How to Incorporate Healthy Behaviours into your Everyday Life!
Whether you’re working in the office or working from home, it is extremely important to integrate healthy living behaviours into your regular workday. Healthy eating, mindful moments, & physical activity can all help increase your work productivity, energy, & mood. Check out these tips to incorporate healthy living behaviours into your day:
- Drink more water!
Hydration is so important to your health & how the body functions! Adequate hydration can improve physical performance, assist with digestion, nutrient absorption, improve focus, alertness, & much more. Dehydration can negatively impact your cognitive performance as it can cause fatigue and confusion. Learn more about the benefits of drinking water.
In addition to being a healthy practice in and of itself, drinking water can also help increase your daily step count! Firstly, it is a good excuse to get up and walk over to the kitchen area or water fountain to fill up your water bottle. Secondly, drinking more water will inevitably lead to more bathroom breaks. Walking to and from the bathroom is another great way to rack up the steps throughout the day.
Pro Tip: If you work in a multi-story building, consider talking the stairs up to the washroom one floor above or below you. Over the day, this small difference will produce big increases in overall step count.
- Take the stairs:
If you work in a multi-story building, consider taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If you’re working from home, fill up your water on another floor in the house. If you’re working from home in an apartment building, take a quick movement break and do a trek up and down the stairs.
- Park Farther Away:
Although walking to work is the ultimate step-producing machine, this isn’t a feasible practice for many of us who live quite far from work. If you drive to work, consider choosing a parking spot that is farther away from the front door. This will make a big difference in your overall step count for the day. The same rule applies to when you take a trip to the store. Park farther away! Every step counts.
- Lunch Break Movement
The time you have in the middle of the day for lunch is one of the best opportunities to get some extra activity in. Find a nice spot outside of the office to stroll to & eat your lunch. If you have the ability to eat at your desk/at your home workstation, take yourself for a walk during your lunch break and enjoy your lunch before or afterwards. Weather isn’t pleasant for a walk? We recommend swapping for stretching exercises that will help you move your body and release tension on your break. These types of extra activity will allow you to return to your work more focused and attentive.
- Make your meetings active:
Schedule a walking meeting with a colleague or if you’re working remotely, schedule a virtual call and walk while you talk! Mid-day walking meetings are a great way to boost your energy & your daily step count.