Workplace Health Hacks

As I've discussed on the blog previously, I've made an effort to better my health through better eating and exercise. The use of my Fitbit Charge HD deserves a tremendous amount of credit for my success in this because it actually shows me the results as they happen, hooking me immediately on my new routine.

However, one thing I've realized in using my Fitbit is that I do not move a whole lot during the school day. I walk into and out of the building obviously, but once in my classroom I walk the hallway and around my room very little. I tend to teach sitting on the top of a desk facing my class or standing. Knowing that movement of any kind helps in the achievement of health, I've been looking for ways to work my new healthy living into my workplace.

So when Nuts.com asked me if I'd like to spark a conversation on the blog about staying healthy at work, I was all for it. Nuts.com has a list of healthy snacks for different times, places, and needs. There's even a link there for Healthy Snacks for Work! After discussing some ideas about what I could do within the allowances of my workplace, they created this nifty graphic for me:

Some of these I already started doing last year and some I added this year. Last year was the first year in ten years I did not eat a single lunch from the cafeteria, packing lunch in hopes of somewhat healthier eating and saving money.This year I've improved upon that by not only packing my lunch, but consciously searching out truly healthy foods to pack, which ties into healthy snacking. Instead of boxes of snack cakes sitting in my desk drawer, I bring apples and peanut butter, mixed nuts, hard boiled eggs, string cheese, Greek yogurt, fruit, hummus wraps, and the list goes on. Because of vocal chord issues, my doctor told me to always have a non-carbonated drink at work (I'm a teacher - lots of talking and very little hydration have not been kind to me). so I switched out my PowerAde for water. The drop in my sugar in take and wallet out take made a huge difference!

Eating healthy is only half the battle though. I still needed that movement piece in my day. The only way to solve this was to purposely get up and move. Instead of saving errands for the end of the day or beginning of the next, I don't hesitate to run down the hall or downstairs at that moment since it means another flight of stairs and more steps. I try to walk around while teaching within my classroom a little more. Also instead of using the phone to call someone with a question, I walk to their room or office.

The eating is big and the movement may be minimal right now, but it's all improvement. Any improvement means I'm on the right track.

Any workplace health hacks you'd like to share readers? Thank you Nuts.com for sparking this conversation as I take my health journey!