September is Fruits and Veggies: More Matters Month, a national public initiative from the CDC and Produce for a Better Health Foundation to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables. This national health issue is more widespread than most people realize; a 2005 CDC Survey found that less than a third of American adults reported eating at least two servings of fruit per day, and only 27% said they ate three or more servings of vegetables. With 2/3 of our population not meeting the recommended nutrition goals in their daily diets, we're happy to fully back this proposal. 

“I don’t have time.”

It’s the go-to excuse for skipping the gym.

We get it — work, family, and social commitments make it tough to fit in a workout. But guess what? You don’t need long exercise classes or hours at the gym to stay active. We’ve got some simple life hacks that will help you make time for physical activity, no matter how busy you are.

When you're short on time, the best strategy is to break your exercise into short, frequent bursts throughout the day. Even 10 minutes, two or three times a day can give you the health benefits of physical activity. Once you split your daily workout into easy, doable time slots, you open up a world of exercise that doesn’t require an hour of cardio.

The average travel time to work in the United States is 25.4 minutes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Round-trip, you're looking at almost an hour of your day that could be used to learn, work, read, talk, exercise or relax. Here are ten ways to turn a passive commute into an active adventure! 

With Labor Day weekend right around the corner, many of us are getting ready to enjoy some well-earned vacation time. In today's world, however, breaking away from the office means more than physically not being there. Between waking up with our smartphones to checking social media, most of us will find ourselves responding to emails, returning voicemails and interacting with Facebook when we should be soaking up the paid time off. In fact, a recent TripAdvisor survey of 16,100 employed respondents reported that 77% percent of U.S. respondents say they have worked on vacation during the past year, with 91% stating that they check work e-mail while they're away.

American workers don’t use all their vacation days, leaving an estimated 577 million unused days on the table each year. Even when we do get the chance to get away, most of us take our work along for the ride, toting our laptops along and keeping our smartphones glued to our sides.

The 40-hour work week sounds like a pretty relaxing schedule to a lot of employed Americans. In fact, the United States is widely considered to be the most overworked nation in the industrialized world. According to the International Labor Organization, Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers. The long hours and late nights are only getting longer and later, a problem that impacts our productivity, our health, and our relationships.

Many employers view absenteeism as a large source of loss for an organization and many companies commonly develop specific policies to combat the indirect costs of lost productivity. This common misconception encourages employees to avoid missing work when they’re sick, and often they’re unable to perform at their usual level of efficiency. Recent studies have shown that the combination of health care costs for the employee, coupled with their lack of productivity during the workday, has a far greater effect to an employer than if the individual had simply taken sick days and stayed home. This phenomenon of “presenteeism” is quickly becoming an emerging concern in the workplace.  

Picture a workplace where you and your team are able to be your best selves each and every day. It’s possible, and it doesn’t require a massive human resources initiative or expensive company retreat to achieve. In fact, you can create this culture of optimism yourself, simply by refining your day-to-day thoughts, beliefs and actions to celebrate the bright side of your work, your peers, and your life.

At a recent session of the Aspen Ideas Festival, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi shared her perspective, stating, “I don't think women can have it all.”

This thought-provoking remark is not meant to spark a feud with Sheryl Sandberg and the Lean In movement but rather to contribute to the ongoing dialogue surrounding work-life balance.