How many hours a day do you sit at your desk?
Australian researchers have discovered that a sedentary job is a health concern! Men who were found to be sitting at their desk for more than six hours a day were nearly twice as likely to be overweight as the men who sat for less than 45minutes a day. Women in the office did however; spend an average of 20 minutes extra on their feet. But it is has been found that both men and women fall into the sedentary on the job weight gain trap. It is an alarming statistic but 54% of Australian’s are overweight or obese. What is causing this? Your lifestyle, work, nutrition and exercise choices determine your health and wellness.
Top Ten Ways to Prevent Weight Gain at Work
1. Make Your Lunch Break a Priority.
It is not uncommon for people to arrive at work, then their day disappears with meetings, phone calls and, a myriad of emails; finally at 3pm, they realise they have not eaten since breakfast. Instead of grabbing the chocolate bar from the staff vending machine, make it a priority to have a healthy and tasty lunch. Book time out in your schedule to ensure you don’t get interrupted.
2. Choose a Healthy Lunch
Once you make lunch a priority, you need to ensure you are choosing healthy options. Ideally. a freshly packed sandwich or salad brought from home would save you money and the temptation to eat take-away fried food. But if that is not an option, ensure the food court and, café’s you go to do have healthy options.
3. Get Active
Taking an active break from work can help you relax, reduce stress and enable you to find the energy for the afternoon and being active can help reduce the kg’s. Take your lunch break outside, walk for 20 minutes and find a park bench or a quiet place to sit down and eat your lunch. You could also go for a lunchtime jog or join the gym; anything to increase your heart rate, or more simply take the stairs instead of the lift
4. Get Your Colleagues Involved
Many companies are now supporting work place sporting teams. Find a lunchtime touch football, netball or soccer competition you and your colleagues can join. Or encourage your work colleagues to take your walk together or go to the gym after work together.
5. Have a Work Get Fit Challenge
Speak to your HR department and encourage your organisation to create your own weight loss challenge. This will result in positive morale for your company and increase team building and ultimately modify sedentary behaviour. Healthy employees lead to in higher rates of productivity. (Springday can organise a weight loss challenge for you; contact us for more information)
6. Eat Healthy Snacks
If you need to take a break from work or need an afternoon pick-me-up, ensure it is healthy snacks you are eating rather than a chocolate bar. Ask your HR department to help with providing a healthy fruit box for employees rather than a cookie jar. www.thefruitbox.com.au or www.fruitonly.com.au could be considered.
7. Drink Water
Keep a bottle of water on your desk; it’ll give your hands something to do when you’re bored or stressed and can help to stop you eating snacks. The incidental exercise you do when you need to refill it also keeps you moving.
8. Reduce Your Use of Technology
Email and the telephone are amazing modern advances, yet they keep you from moving. Instead of using technology, take advantage of the opportunity to get up and be active. Speak to your colleague in person.
9. Choose Active Ways to Get to Work
If you use public transport, get off two stops before you need to and walk the rest of the way. If you drive, ensure you park as far away as possible to get those extra steps into your day. For more information, check out our articles on incidental exercise.
10. Take the Stairs
We rely too much on the lift, not only do we have to wait for it to come to our floor, we can be helping our heart and our wellness if we take the stairs.
As stated, 54% of the Australian population is overweight or obese. Ensure you are not another statistic; incorporate healthy lunch options, incidental exercise or even a routine sporting game or visit to the gym. These are simple and easy options to ensure you maintain a healthy level of fitness which goes hand in hand with your wellbeing.
Written by Cassandra Duell, Springday Writer
Leah Gibbs is the Founder and Business Manager of Lifestyle Careers.
Lifestyle Careers is an online recruitment job board. Our niche and specific focus is the advertising of flexible employment and work at home positions. It is designed for professionals wanting to balance their work and personal life.
