Some Tips from my Corporate Nutrition Days
Because I am kind of missing them :)
If you have been here, you know I started out my in my first full time job as a Corporate Wellness Dietitian. I was brought on by a large company in New York and asked to provide one-on-one nutrition counseling to employees, give large group presentations, etc.
Honestly, as a dietitian, it was a dream job. I had a ton of creative freedom and learned a lot from my colleagues. I honestly credit this job for my ability to take Salt and Sage full time.
One of my favorite parts of being a corporate dietitian was providing people with little hacks that they could add throughout their day to improve their health while working a desk job. SO, hopefully some of you are corporate peeps here and can also benefit from these tips!
Easy Wellness Hacks to Incorporate During your Corporate Work Day (okay mouthful):
If you take public transportation to work (and it is feasible and safe), get off at an earlier spot and walk a little further to your office. This is one of my favorite tips especially when it starts to get nice out. That extra little half mile in the morning will increase your step count for the day and is an easy way to get some extra movement in. If you are feeling really ambitious, you can do the same on your commute home. If you drive to work, try parking further away from the door if possible!
Keep shelf stable snacks in your desk so that you have an easy grab for those long work days. I like to advise clients to keep a bag of nuts, a box of their favorite protein bars, or those little Justin’s peanut butter packets with crackers on hand. If you work in an office that constantly has treats available, a nutrient dense snack on hand will help to keep your blood sugar stable and keep you focused during the work day!
Take five every hour (if you can). I had so many employees tell me that they were in back-to-back meetings all day and found themselves sitting for eight hours straight. I would always help them set a goal to get up every hour and walk around their office or the building for five minutes. If you can’t do every hour, even doing this four times per day ends up adding a twenty minute walk in by the end of the day! Don’t knock it till you try it!
Keep a 40-oz. water bottle on your desk. This one feels like a no brainer but I had SO many people tell me they struggle to drink enough water during the day. I learned that many of them were just grabbing a water cup and keeping it on their desk and then struggling to find time to refill it. Once they invested in a larger water bottle it was so much easier for them to reach their water goal by removing the need to get up and refill. Bonus points if you put a little sticky note on your computer reminding yourself to drink water :).
If possible, find a lunch-time walking buddy. This one was a game changer for people every time. If you are in a walkable area and you get 30 minutes for lunch, find a lunch buddy that will eat lunch with you for the first 15 minutes and then get outside with you for the last 15 minutes (again, weather and safety permitting). This little tip combined with tips number 1 and 3 will have your step count flourishing by the end of the week.
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OKAY. This post felt so professional (really diving back into my corporate days here). I hope you guys found this one helpful. Let me know what you want to see next. It was kind of an insane week so sorry if this post is not up to par but wanted to give you guys SOMETHING (also apologize for any grammar errors as I have barely slept this week). Love you have the best weekend of your life!!!