Having a healthy lifestyle is a goal for most people – or at least a dream they like to have. Nowadays, people are more aware of the importance of being healthy and the long-term consequences of eating junk food and a sedentary lifestyle. Even still, this is probably the first generation that might not live as long as their parents, mostly due to unhealthy modern lifestyles, office jobs, and widely available convenience food and the damage caused by fad diets.
We know that we should stay active, even if it doesn’t fit our job description. This might feel impossible after working a long day – we tend to come home exhausted and take comfort in the easy things – like sitting some more, looking at our phones, TVs or playing games.
Self-care might seem like too much – but we have to remember that self-care isn’t a bubble bath or a huge meal to make ourselves feel good. Self-care can be hard and a chore – a thing not mentioned in glossy women’s mags or Instagram posts.
How to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle While Working More Than 8 Hours a Day
Here are some examples of what self-care should look like if you want to make your mind and body feel more powerful, resilient, and rested:
Follow a Simple and Nutritious Diet
Nutrition is one of the most important factors that affect your health and well-being, which is why you should pay attention to what you consume. The problem is that when you work more than eight hours a day, you don’t have time to prepare and consume balanced meals. Sometimes if you struggle to hit your nutrition targets you should add some vitamins and supplements like those from Nature’s Happiness into your diet.
It is recommended that a busy person follow a meal prep plan to get enough vitamins and macronutrients in a day, but if you are not a cook, you can also consider getting a meal delivery. You can find reviews and recommendations for both meal prep and meal deliveries online, like a Veestro meal delivery review, and choose what’s best for you. If you want your lifestyle to remain healthy, fast food is not an option.
It’s the perfect solution if you want to stay away from junk food but don’t want to cook.
Make Sleeping Your Number One Priority
Getting enough rest also has a significant impact on your overall health. Scientists believe that an adult should sleep between seven to nine hours a day to maintain focus, energy, creativity levels at their highest.
Not getting enough sleep leads to fatigue, lack of concentration, and in the long-term can cause serious damage to your health. It has been proven that getting enough sleep increases your performance and happiness level, and the best way to maintain a healthy lifestyle is by establishing a sleeping routine, and keeping it even on your days off.
Introduce a Time-Saving Workout Plan
If you have a job that involves a lot of sitting, then making sure you are active throughout the rest of the day is a must. It doesn’t have to be an extreme workout plan, a short walk before or after work will do. The importance of making sure you have enough movement in a day cannot be overstated.
When you sit all day and spend your time on the couch after work, it is a straight path to health problems. A walk should give you enough exercise in a limited time frame and help you relax your mind, which is equally important.
Drink a Lot of Water
Everybody knows that drinking water is crucial to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, yet very few of us actually consume enough water daily. Water is essential for your body, and it also takes care of your brain functions. The recommended water intake for an adult is about 3.7 litres of fluids for men and 2.7 litres of fluids for women per day. Make sure to do what is necessary to stay hydrated, your body and mind will thank you for it.
Remember to Take Breaks and Make Time For Fun Activities
Although your work performance is highly important, it is also crucial to take regular breaks from work, especially when you work more than 8 hours a day. It might sound against your productivity goals, but it has been proven that taking breaks can actually lead to you finishing your projects sooner. It is because after you work on something without any rest periods, you tend to lose focus, and your error rate increases, which slows down your progress over time. Time off is one of the most important things to make your time matter.
Limit Your Caffeine Intake
Every hard worker loves the smell and taste of coffee and those who work long shifts sometimes even call themselves obsessed with the drink. However, in the long term, drinking a lot of caffeine daily is not the best strategy. Caffeine is a drug, and too much of it over time can cause some side effects. It doesn’t mean that you can’t drink coffee; it only means that you are not overdoing it, especially during a highly stressful time at work.
Conclusion
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is definitely a harder task when working for more than eight hours a day, but it is not impossible. It might take some extra effort, but your health should be the number one priority. Besides, when you are not healthy, your efficiency drops significantly, so a healthy lifestyle is the only way to get through this period when you work more than usual.
