How to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle Working Long Hours
How to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle Working Long Hours
Many Americans are overworked. We spend more time on the job than people from any other industrialized nation in the world. We also have more stress-induced illnesses than any other country.
Maintaining your health when working long hours is possible, even though it may require some substantial changes to your lifestyle, including exercising and eating properly. When you’re tired from a long day, the last thing anyone wants to do is go to the gym, but there are small changes you can make every day that will have a big impact on your health.
Here are three simple ways you can protect yourself while still raking in longer hours and more cash.
- Change How You Eat
The changes you make to your diet can also change your life. Eating healthier foods can improve your long-term health outlook and make you feel better and have more energy. Simple changes, such as replacing a pile of French fries with fresh fruit, could help you avoid those carb crashes where your energy plummets, while potentially lowering your cholesterol.
Leafy greens are also full of vitamins and antioxidants to boost your immunity and fight off diseases. Instead of packing a bologna sandwich and some chips, try a salad and sandwich combo. Try to cut back on fried, greasy foods, even for a week, and see how you feel.
If you take snacks to work, take an apple or banana or some nuts. Skip the vending machine completely the next time you take on a double shift and you’ll be healthier, even if you are overworked.
- Hydrate More
Try cutting back or eliminating soda from your diet and replacing it with water. You’ll save money and improve your health. Water is what flushes toxins from the body, and it is critically important to our overall health. University Health News says increasing the volume of water you consume every day has the following benefits for your body:
- Lose weight
- Improve mood
- Prevent disease
- Improve circulation
- Regulate body temperature
- Heighten physical performance
- Help reduce fatigue
The next time you’re going in for an extended shift, try taking a bottle of water and refilling it from the drinking fountain. You’ll feel better in the long run.
- Destress and Manage Your Mental Health
Working on your physical health is one thing, but you should also pay attention to your mental health. A high level of stress or depression has shown to increase physical ailments. Managing your daily emotions and the turmoil you feel inside is crucially important to maintaining your overall health.
Taking time to slow down a little by relaxing is important. Today, even our digital devices can be set to remind us to take a deep breath. Exercising is a good way to lessen the mental strain we all feel from our harried, pressured lives. Exercise has the benefit of making us physically healthier and it can help declutter our minds in the process.
Many people find reading or watching a comedy can help relieve stress. Or even a bath or shower at the end of the day can do wonders for your mental health.
We understand that working long hours can make it more difficult to maintain a healthy routine. We hope that one of these techniques will be helpful.