5 Ways To Fit Exercise into Your Busy Life

Most of us live busy lives these days and for all too many of us exercise often takes a back seat to everything else that we have going on. However, at a time when most of us are engaging in less and less physical activity and eating more and more prepared convenience foods, fitting some exercise into our daily schedule is becoming increasingly important. So, if you find yourself falling into this category then here are five simple ideas for fitting a little exercise into your working day.

1. Take a packed lunch with you to work. Most of us nowadays pop out for lunch, often with some of our co-workers, and often choose less than healthy food options which we wash down with a large cup of coffee or two. Instead take your packed lunch out for a walk (or better still a run) and, when you get tired, stop off to eat.

2. Try 'working out' instead of 'vegging out'. At the end of most working days there are usually a couple of programs on the television that I like to catch to help me unwind and relax. However, instead of stretching out on the couch (probably with a packet of biscuits and a cup of coffee) try doing some exercise and watching the television at the same time. This can be as simple as doing some stretching exercises, sit ups or light weight lifting or, if you are really serious about your exercise, why not set up a small home gym in the house and watch your favorite program while using an exercise bike or a treadmill.

3. Try to reduce the number of coffee breaks you have during the day. It is surprising just how coffee breaks can eat into the day and if you make a note of how long you spend on coffee breaks in an average day you will probably be amazed at just how much time they all add up to. One idea might be to simply roll these breaks up into just a couple of longer breaks each day and use this time to take some exercise, even if it is just walking around your office building or climbing a few flights of stairs. You will also find that the endorphins which your body produces as a result of even a little bit of exercise will do more to stimulate you that your cup of coffee!

4. Make exercise part of your social life. We all like to get out with our friends and chew over the problems of the world but, instead of sitting around in your local bar or coffee shop to do so, why not find a more challenging venue and combine your socializing with a game of badminton, squash or even bowling.

5. Try a little housework. Okay, I can hear a lot of you throwing up your hands in horror but many forms of housework such as cleaning the kitchen, washing down the bathroom, mowing the lawn (not with your favorite ride-on lawn mower), and digging over the vegetable patch are all great forms of exercise. They don't do your house any harm either.

These are just a few simple ideas and I am sure that you can come up with many more of your own. It really doesn't matter what you do, as long as you fit some exercise into your daily routine. And remember, if you haven't done any exercise for a while, take it slow at first and build yourself up gradually.

Before you set up your own home gym check out the health and fitness articles at Lifetime-Fitness-Made-Simple.com for information on everything from simple exercise routines to approaching your local exercise equipment dealer.

7 Tips for Eating While You Work

Of course, in order to loose weight or stay fit or tone up, excercise is not the only way where you need to work on. Food, yes FOOD!! has a lot to do with part of the process of staying fit or wanting to loose weight. What you eat can determine how long it will take you to get or stay in shape and even loose weight. So remember to eat right and eat healthy so you can see a quicker result.

Below is an article that will can help you determine what to eat while at work.

Having lunch at your desk - again? Here's how to make it healthier.

By Heather Hatfield
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Ellen Spencer admits it: She's a desk diner.

"I eat lunch at my desk three or four times a week," says Spencer, an executive assistant in Boston. "I'd like to eat away from my desk with my friends more often, or just get away from my desk for a while, but usually it's just too busy."

Sound like anyone you know? Some 70% of Americans eat at their desks several times a week, according to the American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods Foundation.

The bad news is that this can lead not only to poor nutritional choices, but to food-safety problems as well.

"The desk was not designed to be an eating place," says Rick Hall, RD, MS, a faculty member at Arizona State University in Phoenix. "So spending your lunch hour in front of your computer brings with it a number of issues.""

So what are the hungry and overworked to do? Read on for some desk-dining tips from experts. But first, here are some reasons not to eat while you work.

Drawbacks of Desk Dining

One of the biggest drawbacks to eating at your desk is that you're not focused on your food. Instead, you're sending e-mail, answering the phone, shuffling paper -- the perfect recipe for overeating.

"Eating at your desk encourages mindless eating, and overeating," says Susan Moores, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "You're most likely multitasking and not paying attention to the amount of food you're eating."

