The Well WorkPlace, LLC

Written by National Wellness

This month for your wellness in 10, we’re going to cover some wellness staples that are inspired by a recent article about perseverance toward your goals, even after working toward those goals has become boring.

We all know that we have great intentions when it comes to setting goals, and it’s easy to motivate to work toward them when the idea is fresh, but a few months – or even years – into the grind toward achieving those goals it can be a real chore to find the motivation to get off that couch or pick up that pen or open that book. That’s why we’re going to take an opportunity to reaffirm the goals we’ve set for ourselves, and take some steps to create healthy habits to achieve them.

We know that it takes around 21 days worth of repetitions to form a habit, so by doing each one of these small tasks every day, you can have turned them into healthy habits by Halloween.

1. Eat Breakfast

Goal: Physical Wellness

Eating breakfast is so important for getting your body ready for the day. If you don’t feed yourself in the morning, you’re expecting your body to work until lunch without any fuel. Of course we’ve all heard this before, but many of us have fallen out of the habit of eating breakfast. Take this opportunity to buy a bag of fruit or a box of oatmeal and try to get back into the swing of a morning meal.

2. Eat Something Green

Goal: Physical Wellness

We know this one, too, right? We know that green vegetables are packed with the nutrients our body needs, but we’ve fallen into the habit of eating what’s convenient rather than eating what’s good. With fall harvests happening all over the country right now, it’s a great time to get into the habit of eating something green every day.

3. Get Up and Move

Goal: Physical Wellness (bonus: Social Wellness)

That next episode on Netflix can be super tempting, and when the weather cools off, it’s difficult to find the motivation to exercise. Unfortunately bad habits are easier to form than good ones, so be extra vigilant to nip them in the bud before they form. Plan out specific times for activities, and stick to them. If you make a plan to be active with someone else, you’re more likely to follow through, and you get to expand your social wellness at the same time!

4. Stand Up More

Goal: Occupational Wellness

Sitting is the new smoking. We’ve all heard that by now. It’s true, though that prolonged sitting is linked to a variety of health probems, so be sure to stand up and stretch at least, or – even better – take a short walk, to alleviate some of the detrimental effects of sitting. Invite a coworker (or your boss) out for walking breaks and improve your social bonds while you’re helping your heart and liver.

5. Show Gratitude

Goal: Social Wellness (bonus: Occupational Wellness & Physical Wellness)

Not only does showing gratitude help you in the form of ingratiating yourself to others, increasing your social wellness, but it can create a more welcoming and comfortable culture in your workplace, and it can literally boost your physical health. All that from simply saying “thanks!”

6. Practice Mindfulness

Goal: Spiritual Wellness/Emotional Wellness

Many people envision “mindfulness” as meditation, but it can come in many forms. For some people it’s meditation, but for others it’s prayer, yoga, or even just taking some time to organize your thoughts. Regardless of your form of mindfulness, it promises to lower your stress and help you feel more organized, energized, and in control of your situation.

7. Volunteer

Goal: Social Wellness

This may seem like a hard thing to do every day, but when you think about it, it’s really not. Another way to think about this is “help out.” How many times per day do we pass by someone or a situation where we could lend a hand? By adding effort to a problem you’re strengthening your social bonds, alleviating part of someone else’s burden, and making yourself feel good in the process.

8. Learn Something New

Goal: Intellectual Wellness

This is another one that seems big, but doesn’t have to be.  You don’t have to learn the laws of theoretical physics one day and the history of the English Empire the next. By seeking out something small every day, however – like a new vocabulary word or a random fact, we’re teaching ourselves that learning isn’t something that has a start and stop, but instead is part of our daily lives.

9. Expand Your Real-Life Social Network

Goal: Social Wellness

This goal of meeting new people can be done a variety of ways. Many of us are creatures of habit, though, who fall into a routine of going to work, going home, an then repeating the process five days per week. Try pushing out of your normal comfort zone by saying hi to a new coworker or joining a local club. You’ll expand your social circle and potentially learn something in the process.

10. Track your progress

Goal: ANY & ALL

One important step that many of us skip, or have never done in the first place, is to track your progress toward the goal. By breaking your overarching goal into do-able steps, and then tracking your progress on the steps, you’re able to see real progress even on a day-to-day basis. If you’re seeing progress, you’re more likely to stick with the project and see the goal all the way through.

