Sure, you can make sure to cook well-balanced dinner every night and get up early to work out at the gym the next day. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't also be practicing healthy habits at the place where you spend 40 hours a week. It's all-too-easy to fall into bad behaviors in the office, and making an active effort to fix those could have a real impact. In a recent interview for broadcaster Dan Skinner's Questions About Aging YouTube channel, longevity expert Dan Buettner shared how creating a better workplace environment can actually help you live longer. Read on to discover his three hacks for being healthier at work.
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1 | Ditch the candy dish.
iStockYou might not be able to make changes to your overall office without approval from those higher up, but as Buettner points out, "Most people have a dominion over their own desk or workspace."
So, when it comes to your personal workspace, the longevity expert says you can start by reconsidering your candy dish.
In his interview, Buettner cited a 2006 study from the Cornell Food Lab, which revealed that people who kept a candy jar on their desk gained about six additional pounds after two years of this unhealthy habit.
"I'm not saying you can't eat that candy, just don't have the bowl on your desk," he said.
RELATED: 116-Year-Old Woman With No Major Health Issues Reveals Her Longevity Diet.
2 | Get a walking desk.
iStockAnother problem most people face at their job is a lack of movement.
"This notion that we can sit at our desk all day long, and then make up for it at the gym is flawed in two ways," Buettner warned. "Number one, a half hour in the gym doesn't make up for eight hours of sitting down. And number two, if you look at gym membership usage, after about a year and a half, nobody's using their gym membership anymore."
With that in mind, the longevity expert is a major proponent of the walking desk trend.
"A walking desk is a fantastic idea," he said. "Setting up your workspace so you're nudged to move really works."
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3 | Change up how you commute.
iStockIf you're driving yourself to work every day, you may want to rethink that. Instead, Buettner suggests that you consider commuting to work either on foot or by public transportation.
"We know that people who commute to work [this way] have about 20 percent lower rates of cardiovascular disease than people who drive to work," he shared.
Don't be afraid to adjust things if you need.
iStockWhile ditching the candy dish is a fix anyone can make, not everyone is able to change up their commute or get a walking desk—which is something several people brought up in the comment section of an Instagram post from Buettner.
"No way I could manage a walking desk," one person responded. "How do people focus?"
But the real purpose of Buettner's hacks is to make the changes you can. In terms of the walking desk, the idea is simply to push people into getting more movement during work.
Health influencer Kristina offered an alternative option in the comment section that the longevity expert said was a "great tip" for being healthier at work, too: "If you can't use a walking treadmill, set calendar reminders to get up and move a few times throughout the day," Kristina suggested.
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