Lunching at your desk also means that instead of sitting in front of a computer for eight hours a day, you're doing it for nine.

"Eating at your desk also prevents you from getting up and out of your office," Moores tells WebMD. "You need to get the heart pumping and the blood flowing again, and lunch is an important time to do that. If you're sitting at your desk eating, you lose that opportunity."

As if that weren't bad enough, dining at your desk can create a field day for bacteria.

"If you get called away from your desk, and then you have to put off eating for an hour or two, and then you pick at your lunch over the day, you need to be concerned about the temperature of your food and food safety," says Moores.

In other words, your room-temperature chicken salad sandwich that's been sitting out for three hours can easily become a bacteria feeding ground. But wait, it gets worse. (You might want to put that sandwich down now.)

"The desk, in terms of bacteria, is 400 times more dirty than your toilet," says Charles Gerba, PhD, a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "People turn their desks into bacteria cafeterias because they eat at them, but they never clean them. The phone is the dirtiest, the desktop is next, and the mouse and the computer follow."

To give your desktop the dirt test, Gerba says, "turn your keyboard over and see how many crumbs fall out. The more of a snowstorm, the dirtier your desk."

7 Tips for Desk-Bound Diners

Clearly, it's time to find a new place to dine, like a restaurant or the cafeteria. But for those of us who just can't break away from that ever-expanding pile of work, here are some tips for improving the desk-dining experience:

1. Watch what you eat. "Pay attention to what you're putting in your mouth when you eat at your desk," says Hall, who serves on the advisory board for the Arizona Governor's Council on Health, Physical Fitness, and Sports. "And don't overdo it by eating too much because you're too focused on email. For lunch, you want to pick a meal that's moderate in size but doesn't fill you up."
2. Bring your lunch. "Lunch is a good opportunity to eat healthy," says Hall. "Bring a salad with chicken, nuts, beans and veggies -- you'll get some great nutrients, including fiber and protein." Avoid takeout lunches, which tend to be expensive, oversized, heavy in fat and calories, and lacking in nutrients. To keep your lunch safe, the American Dietetic Association recommends using an insulated lunch bag with a freezer pack to keep your food cold until you can put in the office refrigerator. But don't let more than two hours pass before putting it back into a fridge.
3. Walk when you can. "We're genetically designed to move," says Hall. "So spending lunch at your desk when you have a long day as it is, isn't a good thing." If you have to eat at your desk, look for ways to move during the day. Walk to the water cooler, from the farthest spot in the parking lot, to the copy machine - anything you can do to move your muscles. Better yet, get some physical activity when you get up or at the end of the day to make up for your stagnant lifestyle.
4. Disinfect your desk. "Wiping your whole desk area with disinfecting wipes once a day is enough to get it clean," says Gerba. "Paper towels don't work. They just give the germs a free ride around the office." Be sure to get your phone, your keyboard, and your mouse as well, and avoid touching those surfaces while you're eating, says Moores: "Otherwise, you're just contaminating your food over and over again." And while it shouldn't replace good old-fashioned hand-washing, it's a good idea to keep some hand sanitizer in your desk drawer, too.
5. Use a placemat. Give yourself some extra protection after the wipe-down. "Placemats are good because they create a barrier between your food and the bacteria," says Moores.
6. Eat with a friend. "If you have to eat at your desk, invite an officemate over to eat with you," Moores suggests. "It's important from a productivity and creativity standpoint to get that break and interact with your colleagues."
7. Don't make it a habit. "Sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing it -- it just becomes habit," Spencer says of eating at her desk. "But anytime I can get away for lunch, I definitely take advantage of it. My ideal lunch is to just catch up with my friends at work, or relax and read a magazine in the cafeteria."

3 minute desk yoga

We all know that typing all day and sitting in front of a computer can cause our neck, shoulders, and hands to get stressed out! Below is a video that can aid you when you are beginning to feel stress and need a break from all the work. Enjoy!


Copy and paste the link to another tab and it will direct you to the 3 minute desk yoga video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl_Ck2LCGoE&feature=related

Simple Desk Exercises

Sitting in a desk or in front of a computer all day can be cause strain or stress on your back. Doing these simple desk exercises for a few seconds each can help you feel better! You can do even when you're stuck in the cubicle on your all day!