Being a hardworking professional probably means that most of your time is spent either commuting or at the office. Working out, and generally being healthy, can be tricky when stress levels are high, and time is limited. Many surveys showed that most workers struggle to have a healthy lifestyle. Amongst the many factors contributing to this phenomena, these three seem to be the most prominent.
1- You don’t have time to exercise
Life is hectic. For most people trying to fit exercise into their schedule is a real challenge. Even so, there is a substantial amount of “busy people” that seem to be able to make everything fit in their agenda. How do they do that?
The reality is that there are many ways of maintaining a healthy lifestyle while still taking care of all the other aspects of your life.
First of all, people that exercise regularly have more energy to do all their other activities.
In fact, according to an analysis of the University of Georgia, exercise plays a significant role in increasing energy levels and reducing fatigue.
There are also many overlooked ways of making exercise time-effective, such as:
- Walking or using a bicycle to commute to work
- Spending the weekends doing outdoor activities
- Walking up one hour earlier and having a morning PT session (and possibly going to bed one hour earlier than usual not to miss out on sleep)
- Going for a jog during lunch break
All these activities may seem complicated to fit in your schedule at first, but with time, it’s possible to put them on autopilot and make them a part of your routine.
2- Your office environment makes it impossible to stay fit and healthy
Surely most workplaces don’t supply their employees with the most fit-friendly environment. Most offices don’t have adjustable standing desks and tend to be stocked up with sugary foods like biscuits and candies. On top of that, a hectic and stressful lifestyle makes exerting willpower extremely hard for the typical employee.
On the other side of the coin, we see companies becoming more and more aware of corporate wellness. Nowadays, most employers know the importance of having healthy employees. A popular article from The Telegraph even shows that nearly half of the employers are “unlikely” to hire overweight workers.
Many companies give their employees monthly cash bonuses to invest on their health (for example, buying a gym membership or hiring a personal trainer), or they might even have their own gym facilities and organize sports events for all their employees.
Also, it is not so uncommon to see health insurance companies (Vitality to mention one) offering bonuses and rewards for the employees that complete some fitness challenges (for example walking 8000 steps a day may earn you a cinema ticket), usually using a watch like FitBit.
Whether the company you work for is investing in corporate wellness or not, it’s always up to you to make health and fitness a part of your lifestyle. Sure, sometimes there’s not much you can do to improve your working environment. If that’s the case, you need to do your best to stay active and eat healthily with the resources your office offers and the time you have.
3- Your high-travel schedule makes it hard to create and maintain healthy habits
A healthy lifestyle is the sum of many healthy habits. Maintaining these habits while travelling can be extremely difficult for most. This is true for all the jobs that require you to travel on a daily or weekly basis.
The precious routine that you carefully built back home gets thrown out of the window, quickly replaced by long flights, plane food, taxis, and high-calorie takeaways. Exercise doesn’t fit in the picture anymore because of jet lag and the absence of convenient gym facilities.
Amongst the three problems showcased in this article, this is the hardest to address because of its unpredictability. There are a few strategies that can help you to stay healthy while on a business trip, but they do require a bit of preparation. Some of the most effective ones are:
- Preparing the food to carry with you before each flight (this will save you from snacking on comfort food or having an unhealthy airplane meal)
- Booking hotels that have a gym
- Booking yourself to some fitness classes in the city you’re going to
- Bringing a pair of running shoes with you, and having a morning or evening jog
- Cutting some time to go for a long walk
If your trip is short, you won’t even need to do some extra physical activities, but watching what you’re going to eat is always advisable.