Health in the Workplace

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February 5, 2015

Who says you can’t have good health in your workplace? Of course you can! Follow our simple tips below and experience for yourself how it’s possible.

Try sit-stand desks. Don’t get left behind, try one for yourself and feel the difference between sitting down and standing, and you can even change between the two options during your day. It’s a great way to move and exercise your muscles.

Prolonged working in a sitting position leads to a lot of chronic stress on your body especially on your skeletal and muscular system. You have to move in order to circulate more blood. Studies have concluded that standing up every 20 - 30 minutes is physiologically enough to prevent chronic stress on your muscles and avoid developing heart disease.

Prolonged sitting can also lead to the following:

Degeneration of your muscles: weak abs and glutes (buttocks) and tight hips.
Pooling of blood in your legs.
Bad back and foggy brain.
A hyperactive pancreas. This happens because your idle and stubborn muscles aren’t responding to insulin. As a consequence, your pancreas tends to produce more to force your muscles to react. A hyperactive pancreas can lead to diabetes mellitus type 2.

A sit-stand desk can prevent all of these negative effects on your health. It’s worth trying one out. In New Zealand, only 54% of adults meet the minimum recommended level of physical activity. Australians aren’t spared from a sedentary lifestyle either. Sixty three percent of Australian adults are overweight and most of them attribute their weight increase to a sedentary lifestyle (sitting too much at home and work). However standing still too long is not so good either. Therefore make use of the sit-stand functionality of your new desk throughout each workday. That way you’ll be moving your body regularly. Experts recommend a 2 min moving break twice every hour to take a short walk and to stretch.

Stay away from the vending machine. The vending machine has been your best friend for far too long. It houses a lot of sugary drinks that gradually poison your body. For once, try alternatives like stevia (a natural plant sweetener) sweetened drinks or squeeze some lemon into your glass of water for a refreshing natural lemon flavour. In addition, you can also calm your nerves down, not to mention your overworked body, with some herbal and green teas. Just keep the sugar to a minimum or out completely, if possible.

Take the time to buy, prepare and bring your snacks to work.

And now you’re worried about an unhealthy lunch, eh? If you hate the idea of getting up early to cook and pack your lunch for work, try cooking a little more for dinner the night before. That way you’ll have enough for lunch the next day. To make your meal sumptuous and healthy, try whipping up a salad with cucumber, tomato, lettuce, olives, avocado, feta cheese and protein such as bacon or eggs. This will surely make your co-workers feel jealous.

Beware of the 3pm slump. Some people complain about the 3pm slump at work. Its like a mythological monster that sucks productivity and energy from you while you work. Devouring huge amounts of easily digestible carbohydrates (starches and sugars) for lunch can single-handedly bring this monster to reality. Another factor is dehydration. If your body is dehydrated, it tends to conserve water for much more important physiological tasks like maintaining a normal blood pressure instead of typing on a keyboard. More quality protein and healthy fats during lunch and with snacks will banish that monster by 3pm.

In addition, try the recommendations below:

A sugar rush is just that…a rush. After the rush, your energy levels rapidly down again and can end up lower than they were before. Consume a lot fewer carbohydrates and sugary drinks at work to avoid the sugar crash.
Eat your meals on time. Missing out your meals doesn’t make you effective at work and makes you inclined to binge once it’s feeding time again. If necessary have some healthy protein-rich snacks on hand to get you through to the next meal.
Don’t dehydrate yourself. Certain teas and coffee can make you pee like there’s no tomorrow. Well it may be good because you stand up and head for the comfort room, but if you don’t replace your losses… well here comes that mythological monster.

Health is a real possibility in your workplace so why not start making changes now. Get your work colleagues and your boss on board with your ideas for a healthier work environment. Remember, keep things simple and practical. That way, they can easily become a habit.