So there’s your October Wellness in 10. These habits may be things you’re doing already, but be sure to share them with your friends and family who aren’t. Small steps like these could add up to a big impact for them. What do you think? What are some habits you’ve created for yourself to achieve your wellness goals?

via Serious Eats

Written by National Wellness Institute

Between 2003 and 2011, Americans across categories have begun to purchase and eat less food resulting in declining obesity levels in young children and stalled obesity levels in school-age children and adults.

A study released by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is indicating that, though these trends are indeed occurring, there is not currently any concrete indication as to why.

Researchers are split as to whether the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 played an important role in changing Americans’ eating habits. Some research seems to indicate that an economic downturn tends to push healthier eating habits, while other research indicates that the exact opposite is true.

One positive result of this study is the indication that media coverage, discussion and actions in the US surrounding obesity and the role of sugar-sweetened beverages playing a role in the slowing of obesity rates.  The study showed consumption of sugar-added drinks making a marked decline from 1999 on.  This change I consumption could be attributed to changes in consumer education due to public policy, though the researchers focused on economic impacts on consumption instead of social impacts, and therefore have not been able to make conclusive findings.

Written by National Wellness Institute

More than three quarters of workers feel tired many days of the week. This startling finding comes from a study of 1,139 workers conducted by Virgin Pulse and vielife. In addition, 30% of workers felt unhappy or very unhappy with the quality or quantity of their sleep, and more than one in eight workers “dozed” off at work at least once per week.

Lack of proper sleep has bee linked to issues like cardiovascular disease, weakened immune systems, and reduced memory and cognitive function. Aside from effecting the afflicted workers, employers are seeing a real loss in profitability and productivity from their workforce, to the tune of nearly $2,000 per worker per year.

Unsurprisingly, the reasons many workers report being tired at their job is due to insufficient sleep at night, either by quantity or quality. The reasons for this poor sleep were partially due to forces the employer could effect, such as shift work or international travel, and partially due to forces outside the employer’s control, such as television habits before bed, drinking caffeinated drinks, and excess alcohol consumption.

Employers who wish to make a positive impact on their workers’ sleep patterns can encourage employees to make positive changes to their environment and lifestyle. Changes such as wearing earplugs, running a fan for white noise, and decreasing extra light (primarily from electronic devices) had influence of study participants’ sleep, as did changes to behavior such as increasing exercise overall, but decreasing exercise close to bedtime.

One final finding of the study is that many of the employees afflicted with poor sleep would not have made any changes without intervention. If their employer had not assisted them in finding remedies for their poor sleep, they would have continued trying to cope with it as they had been doing previously.

Read the full article.

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) Vapor, even when it contains no nicotine, has been found to damage lung cells according to a study by the American Physiological Society.

Vape Pens: A Myth Busted

Vaporizers, or vape pens, have seen a rise in popularity since they were introduced in the US in 2007.  Many smokers of traditional cigarettes, under the assumption that e-cigarettes are a less dangerous alternative to smoking tobacco, have turned to e-cigarettes as a tool to stop smoking. This latest study breaks the myth that e-cigarettes are harmless.

According to the study, which tested cigarette smoke side-by-side with e-cigarette solution, nicotine was a factor in the deterioration of lung cells, as was expected. When tested with E-cigarette solution without nicotine, however, there was still deterioration of the lung cells due to other chemicals present in the solution, such as acrolein.

The Shocking Numbers

These findings are alarming when considered in relation to the number of people who have used e-cigarettes. An April article in the Washington Post entitled “High school, middle school kids now use more e-cigs than tobacco: CDC” explained that, as of 2014,  13% of high school students and 4% of middle school students have used e-cigarettes. This comes in contrast to 9% and 3% of students having used tobacco cigarettes, respectively.

More and more people are venturing into the world of vaping–whether they be high school students trying something new and “safe” or adults trying to find a “healthier” alternative to cigarettes. Therefore, this powerful study has come about at a very important time! Please share the news to help educate our friends and families.

To read the full text of the e-cigarette study and learn the findings in great detail, visit the APS.org page here.