Healthy Behaviors at Work
By Donna Stark
Since the overall health and wellness of your family during the holiday season is important, you take great care to make sure you are staying on top of it. You select your meals very carefully, you help everyone manage their time and responsibilities, and you continue to encourage physical activity, no matter how cold it is outside. But what about the other "family" in your life? What about all of the people that you are so fortunate to be able call your work family?
Encouraging Healthy Behaviors With Your Coworkers
Between all of the candy bowls on everyone's desk, the trays of cookies that are dropped off by clients, and the weekly happy hours, it's no wonder that the new year is filled with so many health and fitness resolutions! Fortunately, you can help your coworkers stay on top of their health as much as you do your family's. Here are some great ideas you can try.
- Suggest a fun run - Grab your coworkers together, form a team, and sign up for a holiday fun run! It's a great way to keep everyone on a healthy track, so start doing your research and find the best Jingle Jog out there!
- Suggest a healthy potluck - There are plenty enough happy hours to last a lifetime, so skipping one (or a few) won't be a big deal, but it will be a big improvement in what everyone eats for that particular day. Encourage everyone to bring in their favorite healthy dishes and host a healthy potluck. This is also something you can do throughout the year as well!
- Suggest a spa day - OK, so it's not a real spa day, but ask the "person in charge" if the office would support a mental health encouragement day. Then invite some health and wellness businesses to come in and provide things like a yoga class, chair and reflexology massages, or nutritious food samples. You can also hand out some stress balls too!
- Suggest a charity event - Want to improve everyone's mood and their overall wellness? Help out a local charity with your coworkers by collecting canned goods, volunteering, or supporting a local needy family. Increase the giving by turning it into a company-wide competition.
Improving Holiday Health
As you know, germs travel, so if your work family is sick, the chances of bringing home a nasty bug to your real family increases. So avoid the health pitfalls that can wipe everyone out and encourage those you work with to take part in one, two, or all of your suggestions!
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Renton, Wash.