Top 10 tips to stay fit and healthy when working from home

The End is in Sight!

With lockdown nearing its end, and gyms and other indoor exercise venues due to open in the next few weeks now is the time to make sure that you keep your motivation up! It’s been a tough year for everyone and it’s important now more than ever that you keep focussing on your fitness goals ready for life to return to normal. It’s been easy to slip into bad habits whilst our routine has been turned upside down, but at Aberdeen Personal Training we are here to help you get back on track!

How to Stay Healthy when working from home

Working from home was something that used to be foreign to a lot of us, but it has now become part of our new normal. You might think it’s easier to work from home because there are no office snacks, or unhealthy canteen options, but it is a lot harder in reality. In actual fact, you are probably working from the sofa in your comfy clothes with the fridge and cupboards within easy reach.  It is so easy to slip into bad habits of snacking and having unhealthy quick lunches.

Creating a healthy work-life balance was hard enough before the pandemic, so our personal trainer Aberdeen has put some tips together to help you maximise the benefits of working from home.

Stay on Track with Aberdeen Personal Training

Create a designated workspace!

It sounds simple enough, but you need to create a space that is purely for work within your home. Avoid sending emails from the sofa and make sure you have everything readily available, so you don’t slip into bad habits. Make sure that you have a space where you can slip into the work mindset without it encroaching on your home life.

Schedule

Schedule your day and make sure that you factor in breaks, proper lunches and even work outs. If you don’t, you will find that healthy habits become the last thing on your mind. Here at Aberdeen personal training, we know that even planning a small workout a few times a week makes a difference, and that if you leave it to when you feel like it these will become less and less frequent.

Prep!

Prep all your meals and snacks, and plan healthy dinners well in advance for the week. If you know what you are going to be eating, you will look forward to it rather than getting to mealtimes and grabbing the nearest pot noodle in the cupboard or ordering a takeaway. Stock your fridge with plenty of fruit and veg to make work time snacking healthy and minimise the temptations. Your PT Aberdeen will emphasise that you can’t out-exercise a bad diet, so don’t let all that hard work go to waste by unnecessary bad eating habits!

Get out of the house

When you’ve planned all your breaks and lunches, make sure that you get out of the house for short walks. It will do you no good to stay indoors 9-5, especially when you don’t have a long commute to your home office! Every little helps, even a 15 minute walk will make you feel more refreshed and de-stressed – this is something that your personal trainer Aberdeen can vouch for!

Shutdown your home office every night

It may sound silly but make it a ritual to shut down your office workspace and put away your laptops and notebooks each night when you finish work. You do not want your work life and home life to mix together, otherwise they will blur into one and this will not be healthy. You can either simply put your laptop away for the evening or do something active like Aberdeen Personal Training recommends like a workout or go for a run in the time you would normally use to commute home. This definitive ending of the workday will make you feel better and keep your home life separate.

To sum up, don’t let bad habits by working in the comfort of your own home get in the way of your work productivity or your fitness goals. Your PT Aberdeen is always on hand for motivation and to keep you on track if you feel yourself slipping. By organising and defining work life and home life, you can create a healthy balance between the two.

Top 10 tips to stay fit and healthy by Chris Roy, Personal Trainer Aberdeen

So, you know how to stay healthy whilst working from home and how to avoid slipping into bad habits, but Chris Roy PT Aberdeen has also put together his top tips to help you stay fit and healthy even after the pandemic has calmed down. This list is to help you make a lifestyle change, not just a quick fix. Start to think now about your fitness and health goals so that you are ready for when life gets back to normal!

1. Make every workout count – even when you’ve had a long and busy day, a quick 30 minutes of exercise can make the world of difference to your mood and health. Not every workout needs to be a long session! Speak to your personal trainer Aberdeen for some ideas of what you can do when you don’t feel like an intense workout.
2. Maintain a healthy diet – We know we’ve already said it but eating right means that you are able to give your body the nutrition it requires, and it is important to take care of your body now to optimise your workout routines. Meal prep is the key to keeping on track, like your personal Aberdeen trainer will say, you can’t out exercise a bad diet!
3. Follow healthy sleeping patterns – it is important to recharge your own energy and restore body health. Your body cannot work hard if it has flat batteries, so a good sleep routine is essential to staying fit and healthy.
4. Drink more water – our bodies need proper rehydration in order to function properly, so keep drinking throughout the day for it to heal naturally and flush out toxins. This is especially important after exercise as water will help regulate your body temperature and lubricate your joints.
5. Plan and prioritise – add workouts into your daily routines and make them a priority rather than an afterthought. Get Aberdeen personal training involved to help you create the best routines to fit your lifestyle
6. Mix it up – speak to us at Aberdeen Personal Training about what workouts will be best for you, and don’t be afraid to change it up to stop it from being boring. As they say, variety is the spice of life!
7. Reduce your stress – Stress causes a whole host of problems, from heart issues to digestive trouble. Focus on doing what you love to take a break from stress, whether that be exercise, reading or cooking. Your mental and emotional health are as important as your physical health.
8. Adjust your targets – adjust your goals and targets regularly to build on your progress. There is no point keeping the same running distance or weights when your body is ready for more! Speak to your PT Aberdeen to find out how and when to change your goals.
9. Make habits – In psychology, there’s a lot of supporting evidence suggesting it can take around 28 days for something to become a habit, rather than a chore. If you follow all these tips for at least a month then they will come naturally rather than having to remember and staying fit and healthy will become easier to maintain.
10. Consistency – in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, it is important to have consistency and moderation to get to your end goal. There is no point in going flat out for a month with your workouts and losing the motivation. Slow and steady wins.

There is no shortcut to a fit and healthy lifestyle, but if you follow these tips and always focus on your goals then you will be able to see the benefits without the struggle.