6 Ideas to Help you Feel Great and Stay Fit During your Work Week
Work is hard, days are short, the thought of working out is daunting, and you have no time to get to the gym anyway. Sometimes, it seems like the easiest way to get through the work week is to run out, grab a latte, and get back to work. Or, better yet, if you have that latte delivered right to your desk, you won’t have to get up at all!
But what if we stopped thinking about moving our bodies as something we “should do for our health” and started thinking about it as a better source of energy and well-being – rather than just a way to down a latte?
1. Consider Physical Movement as High-Energy Fuel for Every Day
The immediate payoffs of exercise are good news for anyone with high-stress career: less stress, higher energy levels, and a more positive outlook. A published study in the Journal of Exercise and Sport Psychology that investigated the “feel good” effects from physical activity among 190 young adults (66% of whom were women), reported that physical activity was associated with increased feelings of energy and enthusiasm. Who doesn’t want that?
2. Everything Counts, so Seek Out and Count Any and All Movement
And one more very import thing to remember: Moving your body always counts—even if it’s less time than you’ve learned to believe, and at low to moderate intensity. Don’t believe me? Try asking yourself: if you haven’t paid attention to how you feel even after a short duration of physical movement, try it a few times. Many of my self-care clients are surprised by how even a little bit of physicality goes a long way toward vitality.
3. Take a “Coffee Walk” instead of a Coffee Break
I know, you really want that latte! So here’s the plan: instead of meeting your friend in a café and sitting to chat, both of you get your coffee/chai to go — then walk around your building, or head out to enjoy the city while you talk about life, love, challenges or even work.
4. Go Out to Eat (Really)
Instead of eating lunch at your desk or the lunchroom, walk to a nearby park or find a bench, and munch there. If you’ve got extra time before you have to go back to work, extend your walking time by strolling —even window-shopping counts, because you’re moving. And just breathing fresh air can further boost your mood for the better.
5. Only Change One Behavior at a Time
We’ve learned “more is better” in our society, but when it comes to behavior change, to a great extent,. that’s a recipe for overload. If these ideas have motivated you to move more, then you should feel good about just working on this for three to six months.
If the goal is a lifetime, why not take enough time to learn how to stick with it through the ebbs and flows of life? Once you feel confident you have physical activity down, then you can pick something else to work on.
6. Decide to Reap Immediate Rewards
As discussed in this New York Times article about my new book No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness, when you decide to move in ways that feel good to you, you will keep choosing to move again and again and again. Why? Because humans are hardwired to respond to immediate, positive gratification, and to choose what makes them feel good over what feels bad. So let’s get strategic about this, and leverage human nature!