Glenview Personal Trainer

Weight Loss Tips

Weight Loss for Busy Professionals by Andrew Bora

Are you a career professional, busy climbing the corporate ladder? No time for working out, you think? This is the problem that many people have today-- especially those of us working at office desk jobs. The population of workers in most highly developed modern countries has become more sedentary, leading to a smorgasbord of health problems! Of course, the most obvious one is that people are increasingly becoming overweight or even obese. These conditions can lead to many serious health problems, especially later on in life. They include diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and increased risk for many kinds of cancer. These are not trivial risks-- for example, some authorities believe that being overweight can elevate your cancer risk by 50% or more!

What can you do if you are a busy professional? What are some of the ways you can increase your activity level and help ward off weight gain or even lose weight? I would suggest three key ideas for you to keep in mind:

• Awareness
• Opportunity
• Vigilance

First of all, try to make yourself aware of opportunities to factor additional exercise into your day. For example, in Europe, bicycle commuting is extremely popular! Most European cities have excellent bike lanes that help shield cyclists from automobile and truck traffic and provide efficient corridors for getting around quickly and efficiently. Visit any train station, and you will see thousands of bicycles parked there for the day! Unfortunately, the situation is not as favorable in the U.S. for several reasons. First, many of us have long commutes. This tends to make cycling somewhat impractical. However, if you are able to bike to a train or bus station, you may be able to make it work for you! Another problem is the quality of the road surface. Especially in northern cities, pavement quality is severely degraded by winter weather, creating major road hazards for cyclists. If you are a city commuter, a mountain bike with wider tires is a good choice as they will tend to survive most of the smaller potholes, as well as road hazards created by glass and metal debris.

At the workplace, there are often many overlooked opportunities for "incidental exercise" during the course of the day! For example, do you work in a multi-floor building? Never take the elevator, if you can avoid it! Instead, try to take the stairs every time. If you are unaccustomed to stair climbing, start by going downstairs and progress to using stairways 100% of the time. You'll be surprised; very often you'll arrive at your destination at about the same time as your colleagues who took the elevator!

If you have a lunch break, try to take advantage of that time to get some exercise. Walking is an excellent way to do this! Adding just a 30-minute walk into your workday will provide you with many benefits. First, it is very refreshing to get outside for some fresh air when you have been cooped up in a stuffy office for long periods of time! Often, you'll think of fresh ideas and concepts during your walk that will save you hours of time later on-- ideas that you would have missed out on had you stayed inside at your desk! You may be wondering how you can find time for a walk and still have something to eat. Most modern companies allow office workers to bring food to their desks, so one option might be to have your lunch right before your walk. You can probably set aside the last 15 minutes of the morning to review e-mail or do other light tasks at your desk while eating your lunch, freeing up the rest of the time for exercise. There will be some days when it will be impractical to take an outdoor walk due to the weather. On these days, use the options available to you and do your exercising indoors! If your building has stairways, you can do a circuit. Climb up to a higher floor, cross over, and climb back down. You can alternate stair climbing with a walk around a particular floor if that option is available to you. Although aerobic exercise is probably the best idea, you could even do some simple body weight exercises in your own office or workspace. For example, you can always do pushups or situps, no matter where you are.

During your workday, try to get up and move around regularly-- at least once an hour, if possible. If you need to take a bathroom break, pick one that is farther away or on another floor rather than going to the one that is closest to you. Another possibility is to just get up and take a brisk walk around your floor or building. Many efficiency experts believe that this is also a great way to boost productivity. If you work on a computer (and who doesn't, these days), it also gives your eyes and hands a rest. This is very important for preventing stress and fatigue, which often lead to work-related injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Finally, be vigilant about those sugary snacks and treats brought in by your fellow workers. It is very common in most companies for people to bring treats for birthdays, company anniversaries, holidays, etc. Think about it-- in a typical company with 300+ employees, usually at least one or two people are bringing treats every single day! They are generally not very healthy and are best avoided! Team leaders often bring donuts or cookies to meetings. Pass them by! There is usually someone that keeps a candy bowl at their desk. Stay away! Once you start going there, it will become a regular habit that will be difficult to break. And do not even think about a trip to the snack machine! You will not find anything in there that is good for you! If you are getting hungry during the day, you probably need to re-work your diet and start eating healthier foods. We will dicuss healthy eating tips in another article.

For more ideas on how to improve your diet and fitness level, give Andrew a call at (312) 685-5565 or visit www.borafitness.com for information about the various training programs and packages that are available.