily routine and habits, you might find yourself looking and feeling healthier than ever before.
