How I fit in Fitness at the office

Spring is finally here!

Just feeling the sun, hearing the birds, and seeing all that lush green makes me want to get out there and move.

Spring makes being active so much easier.

But moving when the weather isn’t great, or when you’re super busy, can make being active more challenging.

But challenges can be fun, right?

Six months ago when I went back to a desk-job, I was faced with that kind of a challenge.

Over the past five years, my body had gotten used to regular movement as a fitness teacher and trainer, and getting back behind a desk scared me.

I didn’t want to lose my fitness and I didn’t want to sit for hours on end (because, as you may have heard, sitting is the new smoking and I don’t want to be a smoker).

I wondered how I could still be active each day despite having to work for 8 hours in a cubicle.

So I decided to look at my returning to full-time office work as an opportunity – a challenge – to figure this out.

And this blog post is about what I’ve done and how how I did it…

First – thanks to the wonderful man in my life – I was hooked up with a reliable wearable device (a Fitbit actually).

That means I’ve got a step-counter on my wrist all the time.

At the beginning, I just used it to make sure I got in that magic “10,000 steps” each day (which, by the way, is just a nice, round number and not based in science – but I digress).

But now I’ve evolved from 10,000 steps a day, to getting those 10,000 steps in before I leave the office.

What I’ve found is that it’s made me more motivated to get up regularly out of my chair and walk.

And this device also has an added feature.  It’s programmed to let me know if I didn’t do at least 250 steps within an hour during the working day.

So 10 minutes before the hour, let’s say at 1:50pm, it vibrates if I haven’t gotten in at least 250 steps since 1pm.

So, if I can (if I’m not in a meeting or on a call), I get up and walk around at least until I accomplish that small goal.

Sometimes technology is absolutely wonderful.

Another thing I do to reach that 10,000 step goal is I get outside for a walk pretty much every lunch time (except when I have a meeting – who books meetings at noon?) – even in the rain, even in winter.

I bring my walking shoes to work, so I just lace them up, and head outside for 15 to 30 minutes.

This isn’t an easy one.

I’m pretty much the only one in my office to do this, but it’s important to me.

Getting outside not only helps me reach my daily step goal, but it also helps me reset my batteries by getting out of the stuffy office and into the fresh air.

And I don’t get out there to walk fast.

I’m perfectly happy just to be out there, breathing and moving.  It takes me out of my head and into the present moment.

I’ve also noticed that when I do get outside, I avoid that dip in energy that usually happens around 2pm.

Also, as part of my daily office steps, I make sure that at least once a day I run up the stairs to the 5th floor, which happens to be the top floor of my building.

It’s become a daily ritual that I really love.

Running up the stairs is just enough to really get my heart pumping, but not enough to cause me to sweat through my clothes.

It makes me feel alive and, like getting outside, it brings me back to the present and what’s truly important – breathing and my health.

Finally, still in an effort to get my steps in, I walk to see people in the office rather than use the internal texting system or email.

This not only helps take reduce my time spent sitting, it also makes for better communication and stronger working relationships.

Now, there’s one more thing that really helps me get through each day at the office.

I meditate for 5 minutes.

Using my Headspace app, usually, I sit for just 5 minutes in a quiet area (I even used the bathroom until I found a better place), with my eyes closed, and just be.

At first this wasn’t easy because somehow I felt that sitting doing nothing wasn’t a good use of my time and it just contributed to more sitting.

But once I really put in the effort to sit for those 5 minutes each day – somewhere between 8 and 8:30 am – I created a routine that I can’t wait for each morning.

Although meditation isn’t movement, it does keep me fit.  And that’s why I do it.

It puts my stress in perspective, it allows me to appreciate just the fact that I am here, and that no matter what’s going on, I’m enough just as I am.

Pretty amazing for a just a 5-minute investment!

So now you know what I’ve been doing each day at the office to maintain my fitness despite my full-time office day-job.

Having a busy life seems like a great excuse not to be fit.

But in fact, taking the time to be fit physically and mentally makes having a busy life do-able.

Keep moving forward,

Debbie