the health caveats of working remotely
Many of my clients work from home and I’ve noticed some habits that you, too, may have adopted.
Lack of schedule
Without the parameters that an office job creates, you are granted the ability to set your own schedule. Hooray! Now, make sure that you establish a realistic schedule that you can adhere to. This means breakfast before work. Snack. Lunch at lunch time. Working at home can present the opportunity to graze, and when we skip that morning meal and fail to get enough calories throughout the day, chances are we are going to make up for it at night.
Eating at your computer
We all do it, but, DON’T DO IT! Current times are such that us people animals are wildly disconnected from our bodies, and the innovations we enjoy enhance the disconnect. True sensations of hunger and satiety are hard to uncover when we are doing all the things while also eating a meal. Slow down. Prepare food. Eat it somewhere pleasant with no technological accompaniment.
Movement
There are so many possibilities for movement throughout the workday, but it all depends on where you are and what you need. Is there an early morning class nearby or perhaps a lunch time session? Do you like to follow virtual exercise recordings, maybe some HIIT or a barre workout? Can you get out for a walk at some point? No? Hold plank for 5 breaths once an hour. Do 20 jumping jacks once an hour. Start every day with one minute in child’s pose and finish with supine spinal twists.
Posture
Connective tissue is truly amazing in that it forms to support that which we do daily. It does not discern to uphold our ‘good’ habits as opposed to our ‘bad’ habits. It doesn’t judge. It simply adapts to support our function. If you sit at a desk, looking down at a screen with a rounding spine and neck, the body will adjust to become as strong as possible in that particular shape. The population suffers from this phenomenon. Round spines lead to weak abdominal muscles and minimizes breath depth. Shallow breathing leads to higher stress hormones, which sparks chronic low grade inflammation and this makes us susceptible to disease. Sit up straight. Consider an ergonomic chair or stability ball to sit tall on. Sitting on the floor and using your coffee table as a desk may be a good option! Set up your desk so that you’re looking straight ahead at your screen and not at a downward angle. Take a moment every now and again to look away from your screen and take a few deep breaths.
What to eat?!
The best part of working from home, in my humble and nutritious opinion, is access to your own kitchen and fridge. My favorite lunch is a bowl riff on the macrobiotic diet. It’s easy, tasty, sustaining, good for you and can be pre-prepped.
Steam some greens: kale/collards/mustard/dandelion/spinach (sometimes I boil an egg in the water while the greens steam up top)
Cook a whole grain - millet/farro/quinoa/brown rice
Put to use some leftover roasted squash or sweet potato
Throw in some beans if you have a can open or have them around lentils/black/kidney/adzuki/chickpea…
A scoop of each goes in a bowl, top with saurkraut, avocado, sesame seeds, and a dressing that you love. Check out my dressings page for inspiration!
MOTIVATION!
Herein lies the ultimate challenge: Where does one find the motivation to get up, get dressed, get cooking and get to work when one doesn’t actually have to leave the house?
If the motivation is elusive then we really have to ask ourselves more questions. How do you feel? How do you want to feel? How can you fuel your feel? What makes you good at your job? What is the point of it all? Big questions, I know. But when we slow down and ask ourselves what we really, truly want out of this one and only life, the answers are clear and simple.
Still fuzzy? Get at me, I love to help you find your way.
