A busy life can take a toll on your health. As we spend 7-10 hours of our day in our office, here are some ways one can make the work environment healthier.
Stay away from passive smoking:
Smoking leads to high blood pressure, Asthma, Diabetes, premature hair fall, premature ageing of the skin, multiple types of cancers & weak eyesight. If you don’t smoke but your friends smoke around you, you are at the equal risk of getting above mentioned diseases. Avoid being at such places where there is excessive availability of cigarette smoke. However, if you are bound to be at such places then you can do body cleansing and stay healthy:
- Weekly detox: Take vegetable juice in breakfast and before 2 hours of dinner once to twice a week. Use seasonal vegetables like spinach, beetroot, carrots, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, ash gourd, etc. for making juice. Add mint leaves, tulsi leaves, coriander leaves, 1 inch of ginger, juice of lemon etc. for giving a good flavour to the juice. Add 2-3 slices of pineapple to make your juice irresistible.
- Inhale good air daily. Wake up before 6 am and practise pranayama at a green place like a park. It will remove all the free radicals from your body and keep you healthier.
On your birthday, distribute fruits instead of sweets or cakes in the office:
Cakes are very rich in sugar, butter and refined flour which leads to lifestyle complications, especially obesity. Build a culture of distributing fruits instead on your birthday and other special days.
Don’t take tea in those tea breaks:
Tea/ coffee has now become a primary beverage for people. When you add milk and sugar to your tea or if you take more than 2 cups of black beverage it messes up with your digestive tract making it more acidic, releases gases and you feel bloated. When you don’t take tea or coffee for the entire day the micronutrients are absorbed betters in the GI tract, your body remains alkaline saving you from headaches and acidity. When one quits tea, some fat loss around the belly is also observed. One can also experience more clarity and a feeling of freshness all day. If you like to drink something during your work then prefer coconut water, a glass of fresh buttermilk, lemon water, kokum sharbat or simply a good glass of water.
Move more, don’t sit continuously for long hours:
The long office hours are spent sitting at the same place. This leaves an adverse effect on health. The long term effects of excessive sitting are central obesity, Digestive disorders, heart disease, back pains, deformity in backbone and diabetes.
Easy way to prevent yourself from these problems is to keep moving frequently. Stand up at your place every 30 minutes. Do simple stretches of hands, legs and back after every one hour. Every 1 to 2 hour get up from your place, step up and step downstairs of 1-2 floors. If you have any knee-related issue then you can simply take a brisk walk of 1-5 minutes.
Drink water:
It’s not a secret to people anymore how important water is for health. 70% of our body is made up of water so we should take enormous care of water. Drink 2-4 litres of water every day depending upon your height. Always carry a water bottle with you when you go outside. Keep water in glass, steel or copper metal. Do not use plastic bottles at all.
Carry your tiffin, eat better if you have to eat outside:
Ayurveda focuses on a sit-down meal with family and friends which is prepared by the ingredients suited for that season of the year, time of the day and your nutritional needs. Cook meals at home and don’t eat food in a rush. If you don’t have time to cook the food then get a cook for this work. When you eat food in a rush the enzymes and acids in the GI tract are not released enough and on time, this leads to indigestion. Indigestion is one of the biggest reason behind gastrointestinal disorders like IBS, constipation, hyperacidity, oesophagal cancer, other intestinal cancers & lifestyle disorders like obesity, diabetes, fatty liver, PCOD and heart diseases.
Party, but mindfully:
On weekends, prepare a meal of your choice with love and passion, and if you want, have a glass of wine or a pint of beer with it. Overdose of alcohol regularly will make your body sick day by day. The common side effects are central obesity, infertility in both males and females, weak immune system, heart diseases, fatty liver and in some cases liver cirrhosis, premature ageing of skin and hair and many more. Don’t chase the weekends as they are the dream of your life, instead plan and enjoy every day that weekend can be used for improving your personality. You can join some classes related to your profession on your weekends. It will help you in growing further. You can also invest your free time in your hobbies. Hobbies keep people happier and healthier for longer as then you feel inner satisfaction in life.
Make workout fun:
Include the kind of workout that you enjoy. It can be walking, swimming, dancing, cycling, yoga, running, playing sports like badminton, football, tennis etc. Join someplace which is near to your place. Do not join classes at a place which takes you more than 20 minutes to reach. If it’s more distant than that, there are high chances you will be skipping your classes for most of the days. Make exercise a routine and do it daily. Do special or more workouts on your holidays to keep your motivation up. Participate in competitions, marathons etc. to push yourself. If you have the authority then introduce yoga classes in the morning for all the employees. Nowadays many corporate setups are doing this.
Always remember that healthy routine at the workplace will help you stay healthier and younger. You will save more money, accomplish your dreams and enjoy your life. None of these can be done with poor health.
About the Author
Neha Pundir is a Dietician, Nutritionist & Diabetes Educator. A practising clinical nutritionist, Neha believes in the magic of healthy eating and a good lifestyle. Her Clinic, “Trupt” was founded in 2014 and has served above 5000 people in India and other countries as well. Her treatment is based on lifestyle correction rather than giving medicines. She believes that if one pays attention to his everyday self-care, no disease will prevail in the body and one can enjoy very good health lifelong.
