Whether you work out of an office, your home, or are still in school, it can be tough to stay on track with your health and fitness goals while managing a large workload. It’s easy to prioritize your to-do list and put yourself on the back burner. We’ve learned that the healthier and happier we are in our personal lives, the better we are at our jobs.
Eat good. Feel good. Do good.
To help all of us stay on track with living a healthy life while working long hours, here are our top four tips for the working girl who wants to feel good and look good.
- Drink Up
It’s so important to stay hydrated throughout the day, which is something that’s very easy to forget about. With deadlines, meetings and conference calls consuming your day, it can be hard to gulp down the recommended eight glasses of water. However, staying hydrated throughout the day can help keep your energy up, reduce headaches and allow you to be more in touch with your hunger (sometimes when you think you’re starving, you’re really just dehydrated). Also, we’ve found that when we’re sipping water out of a super cute tumbler, I’m able to get those eight glasses down no problem. And if you’re like me and need some extra help to remind you to drink water, there are tons of free apps that you can download that track your water intake and send friendly reminders throughout the day to start sipping. One more tip: squeeze a little lemon into your water. It’ll taste great and give you some added benefits, too.
- Plan Your Meals
Planning what you’re going to have for breakfast, lunch or dinner takes the guesswork out of an already stressful day, and can also save you from making bad diet decisions when your hunger turns hangry (hungry + angry). What we try to do is take a little bit of time on Sundays to go over my schedule for the week, make a trip to the grocery store, and prep as many of my meals as possible. Also, bringing your own food to work or cooking at home can save lots of $$$, which is an added bonus. If you plan out your week—including your meals—ahead of time, you’ll find it easier to stay on track.
- The Buddy System
Having a partner in crime when it comes to health and fitness goals can be hugely helpful. Whether it’s someone at your office, or just a friend that you can chat and text with, having a friend who’s working toward the same goals as you can really help you stay on track. Have people that you can check in with periodically throughout the day, who can also help out when those intense sugar cravings come along… It’s also a fun way to get to know the people you work with. You can make a bunch of friends by finding workout buddies at the office. And, you’re much more likely to actually make it to that workout class or go on that hike if you’ve got a friend who’s doing it with you.
- Work It Out
Fitting a workout into a long workday can seem nearly impossible. However, we’ve found that making the time for an hour-long sweat sesh is critical for us. It boosts my mood, makes me more productive when I’m working, and just makes me feel happier and healthier in general. It’s easy to skip out on the gym when you think of it as something you have to fit into your busy workday. But if you change your perspective a little bit and think about it differently, you’ll find the time. Now, we plan our workday around our workout, instead of the other way around. If you have a late morning meeting, work out in the morning. If your day is going to start super early, make sure to leave work a bit early so that you can make that barre class or go for a hike before the sun sets. It’s not always easy to do, but when you’re able to make it a part of your everyday routine, it can make a world of difference in your mood, performance at work and overall happiness.
Do you have any tips or tricks to add to the list?
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