Why you need to be a ‘corporate athlete’

Leading a healthy lifestyle for a busy entrepreneur can sometimes be a challenge. Working for yourself often involves lots of travel, meetings and eating unhealthy foods. Early mornings and late evenings can also mean that there is just not enough time to get sufficient sleep let alone exercise, not to mention the high stress levels that many business owners face due to the demands of their businesses.

The ‘Corporate Athlete
‘It’s commonly known that neglecting your health can mean risking serious health disorders and fatal illnesses like obesity, high cholesterol or even heart disease, even more so for executives and business people. Johannesburg based wellness consultant at Bodycoach® Wellness Solution, Jocelyn Thompson, says the approach of the corporate athlete, as with traditional athletes, is about training business people and high-performance individuals to perform at optimal levels over long periods in pressurised environments.

“This means by adapting the extensive research in the field of high-performance athletes, we can develop a programme for any executive to achieve their true potential and feel great doing it,” adds Thompson.
The benefits of being a ‘corporate athlete’ and leading a healthy lifestyle are obvious. Not only do individuals benefit but their work and businesses do too. Healthy people tend to be happier, are more productive and have more energy.

From business-minded to health-conscious
​Thompson says most people only consider their health when something goes wrong. “Lack of knowledge and support lead many to simply feel overwhelmed and in the face of other pressures, health is deemed important but not urgent.
“By the time things do become urgent, it’s too late to use nutritional, non-invasive interventions. Costly and traumatic medical procedures can usually be avoided through early detection and coaching on easy and sustainable lifestyle change.

“The truth is that optimal health and sufficient energy to meet all requirements, whether at work or at home, is easily accessible” she adds.
For Arianna Huffington, the dynamic founder of the American news portal, The Huffington Post, the wake-up call was a severe hit to the head. After collapsing from exhaustion in April of 2007, Huffington re-examined her priorities and adopted a less stressful and more balanced lifestyle.

South African, Rupert McKerron, CEO of McNab’s Feel Good is a reformed workaholic. After falling ill while working in the corporate environment and getting no help from traditional medicine he switched to eating healthily and abandoned his bad lifestyle habits. McNab’s Feel Good, his range of natural health products and supplements, is his attempt to enlighten people on the benefits of good health.

Managing your body with a lifestyle change
​Thompson says more people need to take note of early health warning signs, these may include minor aches and pains and minor health complaints which she says are often ignored or managed through self-medication. “These are the body’s warning light,” she says.
She also believes many people do not understand the dangerous impact of stress on the body. “Stress is blamed for a myriad of ailments but what does it mean on a physiological level? Furthermore what real, practical solution does the average individual have that can be implemented into the busiest of lives.” While a certain amount of stress is most certainly productive, understanding the impact that prolonged stress has on the body empowers even the busiest person to manage themselves immediately and effectively.

10 ways to improve health and well-being from The Bodycoach®: 

1. A diet high in plant-based material is the way to ensure optimal health
2. Your plate should look like a rainbow to ensure that you are getting all your micro nutrients. If you are consuming mostly brown and white foods then you starving your body of essential nutrients
3. Various metabolic processes require fats, proteins and carbohydrates so eat from each of the groups
4. Be aware of how your body reacts to certain foods and find a system that works for you
5. Stay hydrate
6. Keep the amount of grain you eat low
7. Keep the amount of sugar and alcohol you consume low
8. Move your body a lot
9. Rest often
10. Sustainability/longevity and optimal health should be the ultimate goals of any eating regimen