WORK/LIFE BALANCE
Achieving a Healthy Work/Life Balance LA Fitness
The benefits of an ideal work/life balance are clear: we perform better at work, so our career progresses, and we enjoy our leisure time more, so we become happier and more emotionally fulfilled. Finding that ideal balance is easier said than done though, and often the everyday pressures of work and family life fuel anxieties, make you less upbeat on the job, and ultimately leave you feeling stressed and run down.
W
e know that stress makes our metabolism inefficient, leading to weight gain. In normal doses the stress hormone, cortisol, promotes the breakdown of fats into fatty acids and glycerol. However, stress-induced, high cortisol levels make it difficult to lose weight: too much cortisol increases insulin resistance, which slows the metabolism and reduces testosterone levels – limiting the body's ability to break down (or 'burn') fat. These are just some of the unwelcome by-products of a work/life imbalance, so let’s concentrate on how we can improve it, through smart time management and a healthy lifestyle.
Looking after yourself – getting ‘me-time’ Often, when we have a poor work/life balance, we find ourselves neglecting our health and fitness in favour of furthering our careers – whether that’s by grabbing lunch from an unhealthy fast food outlet to eat at our desks, or simply spending too much time glued to the laptop at home on evenings and weekends rather than being active and enjoying time with family and friends. Getting the balance right is all about compromise, which may mean making a concerted effort to change our negative habits. So, for example, if you find yourself working late into the evening at home and losing sleep (and energy) as a result, try changing your routine – go to bed perhaps an hour earlier and rise earlier too, allowing you to get to work ahead of schedule and complete everything you need to do within office hours.
Healthy lifestyle
Spend time with family and friends
With more free time in the evenings, you should be able to introduce healthy activities into your lifestyle with a sensible fitness routine that still leaves you plenty of time to relax. It’s recommended that, to promote good health and fitness, we exercise three to five times a week for 30 minutes at a time. Jogging, cycling and swimming are all ideal aerobic exercises to help improve physical fitness (and aid weight loss), and it has also been proven that exercise is connected to heightened levels of serotonin – a hormone that controls your moods – which means that regular exercise will leave you feeling happier, as well as healthier, combating depression. Of course, a regular exercise routine is most effective (particularly when aiming for weight loss) when combined with a healthy diet, so try to cut down on processed, fatty foods and up your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables. It’s not always easy for busy professionals to eat healthily (or find time to cook fresh food in the evening), but try to ditch the ready-meals in favour of quick and healthy dishes like stirfries and salads, which are easy to prepare and much more beneficial.
A crucial part of establishing a healthy work/life balance is to make sure that your time with friends and family is taken into consideration. Whilst it’s not always possible to organise far-flung daytrips on weekends, sharing a fitness routine with your family is a great way to spend quality time together doing something active. Remember: even the longest journey begins with one small step. The first step towards achieving a positive work/life balance is to make a commitment to change – then, to build these changes into your everyday life for a healthier, happier you.
Exercise is connected to heightened levels of serotonin – a hormone that controls your moods. Biography Ø LA Fitness is one of the leading health and fitness operators in the U.K. with over 80 clubs across the U.K. and Ireland. In 2011 they were voted the ‘U.K.’s No.1 Health and Fitness brand’ by the Fitness Industry Association.
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04/08/2013 11:07