How do you take care of your body at work (or school)?

I only work two days a week, so I'll fit myself into the "doesn't work" category and the "desk job" category.

At home: I try to do things the moment I think about them to avoid sitting too long. Need a load of laundry done? Pause. Go. Do. Dishes overflowing? Put book down. Go. Do. I also try to keep it bright and sunshiney in the house because when it gets dark, I get sad and feel like I live in a cave (office building style apartment with group hall entry so windows only on one wall.)

At work: I take my son with me to work, cause I work for my mother in law and she works from her home office. So he's cordoned off in about half the 1st floor, but I don't have visibility from my desk all the time, and he's two, so he's not unsupervised-ready. I make it a point for my health and his safety to get up and look in on him each and every time I have a moment. Sometimes I'll stretch too. I also like to make a point of NEVER sitting in the same position too long. I have no arms on my desk chair at work or at home, so I will sit with one leg up for a while, then the other, then cross-legged, then feet on the floor, then on the under bit of the desk. I don't have anything "ergonomic". Can't afford to change what I have, so I just focus on changing how I use it for good posture and the like.

Since I work for my mother in law (total kitchen witch, best cook on earth) there's always amazing-tasting high-calorie food around and I'm welcome to most of it. She has baked cookies like four times in the past 2 months. It's mind-numbing. So I make sure to pre-weigh and pre-log and bring all the food I intend to eat that day, which means at least two snacks and a lunch, cause we do health insurance/medicare and it's open enrollment (ends December 15th y'all, call your agent now and spare her some massive trouble) so 10-12 hour days are not at all out of the question. I couldn't possibly meet my goals if I didn't do this.

Whether I work or not on any given day, I just try to fit in some form of physical activity. Treadmill, chasing my kid around the house (he loves to be chased), cleaning, you name it. Any excuse I can think of to get up off my butt.

tomatoey wrote: »

And how does it affect your physical fitness?

If you work at an office, do you have an ergonomic computing setup?
If you do repetitive tasks, can you take breaks?
If you do a physical job, how do you pace yourself and recover?
If you don't work, what do you do that's not exercise to take care of yourself?

1) I work full-time in an office. Yes, of course, I have an ergonomic computing setup. My organisation (and actually all the organisations I've worked for in the past decade in two countries) have someone who sets all the new people up ergonomically.

2) Absolutely, I can take breaks. I am encouraged to take breaks at least once an hour. Same with the other organisations I've worked for in the past decade in two countries.

I work at home but I still get up at the crack of dawn to exercise as I need it to be out of the way before my day begins. I cannot worry about needing to fit in exercise especially if I have a bad day ( I work in IT and computers and customers do not wait for you to exercise) or something emergency ( and it always does with computers and customers) creeps up that I cannot plan for.

For the most part, I do have best of all the worlds out there for scheduling especially since the kids are out of the house now..

I have a combination desk job and standing in the lab with repetitive motion job. The key for me is to take breaks with both. If I have to be at my desk all morning I try to get up and wander around every 20 minutes or so. If I am in the lab I will walk around to stretch out my hips and stretch my arms to release the back tension. I also love going to yoga at the gym twice a week, it really helps me.

I have a desk job.
1. I do mini-workouts on my breaks (pushups, squats, wall sit, lunges and have a couple of 10-15 min workout DVDs)
2. I walk at lunch when weather permits or do a low/no impact DVD.
3. My job involves a lot of conference calls and web meetings and I never sit during those and move around as much as the meeting will allow (walk in place, squat, desk pushps, wall sit, resistance bands)
4. I use the kitchen and bathroom on the floor below me and always take the stairs
5. I stay active outside of work.
6. I eat a balanced diet.

I have a desk job, too. Working with software in a non-profit, so I'm pretty much stuck at my desk. I try to get up every hour or so and get in 500-1000 steps by running in place. (I have my own office, which helps). Bring my lunch nearly every day (and the days I eat out somewhere, I eat the same things and know the calories on them).

At home, I run in place as well. I have a hard time getting out to the gym in the evenings (and no, I can't go in the mornings. I don't sleep well to begin with, and I need my sleep more than I need to go to the gym.) because my husband works late hours and I've got a 9 year old son. We run errands after work (which helps me get more steps in!), home for homework, stuff around the house, dinner, some tv together, and bed. I try to get between 10,000 and 11,000 steps by 8 or 8:30 PM. When it's warmer outside and not getting dark at the crack of dawn, I take my son outside to ride his scooter and I walk/jog.

I, too, have a desk job but some of my work I actually have to get up and move to do. My desk is not ergonomic. I make up for sitting by parking in the furthest spot from the door. On breaks I walk around the parking lot or up and down the stairs if it is raining. At least once an hour I stand and stretch. If I don't my back aches all day. I bring my lunch most days and keep my water bottle close at all times. We have reps that bring delicious donuts and snacks in almost daily. I sometimes go and look at them but never indulge or I'll start a cycle I don't want to be in.

Desk job, non-ergonomic.

I try to get up and walk around the building a couple of times a day. It doesn't always happen though. There are times when I move so little in my office that the motion sensor lights go off.

I work at one end of an L shaped building. At the far other end, down a flight of stairs, there is a water fountain with a water bottle refill thing. It's one of those things that keeps a little digital count of how many plastic water bottles you've conserved by refilling your cup. Whenever I can, I walk over there to refill my water cup instead of using the kitchenette next door. It gives me a chance to stretch my legs and the water is colder.

Im a nanny, so I try to stay active with the kids as much as possible. I have a new rule, and its "never say no to a game" so if they want to play hide and seek, chase + catch + tickle + repeat, or soccer I have to say yes. They keep me on my toes! In the morning I do spend more time sitting, we read books a lot in the early hours. We often go out and about, to their little classes or playgrounds, and that helps me get my steps in every work day. I try to use their nap time wisely more often than not, and will do simple stuff that wont make me sweaty and gross but will help me meet my goals. Usually things are already clean and tidy so I just walk up and down all the stairs or do a pilates video from youtube on my phone. The kids also love yoga (kid friendly poses) and they usually follow along with me when I stretch so I like how they're influenced by my activities

I only work 4 days though so weekends at home are tougher. I need to work harder to get my steps in because I tend to adhere to the couch with my partner.

This is what I think of as an ergonomic desk set up, although my monitor is a lot bigger, and there are two of them.



I have a keyboard tray and super comfortable Herman Miller chair that I inherited from my former manager, who kept tilting back too far and falling out of it. Before getting this, I used to get back pain when I sat for not very long. Herman Miller has great customer service - when the frame cracked they came out and replaced it, despite me not having the receipt (I emailed them a picture of the manufacturing tag attached to it.) The warranty was really long.



When I worked at the office, they were always good with breaks. We have a Wii and a foosball table, but sometimes management has to step in and say to stop playing so much.