Customer PortalIt’s the day after Thanksgiving, and you know what that means: Christmas music has officially hit the airwaves, festive holiday decorations are being brought out of storage, and people everywhere are searching for the best deals of this holiday season. Come Monday, we’ll be returning to work. For many of us, this means sitting at a desk for several hours—sometimes all day! And with winter creeping up just around the corner, it’s important to stay on top of our health, even after the holidays have passed.
When it’s gloomy and cold outside, it’s easy to forget (or ignore) things like working out or drinking enough water throughout the day. Plenty of articles out there will tell you how important it is to stay active even when the sun sets by 5 p.m.
At Twin State, our office offers a number of ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle—even while we’re on the clock! Things like sit/stand desks keep us from spending the whole day stationary. Sitting all day at a desk can lead to crippling lower back pain over time. According to the Georgetown University Center on an Aging Society, back pain is a major reason for missed work for adults, regardless of age. So making sure you stretch, move around, and just get up from your desk every hour can do wonders for your body!
Sedentary work spaces aren’t the only hazards to your body’s well-being. Lack of hydration can also take a toll on your health. When asked the season with the highest dehydration rate, we would all probably think of summer. Here’s the twist: the likelihood of dehydration actually rises in the colder months. And making sure that you get in your eight 8oz glasses of water every day has added benefits aside from keeping you hydrated, including helping you to feel more awake in the morning, helping you to fall asleep more easily at night, and helping regulate your body temperature.
Here are our Twin State Tips to keep you healthy this winter:
“I do various things which I think are beneficial, but I don’t necessarily do them because they’re beneficial. I drink both green and black tea. I’m told green tea has health benefits such as antioxidants, but I don’t know what any of that means and it’s not the reason I drink it. A good black tea in the morning helps satisfy my addiction to caffeine but is less “intense” than coffee. It also keeps my hands warm, which is nice because the office is usually cold during the morning.
I also make an effort to visit the gym 3 days a week. I warm up on the bike machines and then do about an hour’s worth of weight lifting. This includes squats, bench press, pull ups, and deadlifts. But I call them “dadlifts” because you should be able to lift the weight of your dad!
At the office, we have a snack machine including M&Ms, trail mix, and plain almonds. I usually just eat the almonds because they are a lean source of protein.
So, yeah! Drink tea, exercise 3 days a week, get a standing desk if you can, and make sure you only make good, nutritious food available to yourself.”
– Chris Weiser (Designer)
“I try to get to the gym at least 3 times a week, but some other activities that I do to get a little exercise include:
- Splitting wood
- Sawing down dead trees while there aren’t as many bugs or as much growth
- Shoveling snow
- Skiing
- Snowshoeing
- Sledding
- Getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night
Not very exciting, but that’s how we roll during the cold months.”
– Chris Moore (Web/Digital Manager)
“Bringing your own healthy snack each day keeps you away from the junk food in the office. I always bring an apple or something so that I’m not just eating Peanut M&Ms all day.
Getting up every 30 minutes and walking around so that you aren’t just sitting at your desk.”
– Nile Jones (Help Desk)
“I try to drink as much water as I can during the day. I bought a neat water bottle with a soft straw so I mindlessly drink while I work at my desk. Then when I run out, I have an excuse to get up and walk around to go get more. Who knows who I may get to run into at the office water cooler? :wink:
I try to get all creative and bring lunches to work. I am not sure how my Mom did it all the time in grade school because it really is a lot of work to meal-prep. It’s fun to get on Pinterest and try all their healthy, adult, packed lunches. I would recommend Mason jar salads; those are my favorite!
I also try to work out regularly. Working out relieves the stress and anxiety that tend to build up while “adulating.” I run at least a mile every time I’m at the gym, which is good for me. Sometimes I go farther at a slower pace or I try to push myself as fast as I can for a mile. The rest of the time I spend lifting. Nothing beats a good work out and then a homemade smoothy as your reward.”
– Ashley Perkins (Marketing Associate)
Here’s to staying happy and healthy this winter!
From all of us at Twin State.
