Brown Baggin It

Brown Bag it

Taking your lunch with you to work can save you delicious amounts of money. If you spend only $8.00 a day for lunch, which isn’t difficult to do, you will spend almost $2000 a year. That’s $160 a month. If you’re like me, and live on a limited budget, this money can make a huge difference.

But it can be really difficult to facilitate a Brown Bag habit. Time and resources are at a minimum.

Excuse #1: Your coworkers are going out, and you don’t want to be left out.

Answer A: Get a buddy to do it with you. If you only really hang out with a couple people at lunch, convince them to do it with you. Go to a park or eat quickly and go for a walk together.

Answer B: Offer to set up brown bag lunches where everyone brings their lunch and listens to a short information session on a new piece of software or a new concept. It’s a great idea for professional development for the presenters, the attendees and makes you look great for suggesting it.

Answer C: Take one day, maybe Friday as a reward for being so good all week, and make sure everyone gets together to go out. I agree with the new book, “Never Eat Alone” you should always be trying to create new relationships to develop your career as well as personal life.

Excuse #2: You don’t have time to pack a lunch in the morning.

Answer A: If you cook at night, when putting the food away, put a little bit in a single serving container and set it right in the front so you don’t forget it.

Answer B: Precook some foods like pasta or rice. Or pre-chop some green pepper and celery and toss them together in an impromptu pasta salad or in a quick stir fry.

Answer C: Buy a bunch of poptop soup cans and put them in your desk. Make sure you keep a sturdy bowl or container. If you have room in a freezer grab a couple of lite frozen dinners and toss them in there.

Another amazing advantage to brown bag buffets, your can easily control your caloric intake. If you’re watching your weight this can be a great help.

Here's a great page of ideas for your brown bag adventures.

http://busycooks.about.com/od/lunchrecipesandmenus/a/morebrownbag.htm

Exercise at Work

I hope everyone’s having a great summer! This is the time of the year for bikinis, shorts and little summer dresses. Getting that summer ready body can be pretty difficult for busy people. I have compiled a few quick tips for finding time to fit exercise in your schedule.

We spend an increasing amount of at work. If you have a few minutes you may want to try a few easy exercises that you can do at your desk, in your cubicle and office.

1. Arm Circles – stick your arms straight out at the shoulder. Rotate clockwise slowly for 20-40 circles. (I stop at 30, because my arms really start to feel it about then) You can also simply hold your arms like this for 3 minutes at a time. Do three reps of this.
2. Arm Dips – Here’s another arm exercise. Scoot off your seat and grab the front edge of the seat. You should look like you’re sitting on the air with your knees bent in front of you.

If you do get some flack for doing these exercises at your desk, simply tell the annoying commenter that you’re trying to prevent carpal tunnel by doing something different with your arms. This should shut them up. Most of the time these exercises are so unnoticeable you should be fine.

1. Another exercise is butt clenches. Simply clench your cheeks and then release. Do this for as long or as many times as you feel like you can.
2. You can also get better abs at work, squeeze and release. Really focus on individual muscles. It really works!

Studies show that people who move around more burn more calories. So go ahead and fidget in your seat. Tap the air with your feet. Wiggle a little. Just try not to tap the side of your cubicle. You don’t want to burn calories while being chased by a mob of annoyed co workers carrying staplers and flaming keyboards.