Editor’s
note: Maimonides writes, “Maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the
ways of G‑d’s service, for one cannot understand or have any knowledge of the
Creator if one is ill.”1
Finding it
difficult to fit exercise into your already overfull schedule? Wondering how
others manage? Try some of these tips for incorporating exercise into your day
and find yourself feeling fitter, cheerier and more alert during the work day.
Make it
Official
● Schedule exercise into your calendar
ahead of time, and don’t move it unless there’s a true emergency.
Make your exercise appointment the most immutable appointment of your day.
● Establish and record a very
specific health goal for the next three months. For
example, exercise for 90 minutes 3 times per week, or walk for 60 minutes 6
days per week.
● Find someone you can be
accountable to in terms of your health and exercise. It helps to have a
personal trainer waiting (and charging you) for the appointment whether you
show up or not, but it is also helpful to have a training
buddy. Typically, it’s more likely one will show up to exercise when
someone is waiting. It’s also more enjoyable to exercise with a friend!
Work with
what you Have
Educate your kids about the benefits
of eating healthily and explain to them
what eating junk does to the body.
● Walking is a wonderful exercise,
removes stress, and improves one’s mood. Walking some, or all, of the way to
and from work will help your fitness, and the time added to your commute will
be compensated for by better health. Not to mention helping the environment!
● Get off that phone! When you need
to discuss something with a workmate in your office area, stand up and walk
over to him/her. This not only gives you an extra chance to move around during
the day but also helps foster important work relationship.
● Take the stairs whenever possible
and get in a quick cardio workout. Be creative. If you work on the 60th floor
of your building then take the elevator to the 55th floor and walk up the last
5 flights. This may require extra effort and some time adjustments but the
rewards are worthwhile.
● If you find it difficult to make
it to the gym after work try doing a morning workout at home. Make sure to keep
your weight workouts under an hour.
Eat Right
● Drink lots of water. Keep a
water-bottle on your desk and keep on chugging.
● Do not skip breakfast or lunch. You will feel
so hungry by mid afternoon that you'll end up eating more food, and worse food,
than if you’d started the day with a healthy meal.
● When it comes to living a healthy
lifestyle, you don’t have to go it alone. Educate your kids about the benefits
of eating healthily and explain to them
what eating junk does to the body. Cut back on the junk food you keep at
home and involve your family in exercise activities. Turning fitness and
nutrition into goals your whole family can share will help you stay on track while setting a good example for your kids.
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