We have to understand that in the first place, our “Work From Home” setup is because of a bigger battle which is the pandemic.

More than half of the year has passed and so much has happened in those months. For me, my journey with RareJob started within those months and I have been with the company for a little over a month. I am a Social Media Community Associate under the Marketing Team and basically, I am in-charge of answering queries on social media and helping build our online community through engagement.

One of the activities I miss most from the “old normal” is going to dance studios to attend classes with my friends. Working out was not a thing that I have always been fond of, but dancing as a form of exercise is something I love. As we add more years to our life, we should start to value our physical health more. This is what led me to push myself to be consistent in exercising and having healthy eating habits.

Like most individuals, I had struggled with maintaining my physical health due to my schedule with my previous job. When quarantine started, I maximized my time by attending free online dance and workout classes from my friends. Browsing through YouTube for fitness videos also became a thing for me. My friend and I would also do routines together via video call and that made us feel more motivated and empowered. In actuality, doing workouts is only 20% of maintaining physical fitness; the remaining 80% is all in our diet.

What we eat still has a greater impact on our physical health so it is important to know more about your own body through research and then, develop a healthy diet from that information.

We can all agree that being in a “Work From Home” setup for more than 6 months is something we did not expect, at first. Most of you might also agree that this has forced us to make huge adjustments to our routines. Aside from ergonomic factors, such as not having a proper chair to sit on for almost the whole day, being at home for months can also take a toll on our mental health even if we are considered normal and mentally stable individuals.

The happy hormones are serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins. When we exercise, our body produces these hormones during the process which then makes us feel a sense of happiness.

One trend we have seen online during quarantine is called the “Quarantine Glow-up” which shows how people changed so much in terms of physical appearance and this can be good or bad, depending on our own interpretations. To put it out there, physical fitness is also not just all about our looks and “getting ripped”. The best glow-up we can achieve is boosting our immunity and starting healthier habits. We have to understand that in the first place, our “Work From Home” setup is because of a bigger battle which is the pandemic. There have been many initiatives to fight COVID-19 as a country, but the one thing in our control is our health. Making our health our top priority is our best weapon to fight an invisible enemy that is a virus.

As a means of promoting physical fitness, RareJob Philippines Inc. has started an online wellness event that brings us together as we strive to achieve the same goals and it was my privilege to be able to teach the first dance fitness session.

My teammate, who is also a dancer, referred me to be one of the instructors. During my days as an active dancer, I have been given several opportunities to lead in dance exercises during special events but an online setup is very new to me. Technical difficulties are inevitable in the virtual setup but what’s important is that we enjoy while working out. We don’t feel obligated to do it, we should feel that it’s something we want to do for the purpose of maintaining our health. Having an online wellness event for the employees can be a good reminder to take care of ourselves while battling with the pandemic.

Working out is not a complicated as most may think, it truly depends on what our goal is and should be. If you are not used to working out yet, don’t feel intimidated by it because simple exercises can make a big impact. Every individual has a different goal and a different body type. The first step to being healthy is to know more about your physical health to know how to maintain it. Some activities we can do are home-friendly workouts such as no equipment workouts, Zumba or dance fitness, skipping/jump rope, and etc. Do some research, make sure to turn to reliable sources and once you explore, you will know what suits you the most!

Diet is the biggest factor in maintaining our physical health! It is not about restricting yourself or starving yourself, it’s all about having a balanced intake and eating clean. If you love fast food or junk food (like me!), intake should be in moderation! Don’t deprive yourself, you can have a “cheat day” once a week or every two weeks. Again, it is important to not overindulge.

Most importantly, enjoy the journey! Don’t be too hard on yourself.

Do it for your health and not just for your image, think about the long term effects! I am also still on that journey and what I’ve learned is that: