How Coworkers Can Help You Stay Healthy

During a recent conversation, the topic of work lunches came up. Mainly, the fact that there is always salad and fruit left over, but how the cookies and chips seem to fly off the table. Now, there is a lot of hub-bub out there about how co-workers are making each other fat, and how group dynamics and peer pressure can can lead to unhealthy behaviors and habits (see cartoon to the left.) But instead of complaining about how co-workers can de-rail healthy eating habits or exercise routines, lets focus on how co-workers can help you on your wellness journey.

1. The Happy Halo Effect. A longitudinal study of the residents of Framingham, MA found that happiness (like the flu) is contagious! For example, they found at time 1 that the Jones's have happiness scores that are off the charts, then at time 2 their neighbors on both sides saw an uptick in their scores, and on and on. This phenomena can be replicated at the office for both positive and negative emotions, and employees radiating energy can really change their office neighbor's environments. So use those wellness champions and help them let their smiles shine :)
2. Group Weight Loss Programs Are Successful. It really does take a village to lose that weight and keep it off! If your organization has weight watchers in the workplace or support groups in place, or is just creating a culture of health, that makes it much easier to stick to healthy lifestyle changes, since you'll have allies to help you make healthy choices. Plus the lurkers in the picture above have a greater chance of keeping quiet if they're subject to the same educational campaigns for nutrition.
3. If Healthy Options Outweigh Not-So Healthy Ones, You'll Make Better Decisions. If your company orders, for example, make your own salad or sandwich options with WW Points + values with portion sizes listed next to each item instead of the usual sandwich and salad platter, you can decide what you're putting in your body instead of choosing from a few (usually not so great) options. And as for birthday party or other celebration cakes? Start a new trend-cupcakes or cake pops. Both are portioned controlled and make it easy to get a little taste of something sweet without derailing your whole day.

If your organization does not have wellness programs in place, there are still simple things that you can do to help create healthy allies in the workplace. Start a walking program-just 10 minutes at your circadian rhythm low (around 2:00pm) around the office or around the block will help you feel refreshed-from both the exercise and the social time. Or see if your organization has a wellness Employee Resource Group to join. Any support you have at the office will help you stick to your wellness plan and be successful!

Be.Well.Now

Why Are We Trying So Hard to be Unhealthy?

I bet that you (like me!) have told yourself "you know, I'd really like to make healthier choices, but I just don't have the time or energy to put into changing these habits" and then keep on turning pages while you read Women's Health or while talking to a super-fit friend...but you know what? We're actually putting a lot of time and energy into cultivating UNHEALTHY behaviors, so our excuse is, well, bunk!

I had read a book called "Sayonara, Mr. Fatty" a while back, but its' been sticking in my head recently. This interestingly weird read is about the co-founder of an animation studio (GAINAX, of Evangelion fame for all of the otaku out there ;) who lost over 100 pounds. This self-proclaimed "king of the geeks" decided one day to write down everything that he ate, and when and where he ate it. Not count calories, not tally anything up, just write it down. And do you know what he found?

He found that he was working really hard to be fat. He would take the train completely out of his way just to visit his favorite ramen stand for an after-work snack, take time out of his day to walk down to the cafeteria and wait in line for sweets, and waiting and waiting for the train/bus that would deliver him right to his doorstep. Just by writing down everything he ate and the planning, thinking, and time that went into eating it, caused "Mr. Fatty" to make some gradual changes in his life, and led to his drastic weight loss.

So the next time you say "oh, I just don't have time for zumba or planning a healthy meal or buying organic" think about all of the time and resources that you may be wasting cultivating unhealthy behaviors. And if you're looking for weight loss, try journaling. Not even weight-watchers points journaling, but just write everything down. It'll help you plan for when you need snacks, or help you notice unhealthy patterns.

Be.Well.Now.

Why Wellness isn't just about 'wellness'

So I magically and serendipitously discovered this new book called The Power of Habit and it's starting to change the way I think about a lot of things. Besides the fact that I've been constantly blabbering about Pepsodent (as my friends and family shake their heads), I've had a mini-breakthrough about wellness strategies. Here we go.

Piecemeal wellness strategies will not work. What we're looking to do with wellness is create healthy habits-decrease snacking in the afternoon, increase exercise, increase stress-relief, developing coping, etc-which themselves create healthy organizations. And the only way to create these new habits is by helping individuals identify cues and develop new routines while receiving the same rewards. We need a comprehensive strategy to give employees the tools they need to make changes in all parts of their life--not just a on-site gym or healthy choices at lunch.

Wellness strategies are not just wellness strategies. Employees who learn how to understand cues (i.e. boredom/fatigue at 2:30 leads to sugar-seeking) for unhealthy habits are have the tools to remake their other unhealthy behaviors (i.e. bullying, unproductive or uncreative days, lack of organization, lack of prioritization) that slow down organizations. By creating a successful wellness strategy, we're creating successful organizations. Done!

The stigma around wellness can be broken. Similar to workplace flexibility, diversity & inclusion efforts, and other still 'taboo' subjects, wellness is considered an individual accommodation, and not a business strategy. But don't you see! If you've read my paragraph above, wellness isn't just about making our obese employees leaner to reduce healthcare costs, but about creating lean, productive, and happy organizations. It's not an individual accommodation, but a strategy to increase profits and shareholder value.

Phew-now that that's off my chest and everyone's nodding their head in agreement, I can get to work changing the world (my Gen Y is showing again, isn't it?).

Be. Well. Now.