After graduating from college, I was really lucky to get offered a job in my field.
I had a great deal of student loans to cover.
I also was responsible for a car payment, rent and living expenses. My small salary made it difficult. I needed to be good at my job, maximize productivity and work toward a promotion and pay increase. I put in a great deal of overtime and was rewarded. As my work responsibilities grew, there was less available time for myself. I gave up working out and was not as careful about my diet. Since I was devoting long hours to sitting at a desk, working on a keyboard, I was especially sedentary. It didn’t take all that long to experience issues with aching joints, sore back and frequent headaches. I also gained weight and became sensitive about my appearance. My bad diet choices created problems with my digestive system and even negatively impacted the condition of my skin. I started having trouble sleeping at night and struggled to get up on time in the morning. Recognizing that I was sinking into depression and headed toward some major health problems, I finally spoke with my boss. I explained that I had to either take a leave of absence or leave the job. She explained that others were having similar issues. She’d already begun setting up a corporate wellness program. She asked if I wanted to oversee it. I looked into possibilities and benefits of corporate wellness programs and was excited by the potential. These programs have shown to reduce worker absenteeism while greatly improving morale and productivity. We now have a personal trainer who visits the building every workday and provides a guided fitness program. We have a nutritionist who is accessible to consult with us one on one. Because of these services, I’ve totally changed my quality of life. I now eat with better nutrition and make time to workout every day. My health concerns have disappeared, and I feel so much better.