Chairs scare me.

PR Daily posted an infographic describing how sitting can slowly kill you by upping your chances of heart disease. Now, I eye my chair suspiciously. It’s no longer a cradle for my tush, but a harbinger of health complications, obesity, and death.

Perhaps I’m being a bit dramatic.

Still, I’ve been working on a few ways to make my workday healthier.

Stand up to heart disease. My co-worker and I created our own makeshift standing desks, and we stand for about four hours every day. We get a lot of odd looks. But it keeps us more alert, engages our core muscles, and burns 12 to 30 more calories per hour than sitting.

Work out, and then go out. Schedule workout dates right after work to relieve your workday tensions. Resist the urge to go straight to happy hour. Enjoy the bonus of extra energy after your workout—because lifting those pints is tough.

Work out at your desk. You know you have 15 minutes to spare. Keep weights under your desk. Instead of stuffing yourself with Doritos when you’re bored, do a few biceps curls. You can use your desk to do dips and pushups, too. Check out this 15-minute desk workout video from SparkPeople.com:



Resist the urge to phone, email, or tweet your co-workers. Go talk to your co-workers face to face. A real conversation can help break up your routine.

Put the credit card away. Our office is near a plethora of delicious bodegas, quickie restaurants, and snack shops, conveniently located five floors below. Every day I’m tempted to grab lunch. But why not try to make a healthier version of that Burrito Beach entree? Your wallet and your waistline will thank you.

What do you do to encourage a healthier workplace?

Samantha Hosenkamp is the social media editor at Ragan Communications. She also blogs at Millennial Mafia, where a version of this story first appeared.