When you get right down to it, health doesn’t have anything to do with looking like a supermodel; it’s really about having a body whose every system is in good working order. The great news is that you have more control over everything happening in your body — from your circulation to your breathing and stress levels — than you might have imagined. Check out these steps you can take every day toward building a stronger, healthier and more active you.

1. Limit Your Sitting

Your body wasn’t made to sit — it was made to move! Taking short breaks from your desk or computer every 30 minutes can do a lot to reduce back and shoulder pain. Walk around, do a few squats, drink some water, or do a few simple stretches. The periodic movement and shifts in position reduce pressure on your spine, increase the flow of blood and lymphatic fluid, and will leave you feeling more energized all day long. 

2. Get Out and Move

A healthy exercise program doesn’t have to be fancy, expensive or intimidating. Many studies have demonstrated the benefits of simple, free workouts like walking. The mere act of moving your body every day greatly reduces the risk of chronic health problems like heart disease, stroke and diabetes, and the regular movement helps keep the rest of your body functioning in tip-top form.

3. Eat Real Food

Food is fuel for your body — so what you eat dictates your energy levels and sense of well-being for the day. Focusing on minimally processed food and lots of brightly colored fruits and vegetables is a sure way to put a little extra zip in your step. When you’re eating the right fuel, you’ll feel like you can do anything.

4. Drink More Water

You wouldn’t run an engine without oil in it, would you? Water fills that function and many more in your body. It’s water that helps distribute nutrients, regulates body temperature, aids in digestion, stops hunger, and keeps your muscles and nerves operating in tip-top shape. Having trouble drinking enough? Put a sprig of mint or a twist of citrus — lemon, lime or orange — in your water bottle to make it more interesting.

5. Breathe!

Deep breathing oxygenates your blood, which can leave you feeling more energized. It also helps get your lymphatic system moving, and it busts stress in just a few seconds. Here’s a quick, easy way to gauge your breathing: Lie on your bed or the floor with one hand on your upper abdomen. Can you feel your abdomen gently rising as you inhale? If not, slow down and focus on your breath; it might help to imagine that you’re filling yourself with air all the way down to your toes.

6. Get Enough Sleep

Everybody’s a little different, but most of us need at least seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. It’s best to get into a routine so that your body can settle into a regular cycle of sleeping and waking. This helps regulate your endocrine system, which in turn controls the hormones that govern everything from hunger to weight loss. 

7. Don’t Be Afraid to Seek Out Professional Help

Have you noticed aches and pains lingering in your body, despite your healthy routine? Your body might be telling you that it’s time to consult a physical therapist. Don’t accept that those aches and pains are a natural fact of life: A good physical therapist can give you the tools to keep those minor problems from turning into something major, and maybe even stem the pain completely. Contact Washington Physical Therapy today!

There’s no avoiding it; with age can come a whole host of new challenges, and with them seemingly random aches and pains. Fingers and joints may become sore after mundane chores, and physical undertakings that once brought joy now result in discomfort. It can be easy to become discouraged away from participating in activities that bring on these symptoms, but fortunately, there are methods readily available to help put the spring back in your step.

 Reevaluate Your Posture

Since professions that require long hours spent at a desk in front of the computer are becoming more and more commonplace, it is not unusual to see an increase in injuries resulting from poor posture. One of the most common side effects of sitting incorrectly is having sore muscles. While it may seem unusual that not keeping one’s backbone straight would cause muscles to feel pain, using incorrect posture results in additional muscles being called upon to help stabilize the spine. As a result, muscles are forced to have an increased workload, leading to pain and even injury.

If you sit at a desk all day, or lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle, always be conscientious of your posture. Focus on sitting straight for longer and longer periods of time if at first you find that doing so is too difficult. As the muscles around your spinal column become stronger, you’ll find that it’s easier to maintain correct posture, and also prevent permanent incorrect curvature of the spine.

 Drink Plenty of Fluids

Throughout the course of a day, it can be relatively easy to become dehydrated. For many, coffee is a necessary addition to any workday. But, what they don’t realize, is that coffee serves as a diuretic. As you drink the beverage throughout the day, your body is stimulated to begin expending fluids through the process of urination. This, in turn, can lead to dehydration if enough water isn’t consumed. Should the body lose enough fluids, painful cramps can set within the muscles and can make you feel sluggish and weak.

If you must drink coffee, be sure to alternate cups with water. Make a point of trying to drink several large cups a day. Should you find yourself cramping up, drinking a beverage filled with electrolytes can quickly combat the effects of dehydration. When it comes to having enough fluids, an ounce of prevention will always be worth a pound of cure.

 Get Some Sleep

For those who try and maximize every minute of their day, going to sleep can seem like a productivity killer. After all, time spent awake can be time spent doing life’s many important tasks. Sleep, however, plays an important role in helping your body recover from exercises and the rigors of the day. A lack of sleep can lead to feelings of lethargy, problems concentrating, and an overall feeling of malaise. Try to get as much sleep as possible by avoiding caffeinated beverages in the evening, or watching TV before going to bed. Your body will thank you.

 Should, after following these tips, you still feel like you’ve lost that spring in your step, contact Washington Physical Therapya for a consultation. You’ll be feeling like your old self in no time!

