Before heading into college, you were warned about the “Freshman 15”. Excessive amounts of alcohol and drunk eating caused these new found pounds for most college students. Just like in any drastic change of lifestyle, it takes it toll on the body. Eventually, the body does adjust to changes, but not before a new figure has been set.
Starting our first job, or even just changing jobs are lifestyle changes that can quickly add on the pounds. Consider this your warning of the “New Hire 20”. What causes the “New Hire 20”?
- We go from very active, or semi active lives, to an extremely sedentary life at work. We sit all day long (commute, at desk, commute home, tv)
- Lunches out with co-workers, clients, and vendors
- Lunches in at our desk (sitting still once again)
- That asshole keeps bringing donuts and bagels everyday
These are all obvious, but it’s important that they are. They should be easy for us to fix or stop from happening too frequently. We can go into our first job or new job and worry about how we look and feel later, or we can make healthy choices from the beginning and be proactive about our health. While I’m not a health expert, I would suggest the following to keep you from the “New Hire 20”:
- Wake up 10 minutes before you need to and exercise (pushups, jumping jacks, sit ups, bike, walk, run)
- Take an actual lunch break. After eating, go for a walk outside. If it’s cold, go to a mall or somewhere that you can walk. It’s a nice mental break.
- Take the stairs every time
- Buy this thing and put it under your desk
- Get involved, join the company softball team (or whatever) if they have one
- Get a gym membership OR 10 minutes before bed exercise again (pushups, jumping jacks, sit ups, bike, walk, run)
These all seem obvious, but when you start your first job or get a new job, it’s easier to avoid doing these things. We are focusing on our new job and making connections, I get it, but we still need to make sure we keep an eye out on our health.
