6 Ways To Lose The Tech 20
Succumbed to the freshman 15's sequel? It's time to drop the Red Bull and Doritos and get a move on.
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OK, we know this is a radical idea. Perhaps even a violation of an unspoken code of office etiquette. Before you panic, bear with us for a moment here, though. What if, once or twice a day, instead of IM'ing your colleague who sits one floor above, you actually left your chair, climbed the stairs, and spoke to that person face-to-face? I'm told that back in the corporate Dark Ages, before IM and smartphones, this is the way people actually communicated. Everyday. Can you even imagine?
We're pretty sure at this stage of the game you can distinguish between healthy food choices and unhealthy ones. But did you know that Harvard researchers have identified five foods and beverages that drive weight gain? And guess what: Potato chips top the list, followed by potatoes in all their other delicious incarnations, sugar-sweetened beverages, unprocessed red meat, and processed meats. Meanwhile, the Harvard researchers also discovered that your mom was right all along. These are the foods most likely to drive weight loss: vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts, and yogurt.
Yes, you read that right. The worldwide interwebs are chock-a-block with all manner of exercise tips and tricks for the desk-bound worker. Our favorite is, by far, the Grok squat, detailed in the article "The Desk Jockey Workout: 8 Ways To Stay in Shape at the Office." We tried this one at the home office and can confirm that it does wonders to relieve tension in the lower back, hips, and thighs. One bit of advice: If you haven't done a Grok squat before, try it with a wall at your back. Otherwise you may end up sitting on the floor, hard and fast. Here's how Art of Manliness describes the move: "The Grok squat is a sitting position that you find in cultures that don't have sofas or chairs like we do in the West." Here's a step-by-step guide to performing a proper Grok squat, courtesy of Mark's Daily Apple.
At the risk of embarrassing yourself in front of your co-workers, there is a range of stretching exercises you can do at your desk throughout the day to help improve blood flow and alleviate muscle tension. Some are incredibly simple. For instance, when was the last time you stood up and sat down without using your hands? Try doing it over and over, and let us know how that works for you. Among the many "deskercise" tips we've tried, this set of 12 from WebMD seemed to be the most practical and useful -- and likely to attract the least amount of derision from your cubemates.
Standing desks are looking increasingly attractive as articles crop up painting the average desk chair as a tool of Satan. My InformationWeek colleague Chris Murphy has been using his own homegrown version of a standing desk for about a year. Among the things he learned: When his work requires a high level of sustained concentration, he performs better while seated. If you're trying to figure out whether a standing desk will work for you, check out Murphy's first-hand experience.
Stress has many negative effects on your health. Stress and anxiety can affect your ability to make healthy food choices and can lead to overeating. In addition, researchers are exploring hormonal connections between stress and obesity -- specifically the hormone cortisol. When you're stressed, your body releases cortisol and other adrenal hormones which, in the short term, are designed to help your body respond to a fight-or-flight situation. Stress becomes dangerous when it's a chronic situation -- which is the case for many of us in the modern workplace. See the next slide for some ways to better deal with stress.
Finding ways to cut back your stress levels at work can go a long way to helping you stay healthy. One of the biggest challenges is learning how to deal with interruptions during your workday, which can elevate your stress level and derail your ability to concentrate. According to an article in Forbes, "12 Ways to Eliminate Stress at Work," there are three options for responding to an interruption: Accept it, cut it off, or diagnose its importance and make a plan for dealing with it at an appropriate time.
I'm planning on implementing these tips into my own workday. I'll let you know how that goes. Meanwhile, I hope you'll give some (or all) of these suggestions a try, and keep me posted on your progress. And please share your own tips and good habits in the comments field below. I don't know about everyone else here, but I can use all the help I can get.
Can working in IT make you fat? If the majority of your workday is spent in a chair, then it's entirely possible.
In fact, according to an article in Men's Health, "Sentenced to the Chair," a worker who stands all day (think store clerks) burns about 1,500 calories while on the job, while a person sitting behind a desk expends about 1,000 calories.
After only eight months of starting sedentary work, a person will gain an average of 16 pounds, according to the Men's Health article, citing research from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
And that's the average office worker in the average cube farm.
If you're lucky enough to work at one of Silicon Valley's celebrated corporate campuses, you're tempted by 24x7 access to all the food you can eat, for free or at significantly reduced prices. For example, the chefs employed by Google cook nearly 2 million pounds of meat per year, according to Thrillist, which highlights the "13 Companies With the Best Food Perks." At the Facebook campus, you score three free meals a day, five days a week, and your dining options on the main campus include two cafes, a BBQ shack, a burger bar, a pizzeria, a taqueria, a sweet shop... oh, and the obligatory salad cafe.
If that weren't enough, stress is known to cause weight gain. Anyone working in IT or tech claiming to not be stressed out is likely either lying or crazy.
Meanwhile, a growing body of research is showing that the negative effects of sitting all day at work can't simply be ameliorated by an evening gym workout. If you're spending eight hours or more sitting at a desk, your body is going through all manner of physiological changes that not only increase the chances of weight gain, but could actually take years off your life.
So what's a desk-bound IT professional to do? Here are six tips to help you beat the Tech 20. Once you've scrolled through the slides, drop by the comments section, and tell us which methods you think will work best for you. While you're at it, give us your own tips and tricks for keeping the forces of gravity at bay.
Can working in IT make you fat? If the majority of your workday is spent in a chair, then it's entirely possible.
In fact, according to an article in Men's Health, "Sentenced to the Chair," a worker who stands all day (think store clerks) burns about 1,500 calories while on the job, while a person sitting behind a desk expends about 1,000 calories.
After only eight months of starting sedentary work, a person will gain an average of 16 pounds, according to the Men's Health article, citing research from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
And that's the average office worker in the average cube farm.
If you're lucky enough to work at one of Silicon Valley's celebrated corporate campuses, you're tempted by 24x7 access to all the food you can eat, for free or at significantly reduced prices. For example, the chefs employed by Google cook nearly 2 million pounds of meat per year, according to Thrillist, which highlights the "13 Companies With the Best Food Perks." At the Facebook campus, you score three free meals a day, five days a week, and your dining options on the main campus include two cafes, a BBQ shack, a burger bar, a pizzeria, a taqueria, a sweet shop... oh, and the obligatory salad cafe.
If that weren't enough, stress is known to cause weight gain. Anyone working in IT or tech claiming to not be stressed out is likely either lying or crazy.
Meanwhile, a growing body of research is showing that the negative effects of sitting all day at work can't simply be ameliorated by an evening gym workout. If you're spending eight hours or more sitting at a desk, your body is going through all manner of physiological changes that not only increase the chances of weight gain, but could actually take years off your life.
So what's a desk-bound IT professional to do? Here are six tips to help you beat the Tech 20. Once you've scrolled through the slides, drop by the comments section, and tell us which methods you think will work best for you. While you're at it, give us your own tips and tricks for keeping the forces of gravity at bay.
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