I’ve mentioned before that I’m not big on guest posts. Mostly it’s because I enjoy going to blogs to read the person’s thoughts that it belongs to. Truth be told, I often skip over guest posts. If you’re the same way, I understand. BUT WAIT. Today I have my friend Sarah stopping by to chat with you guys. Why Sarah?
Sarah and I have been friends since high school and share an affinity for all things health-nutty like kombucha, kale and spiralizers. She lives it up in NYC and OWNS a corporate wellness company. Since I get so many emails about health coaching and corporate wellness, plus I know so many of you work in an office setting, I thought you would really enjoy her perspective on things. Also, she’s a riot. She has a great snarky writing style (you should also check out her blog, Acting Like Sarah- did I mention she is also an actress? The girl has skills!)
So read on, see if you can relate and leave her some love or questions in the comments…
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It’s 3pm. Lucy, the girl at the next desk over, just brought back a tray of cupcakes from her late lunch. Her intentions are good – to share. To bring the office together and bond over an indulgence. Give the group momentary feelings of energy and excitement. She means well.
But, a thought creeps into the back of your brain. You don’t want to have this thought, but it’s there… “That b*tch!” You think to yourself. “Darn you, Lucy!”
Grrr… You’ve been doing so well with your morning workouts and salads for lunch and sugar avoidance. Why? WHY is she sabotaging you?!? So, you do what any good co-worker does. You eat the cupcake. You eat it because you want to participate, and you eat it because it’s there. And it has sprinkles. It’s so damn beautiful, it’s art. And who are you to deny art!? No one. That’s who. So, you eat it. Maybe slowly, maybe quickly, so it’s like pulling off a band aid.
Either way, you feel defeated and yuck afterwards. And an hour later, your blood sugar all amiss, up and down like whack-a-mole at the Chuck-E-Cheese, you crash from the hand held cake’s sugar seduction. You’re cloudy and tired and grumpy, so you and your office suffer…
No. Bueno.
When Brittany and I talked about my writing a blog post about office wellness, I wasn’t sure exactly what was going to be the subject. I played with lists of things you can do to healthify your work day – drink water, take the stairs, pack healthy snacks… But we all know what we’re SUPPOSED to do. The real kicker is, why don’t we do them?
The easiest answer is that it’s too easy not to. Lunch delivers to your desk, diet soda has caffeine, and cupcakes are freakin’ everywhere …and delicious. It’s too hard to make those good-for-you choices! So, in order to get healthy, we have to make it as easy as possible. And, as a co-founder of The Wellness Project NYC, a fun Corporate Wellness program that promotes lasting change by forming healthy habits, this happens to be my specialty.
The first ingredient in the recipe for lasting change is that you start small. Like, super small. Little changes yield hella results. Nothing is too tiny! Shift a moment of your day and you can flip the switch to a cascade of healthful decisions. So pick some simple changes and make them hard and fast.
- Do 20 squats after your first phone call of the day.
- Bring your lunch every Monday.
- Go for a 2pm walk on Tuesdays.
- Drink a glass of water after every cup of coffee.
Don’t think in terms of overall effect just yet. Small, manageable changes have the ability to shift thought process and break up habit/routine enough to see results. You don’t have to run miles every day to illicit health. I swear. It’s science.
The second step is creating an atmosphere that supports your little victories. A team. You’ve got to foster a group in the office that is on-board with your healthy habits and is willing to comply. This is HUGE! If you want to make change easy, you’ve got to surround yourself with supportive energy. So gather your mates and make some office rules!
- Celebrate all of the month’s Birthdays with sweets on a single designated day. (give hand written notes on the individual’s actual day)
- Coordinate a “healthy snack share”
- Get a group together to go for a mid-day power walk (weird hip swivel optional)
- Have workout time-outs – Office-wide! Drop and give me 10!!
Soon, you’ll start to notice that healthy thoughts abound and will power will be less labor intensive. Your office will win, too, see:
It takes some organization, but you probably do it in your home, so why not do it where you work? Come up with things your work-mates can do together that are simple and lay ground rules for daily life. Over time, these shifts will add up to mega results that you will feel and see. Not only will they keep you healthy, they’ll keep intra-office relationships healthy – No more cursing that brat…I mean co-worker, Lucy, for her corruption-by-cupcake! #winning
The Wellness Project NYC is a super fun, new, and effective corporate wellness program founded by Sarah Jacobs and Rachel Brown. It allows employees to compete against each other in a comprehensive digital program that promotes a holistically healthy lifestyle. They have a silly and fun outlook on health and wellness and make Holistic Health approachable and simple. Sarah is also an Actor and a Writer and you can check out her personal blog at ActingLikeSarah.com.
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