Whether you work from home or in a busy office, taking your lunch break can boost your health and wellbeing and may even improve your career prospects. There are at least five reasons why taking an hour away from your desk and walking at lunchtime is beneficial.
You will feel happier Walking releases happy chemicals (endorphins), which boost your mood and reduce stress levels. Regular physical activity improves mood, helps relieve mild depression and increases feelings of wellbeing. High-stress working days with no breaks take their toll on your health over time. A walking lunch break eases stress, clears your mind and makes you more productive.
Your circulatory health will improve A good, brisk walk is an excellent way to exercise your heart and lungs, encouraging oxygen to reach all your cells and boosting the effectiveness of your whole circulatory system. Being fit by including small bursts of physical activity around your working day and family life is vital to maintaining good health.
You will reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer People who walk regularly have a lower risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other serious diseases.
You can prevent type-2 diabetes and obesity India has the highest cases of diabetes worldwide, going up to 40 million people. It is thought that around 35% of the sufferers of Impaired Glucose Tolerance go on to have type-2 diabetes. The number will grow due to increased obesity and a lack of exercise. Small changes in lifestyle such as taking a walking break away from your desk can have a big impact in reducing the risk of developing type 2.
You can burn over 200 calories According to The Mayo Clinic, a 160lb (72.5Kg) person can burn 277 calories per hour walking at 3.5 mph. Based on these numbers, the same person would burn nearly 208 calories during a brisk 45-minute walk. All helps in the management of your weight along with reducing calorie intake.
In order to make a permanent and positive change in your life, you need to keep up your activity regularly. For most people, sixty minutes of activity (such as brisk walking) each day is sufficient and relatively easy to fit in, however hectic your schedule may be.
5 Top Walking Tips
- Get an accurate step counter – Many people are surprised at how few steps they take every day and investing in a step counter can help you monitor your activity and set challenges to increase your steps over time.
- Schedule in activity – Find excuses to schedule short walking breaks so that you remain consistently active throughout the day.
- Mix it up – Whether it’s a few trips around the office car park or the area around the officeat lunchtime or a stroll through the park in the mornings or evenings, find a variety of routes to take so you don’t get bored.
- Find a walking companion or group – Motivation and persistence is the key to success and it’s much harder to duck out of your daily stroll if others are doing it with you. Ask friendsor colleagues to join you and work on your health goals together. You are much more likely to stick to them that way.
- Monitor your progress – It’s always harder to see the benefits of consistent exercise. The best way to keep yourself motivated is to keep monitoring your progress over the weeks and see for yourself how walking is improving your health.
Comments are closed.