Reference Links:

https://www.livestrong.com/article/31223-negative-effects-poor-posture/

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/dehydration-adults?page=3#1

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/9-reasons-to-sleep-more

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/discomfort-15/better-sleep/healing-power-sleep

Having a desk job will naturally keep you from moving about in a natural fashion. The less you are active, the more you will experience fatigue and stiffness, both mentally and physically. Taking the time to move around and create a more comfortable environment for yourself may seem like wasted time, but your productivity will actually increase if you trust yourself to perform. Here are just a few of the activities that you must take the time to perform routinely in order to keep your blood flowing and your productivity high in the office.

 

Change Your Mentality

You must first break yourself of the mentality that says working without breaks is the most productive schedule that you can make for yourself. As a matter of fact, this is not true! Staying active will allow you to work more quickly, meaning that you can actually spend less time on work and accomplish more.

 

Break Every 20 Minutes

That’s right: You should get up to break from your job at least three times per hour. 20 minutes is just crossing the limit of the mind’s ability to work in a continuous manner. If you continue to work beyond this point without giving the brain the extra blood that it needs, you will slow your productivity. This is a physical reality, not a mental trick, so do not think that you can somehow will yourself to work faster. Take the breaks.

 

Exercise At Least 30 Minutes Per Day

Exercising at least half an hour per day will help the body get started. You should try to take this extended exercise break at a different time each day so that you can surprise your body into a higher mode of productivity. However, if lunch is the only time that you can get this done, then take it at lunch. Use that time for a brisk walk outside, and make sure that your lunch is healthy.

 

Stay Hydrated

Alongside blood, water is the most important element of productivity that you can give yourself to keep your productivity high. You do not have to worry about water with electrolytes or any special treatment other than purification. However, making sure that your body always has enough water is a physical reality, not a mental trick, and depriving yourself is doing you no favors. Take the time to ensure that you have the proper hydration to keep blood flowing to your brain and your joints loose.

 

Stretch

Another way to keep your blood flowing is to stretch whenever you feel the urge. The body naturally gives you the feeling that you should stretch when it is feeling cloistered, and that means that blood is not moving as well as it should. The great thing about stretching is that you do not have to take a huge break to do it; the most that you may have to deal with is looking a bit weird at your desk. However, your productivity will speak volumes when it comes to your employee review, so do not worry about what people think of your looks.

 

Breathe Deeply

Breathing deeply helps to reduce the amount of stress that you feel. You will be able to think more clearly, and you will also work faster. Stress is not a productivity inducer for most people, regardless of how you think you perform under pressure.

 

Move Your Muscles

Finally, move your muscles constantly throughout the day, and take special pains to take a challenging class such as yoga or Zumba. If you are improving your body, you cannot stay stagnant.

How Your Diet Can Make Your Aches and Pains Worse

Do you suffer from chronic aches and pains? If so, then you’re not alone. Often times, “mystery” aches and pains are actually caused by localized inflammation in the body, which can occur as a result of overuse or even injury. And while there are anti-inflammatory medications available to help relieve pain, these come with their own potential for adverse side effects. What many people fail to realize is that inflammation can be hugely impacted by your diet and nutrition. By avoiding certain foods, you can prevent inflammation from occurring in the first place. And by eating the right foods, you can not only rid your body of toxins, but reduce inflammation as well.

Top Foods to Avoid

There are numerous foods and drinks that you should actively avoid if you’re suffering from pain caused by inflammation. Caffeinated beverages rank among the top of the list due to the affect that it can have on your body; specifically, caffeine can alter your body’s pH balance, resulting in an increase in acidity. This increases inflammation by changing your body’s natural chemical processes.

Sugar and artificial sweeteners (such as aspartame) should also be avoided. Sugar, for example, causes your body’s insulin levels to spike and thus makes you even more sensitive to pain. Aspartame has a similar effect on the body. This means you should avoid any foods and beverages with added sugars and artificial sweeteners (including diet sodas). Even some seemingly healthy fruit juices have sugar added, so it’s important to avoid them.

Nightshade vegetables are another type of food worth avoiding if you face pain caused by inflammation; unfortunately, these vegetables are known to increase the inflammatory response in a person’s body. Some examples of these include eggplant, tomatoes, and potatoes.

Some other foods and drinks to avoid include:

• white breads
• coffee creamer
• alcohol

Tips for Reducing Pain Through Nutrition

Now that you know which types of foods you should avoid if you suffer from pain due to inflammation, what kinds of changes can you make in your diet to promote a healthier and pain-free lifestyle? For starters, opting for a more natural diet of greens, fresh fruits, and certain vegetables (not nightshade) is a great way to reduce inflammation and pain. And perhaps one of the best things you can do for yourself is to simply drink more water. If you’re the type of person who drinks a lot of juices, sodas, and other questionable beverages, you might be amazed at how much better you feel just by switching to water. That’s because water can help flush toxins out of your body, which can in turn reduce pain caused by inflammation.

If you’re not doing so already, now is also a good time to start working to improve your gut health. Consider, for example, taking a daily probiotic, which will help balance out the bacteria in your gut. There are also foods you can eat that contain natural probiotics, such as yogurt. Just be sure to avoid yogurts that have a lot of added sugar and flavoring. Plain, Greek yogurt is typically your safest option here. You can always add a little granola or even fresh berries for more flavor.

Dealing with pain due to inflammation is something nobody should have to deal with. Unfortunately, this is a problem that plagues a large portion of the population. By understanding what foods worsen your inflammation and how you can reduce it through a healthier and more natural diet, however, you can find ways to reduce pains without the need for medications.

https://www.prevention.com/food/10-foods-that-make-inflammation-worse/slide/8

https://kriscarr.com/blog/5-tips-to-reduce-inflammation/