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Good morning everyone and thank you for stopping by for one of my classic Coffee Talks. As I am getting more involved with my blog I hope to do a lot of more of these with my goal each week to be one Coffee Talk and then one Breakdown, with potentially more updates coming soon for the future.
For today’s topic, I wanted to talk about how we as remote workers stay active from home. It is amazing how much activity you can get while working from an office because those steps really do add up. More than anything, it is probably the fact that our offices are much larger than our homes so we are covering a greater distance, especially as we head to the breakroom, bathroom, or to the printer. I will be honest that these last four years working from home have certainly seen me gain some unintentional weight that I do hope to work on. So what can we do while from home to get those extra steps and activities in during the work hours that we used to get while in the office? Better yet, rather than just rattling on things that you can do, I’m going to talk about the things that I want and plan on doing. Let us see this as a chance to maybe get a bit healthier together, and not as a means of making ourselves feel guilty and try to celebrate our accomplishments.
- Do not get lax with eating. One of the top perks working from home is my kitchen is only a few feet away from me so I no longer have to worry about planning out my lunch since I can just swing by whenever I want a snack, or choose my meals at my leisure. Where this gets dangerous is all too often I don’t feel like preparing something at lunch time and might just grab a couple handfuls of snacks. Instead, lets try to get back to planning our structured lunches that are a bit healthier that I can choose from. My goal is to try to a bit of meal planning; I used to do this awhile back and it worked out pretty well. While it saves time during the week, it just requires a bit more work upfront, including planning them out. I have also been meaning to get new food containers, so why not these? https://amzn.to/4aZrQ77
- Monitor your progress. Now keeping track of your calories and steps is by no means for everyone. You could even Google to see if it is beneficial, and there will be sources supporting both sides of the argument. I personally am a fan of the wearables and I can explain why. For when I am actively trying to watch what I eat, keeping track of my calories helps me keep my unnecessary snacking in check. It really does help see where my excess calories are coming from and instead I can opt for something healthier, usually saving the extra calories for my D&D sessions or parties where you are supposed to indulge. Additionally, I like being able to see my steps because it does help give me a personal kudos that I accomplished something. Maybe I didn’t hit 10,000 steps but by taking the dogs out for a walk I was able to get in an extra 1,000. Sometimes it isn’t about hitting the mark but by making the effort that counts. An additional benefit is many of the wearables also track sleep, which as my husband and I have been having some sleep issues since our New Year’s incident with our dog, Loki, they have been nice to be able track and try to figure out what works and doesn’t. My go to has always been Fitbit, ever since my husband gifted me with one about 8+ years ago, and that sucker was able to last a very long time. I did finally upgrade in January and that was when I got him one as well by going to the Fitbit Charge 5. Game changer, since it also include the Fitbit app which allows you to look at a historical of everything. Once we can get back into working out, it will make all the difference. If interested: https://amzn.to/3KBz3Q2
- Workout routine. They say the key to keeping up with anything is by setting up a routine, make it part of the everyday. This is certainly where I am struggling, because I have to get that motivation to stick with it. Back when I was in the office I had a couple of coworkers who every 15-minute break, they would go out and do a walk and that was their big way to stay active at work. Part of the reason I haven’t done this is because if I went for a walk I’d feel bad not taking my dogs, and three dogs is a lot to take for a walk. So my personal goal is going to do some sort of activity on my breaks. Maybe I will take them all for a walk, I might decide to do some jumping jacks or sit-ups, or perhaps use that time to clean up the backyard. Another good routine is your morning, before you even start work. I have always talked about doing morning workouts, but that might be a lot to start right away. I think I will start with morning stretches to get the juices flowing, and try to get up to at least trying to do a morning run or walk. Here is a tip: if that morning jog leads you to a fancy coffee drink, that might just act as some motivation.
- Home workout equipment. Now I am not talking about setting up a full home gym (unless you really want to) but I am referring to what can you get in your home office that you can use throughout the day. A couple years ago I actually purchased this: https://amzn.to/3x4ps15. I forget where I was inspired to get the desk cycling but I thought it would solve all of my problems. I do bring it out occasionally, my main problem is it fits awkwardly under my desk so it isn’t always there. Additionally, while it is great for during those large meetings you don’t actually speak during or else general clerical work, it can be very distracting at times you need to pay attention. But my goal is to start using that each week, coordinating it with my schedule so I can designate at least half an hour each use. Now a popular option is the standing desk: https://amzn.to/3VjCCzk. I personally never got into them, but I think that is because I just hate standing so that is a bit of me just wanting to sit. But I have colleagues who swear by them, and typically break their day up between standing and sitting. You might not be moving but standing is much healthier compared to sitting all day long so this is absolutely an option. The other big one, for those who think like Dwight Schrute, is a ball chair: https://amzn.to/45nYHkD. I have not personally used one so I cannot comment them. I have known a lot more people with standing desks in comparison to these chairs, but those who did have the chairs really loved them. I feel this is very much a personal preference. Thankfully they are not nearly as expensive as a standard office chair so it isn’t a huge cost.
- Make it a group effort. Now I am fortunate enough to work for a large enough company that they have many health initiatives throughout the year. We even have an app through Virgin Pulse where we can track various activities that lets us accrue points to purchase gift cards and can count towards our benefits. But they also create challenges which might include seeing which group can get the most steps in a period or complete some sort of goal. While we might not work in person together, that shouldn’t stop us from creating these shared experiences. More than anything, it reminds us that we are not alone and that there are others hoping to see that we succeed. That is perhaps one of my biggest struggles, reaching out for support from others. So if your company or department doesn’t have events like these, maybe try to find some colleagues to join you and do them. You could share and rate new healthy recipes, perhaps do conferences calls while out on a walk instead of at your desks, or maybe do yoga meetings where you collectively follow along to a yoga video. There are a lot of cool ideas out there, we just have to be willing to try them!
So those are my best tips, and they are ones I want to try to follow myself more often to. Please comment below to everyone if you have your own recommendations that I might not have mentioned or perhaps your own feedback on those I did. More than anything, I want to know how everyone stays motivated? Motivation is most likely my biggest struggle, so how does everyone else do it?
I’m looking forward to you recommendations, and I especially look forward to seeing you later this week at the Breakroom. As always, a new Breakroom Breakdown will be up at 7:30am CDT on Friday. Until then, I hope you all have a fantastic week!
