Maintaining your health can be a challenge when you're stuck sitting at a desk for eight hours a day, then spending another two hours tangled in your commute. Factor in eight hours for sleep, and that only leaves six hours left for you every work day. It's not easy to get anything substantial accomplished in that span, let alone find some extra time for exercise.

But there are certainly some things you could do each day to stay healthy. The new national standards call for roughly two hours of exercise each week. This could include anything from walking to running, bicycling, or swimming, doing jumping jacks, or lifting weights. Spread out over five days, that two hours equals roughly twenty minutes a day, which could easily fit within a thirty minute lunch break. Which means that if you pack a lunch and eat it at your desk (instead of spending money at the cafeteria every day), you've got time to go for a walk.

Additionally, to help foster a fitness friendly atmosphere (and to keep insurance premiums lower), many larger businesses provide fitness facilities for their employees. This may take the form of a small gym with a couple of treadmills, to a full sized fitness center complete with aerobics instructors. Charges for use of these facilities may vary, but businesses typically try to make them very affordable and some are even free. Their idea behind it is that healthier employees equal fewer medical expenses. Healthier employees are, thus, cheaper to insure. The benefit for you is that you've got somewhere to go over your lunch break to work up a quick sweat.

In the event you work somewhere small, with fewer perks, it's still important to find something to do for twenty minutes a day. Take a walk. Do jumping jacks. Just spend twenty minutes being active. By no stretch of the imagination does this mean you need to skimp lunch or skip out on work. Simply pack yourself a sandwich or salad, something you can easily eat at your desk while still being productive. This strategy tends to help your pocket book as much as it does your waist size.