No doubt you hear health tips all the time from friends and peers. Things like ‘take the stairs’ or ‘avoid eating too many carbohydrates’ are pretty standard. Health News Today would like to indulge you with a few extra words of advice that you may or may not have already heard to assist you in building a healthier lifestyle.

One of my biggest health tips is pretty simple: whenever possible, eat lunch outside. This may not be the best idea when it’s freezing cold or blistering hot outside, but just a short lunch break outside can make a big difference. Most of us spend a large amount of time indoors and rely on foods or supplements for our daily supply of vitamin D, which is used to regulate calcium and phosphate in the bloodstream as well as assisting in our immune system. Vitamin D, when absorbed through the skin from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, is synthesized and used to promote health in bone growth and remodeling. Whether you have patio furniture or just a picnic blanket, the fresh air from the outdoors can do wonders for your stress and even give you an opportunity to meet new people if you’re camping out in front of the office, giving this health tip a social advantage as well!

The next health tip is a no-brainer. If you work regularly at a computer, be sure to take breaks. Not only is that seated position doing terrible things for your posture and joints, the disuse of muscles is actually hurting them. Staring at any source of light for a prolonged period of time will also have a negative effect. Some suggestions I’ve heard are to set a timer in case you get wrapped up and forget about getting up and stretching. If your office has a kitchen area, walk down there and get a small cup of water instead of keeping a bottle at your desk. This will give you an opportunity to stretch your legs as well as promoting a healthy consumption of the proper levels of water. Some health reasons for drinking water include heart health, added energy, healthy skin, reducing digestive problems and headaches, and flushing toxins and waste from the body. If walking to the kitchen isn’t your thing, why not try walking over to other departments and seeing what they’re doing. This could give you a good opportunity to get to know your office better and perhaps find new, innovative ways of streamlining your own tasks.

Another health tip is one that housewives have known for years: clean regularly. Tasks like dusting, sweeping, vacuuming and mopping are called ‘chores’ for a reason, but is there more to them than that? The obvious health tip is the reduction of germs, mold and dust particles that can irritate allergies, not to mention avoiding some unwanted houseguests. But wait, there’s more! All physical activities are good, especially those that are repetitious like the circular motion of dusting, which is beneficial to joints as well, or the back and forth of keeping your floors tidy. The greatest benefit that I’ve noticed from doing chores regularly is that redundant physical activities are a great stress outlet. While working at a mindless task, it helps me become more focused in sorting out whatever might’ve been spilling through my head throughout the day. Don’t save up all of your cleaning for the weekend, spend 15 to 20 minutes daily, even if it’s just to pick up a room or reorganize a closet. The health benefits of making this a daily activity far exceed the inconvenience.