Living a healthy and active lifestyle while working a desk job

I’m guessing that many of you, like me, work a desk job. This means many long hours of doing nothing but sitting at a computer. That doesn’t exactly lend itself to a healthy lifestyle.

Is this your idea of a "healthy" snack at work?

Sitting (mostly) still for 8 hours or more at a time is probably one of the least healthy activities you can do. From a recent New York Times article:

Your chair is your enemy.

It doesn’t matter if you go running every morning, or you’re a regular at the gym. If you spend most of the rest of the day sitting — in your car, your office chair, on your sofa at home — you are putting yourself at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, a variety of cancers and an early death.

Combine that with temptations from the vending machine and assorted cakes and other junk food that co-workers tend to bring in, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster.

So what’s a health-minded person to do when they’re stuck sitting at a desk 40 hours (or more) per week? Here are a few ideas to help keep you healthy at work:

• The New York Times article I referenced above suggests standing at your desk. Depending on your exact situation, this may or may not be very realistic.
  

  Compared to sitting, standing in one place is hard work. To stand, you have to tense your leg muscles, and engage the muscles of your back and shoulders; while standing, you often shift from leg to leg. All of this burns energy.

• Use an exercise ball as your chair. I’ve heard this one a lot. The basic idea is that the constant balancing act your body does keeps your muscles working all day, even if only a little bit at a time. If you can’t get your employer to spring for one, an exercise ball isn’t that expensive ($19 on Amazon), so you could just buy your own. If you need any more convincing, here are 10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair.
• Get up and move. Just because you’re stuck working at a desk all day doesn’t mean you can’t get up and move a bit. When you get up to use the bathroom or get a drink of water, take a quick lap around the building. Unless you work at the Pentagon, this will likely only take an extra few minutes, but can make a big difference. Do you get a couple 15 minute breaks during the day? Go outside and take a quick walk around the block.
• Avoid the vending machine like the plague. Face it, there’s nothing healthy for you in there. Pack some healthy snacks at home so you won’t be tempted by a growling stomach.
• Just say NO to the cake. If your office is anything like mine, it seems like someone is bringing in a cake at least once a week – birthdays, retirements, babies, whatever. You may feel “guilted” into partaking because you don’t want to offend either the person who brought it in, or the person that’s being celebrated, but trust me – that cake isn’t going to do your healthy lifestyle any favors. And unless there’s only a couple people in your office, most likely nobody will even notice if you don’t have a piece.

How many of you work desk jobs? What tricks do you use to stay healthy and active while sitting at a desk all day?

Photo by MeganMorris

Tagged as: desk jockey, office