| (NAPSA)-Sitting at a desk eight
hours a day, five days a week can leave little time for exercise.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that office workers tend to gain weight, are
more prone to weight-related medical conditions and are less productive
on the job, according to a careerbuilder.com survey.
Fortunately, there are few easy ways to fit
exercise in and maintain a healthy weight.
Whether you work from 9 to 5 or man the graveyard
shift, Weight Watchers offers some simple tricks to make a difference in
the way you look and feel:
Workplace workout
Even if it’s just 10
minutes of exercise at a time, get up and move whenever possible. Here
are some ideas:
Eat lunch at a park a few blocks away and
walk there instead of driving.
Walk to a colleague’s desk rather than
e-mailing or calling.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Include exercise breaks throughout the
day, such as walking around the perimeter of the building.
Bring meals from home
Bringing meals from home can boost dieting
efforts, but sometimes it’s tough to get excited about brown bagging it.
To add spice to meals from home, try bringing in
half of a lunch and then purchase a side salad or cup of soup to
accompany it. And if adding a healthy treat to lunch sounds good, why
not extend the treat beyond lunch? For every day that meals are brought
from home, stash $5 in a piggy bank. At the end of the month, buy that
special something as a reward.
Finally, take the guesswork out of mealtime. At
the beginning of each week, bring five days’ worth of low-calorie frozen
dinners and/or canned soups and store in the company refrigerator. This
controls portion sizes and makes it easy when it comes to planning
lunches .
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Cut off caffeine five hours before bedtime Most night shift workers don’t get
enough sleep. If work ends in the morning, it may be especially hard to
fall back asleep.
Lack of sleep has been linked to an increase in
risk of obesity. Cut off caffeine five hours before bedtime and take a
minimum of 30 minutes to unwind after work before bed.
Wellness programs
Encourage companies to reimburse
for wellness initiatives, such as joining a gym or weight-loss program.
Your company may be interested to know that a
study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found
that companies spend up to 52 percent more on annual health care costs
on overweight employees than those who maintain a healthy weight.
Another study in the journal showed that people
were more likely to lose weight when they were compensated for their
weight-loss efforts.
To find out more about healthy living, visit
www.weightwatchers.com. |