Thursday, March 19, 2009

Whittle (Your Waist) While You Work

Just got this email today from Best Life and I really like their ideas.

Whittle (Your Waist) While You Work
By Liz Plosser

The office might be good for many things—a paycheck, gossip, a lively holiday party, to name just a few. But if you're watching your weight and trying to live healthier, it can be fraught with obstacles that threaten to throw you off track—from the doughnuts at morning meetings to the vending machine you're tempted to raid on late nights. Use this 9-to-5 guide to stick to your diet and stay healthy:

8 a.m. Slip on flats when you're getting ready
Folks who wear comfy clothes and shoes to work take an average of 491 more steps a day than their dressed-up, high-heeled colleagues, reports a study by the American College of Sports Medicine. Those extra 500 steps add up over the days, weeks and months and can help you drop a few pounds by the end of the year, according to the study authors.

9:30 a.m. Stretch it out
Set an alert on your computer to remind yourself to stop and stretch your arms, neck, upper back and shoulders for a couple of minutes. You'll reduce pain, prevent tension headaches and reduce the occurrence of migraines, reports a study out of the University of Turin in Italy.

10 a.m. Stand up when chatting on the phone
The more activities you do while standing up, the better, says James Levine, Ph.D., a scientist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, whose research has found that standing boosts your calorie burn by about 50 calories for each half hour you would've been sitting.

12:30 p.m. Take a lunch break
Ditch your cubicle at lunchtime: Folks who eat while they're distracted consume an average of 40 percent more than those who take a break and focus on enjoying their meal, according to a study by Brian Wansink, Ph.D., a behavioral eating researcher at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

4 p.m. Look out the window
Pause for a minute and take a look at the outside world: Researchers at University of Washington in Seattle found that when study participants viewed the outdoors, their heart rates decreased by up to nine beats per minute—and their pulses fell twice as fast after a stressful situation—compared to those who looked at blank walls or digital images of nature scenes.

No comments: