Several years ago when I still worked in an office environment, we went through a pretty rough stretch. We were all working long hours and were stressed beyond belief. We all pitched in and when we got the job done, my boss gave each of us a six-pack of fancy-schmancy beer and a big bar of chocolate. Hands down, he was the coolest boss in the world.

We never had the dreaded candy bowl at that office, but we did have our fair share of bagels for breakfast and pizza for lunch. Though it was awesome that our boss liked to treat us once in a while, the treats were never very healthful.

Enter The Fruit Guys. This service delivers a box of fresh fruit to the office once a week. What a great idea. (All of you bosses out there, take note!) Not only will this improve employee morale, it will also contribute to better health and weight management which, in turn, improves employee productivity.

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You exercise, you eat right, you get a good night's sleep, and you try to stay organized; you're doing everything you can to manage your own stress. But what if you work with someone who isn't managing stress well?

Regardless of where you might work, there are a lot of reasons for stress in today's workplace -- threats of layoff, increased workload due to reduced staffing, and so on. When you add in all the non-work-related causes of stress, it's no wonder some people aren't managing the pressure well. And, no matter how well you handle stress, when a co-worker is stressing you'll be affected by it.

So what can you do to help a stressed out co-worker? As long as you don't take on the reasons for their stress (e.g. taking their workload), it's a good thing to help out. And, if you happen to be the boss, it's imperative that you do so in order to maintain a positive workplace and to prevent productivity from slipping. Some ideas:

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If you're about to make a pitch to your boss about a much-needed raise, Health.com recommends you consume lean protein and whole grains, plus a little caffeine.

Why?

Because you want to be alert and upbeat, and protein foods contain the stuff to increase mental alertness. Whole grains also improve energy and so does caffeine for a bit -- but more important, it can improve your attention and short-term memory. How about this menu to rev you up: An egg-white and spinach omelet, a whole-wheat bagel with low-fat cream cheese, and one or two cups of coffee? If you don't get the raise, you'll at least be primed for a spunky day.

Health.com has you covered in all sorts of scenarios. Speaking to a large crowd? A high-protein, low-fat meal is best. Trying to get pregnant? Complex carbs, protein, and folic acid are your essentials. Before a workout: A light snack with carbs and water.

There's more. Learn exactly how to eat for performance right here.

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Money talks, and that's true for weight loss also. A new study has shown that people will lose weight for money, even if it's just a little. The best use of this information may not be for you to necessarily reward yourself at home (although if that works then go for it!) but for your employer to offer you incentives at work. Obviously having healthy employees benefits business in many ways, so by offering money to staff with healthy habits and weight loss everybody wins.

Apparently there are more studies in the works to find what the best dollar amounts are and if results and incentives work in the long term. How much would it take for you to lose weight? Honestly, any amount would encourage me (considering it's something I want to do anyway) but the more the better!

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Reading the recent blog here on That's Fit about "Why men ignore their wives" prompted me into a little fun research myself. So if men ignore their wives, why do women put up with it? The websites were endless. WOW. It seems that women tolerate a lot of certain behaviors from their spouses like being ignored, being fussed at or looked down upon and even being abused physically because of cultural beliefs, economic factors and personal fears. There is the disgrace of being a statistic, of being a divorcee. With our divorce rate hovering somewhere between 50 percent and 60 percent it is not hard to see that men and women really can not get along. Maybe the high divorce rate can be contributed to being ignored. wink wink...

But one study in particular stood out to me on why divorce rates are climbing. It emphasized that attraction in the work place between men and women has always been relevant but men had always held the dominant jobs in the work force. But that statistic is changing with women bosses increasing and more jobs like doctors, lawyers, police officers, fire fighters, and even politics with many women now leading in congress and the senate. Women are beginning to have equality in leadership roles. Many women who do well professionally find few men who are secure enough to be with them.

Being a man and being masculine are two different things. A man is a boy who has reached a certain age. A masculine man is a boy who has finally matured as an adult. Some men never reach that maturity. So I guess women have to look at being ignored by their husbands the same way they look at their children that ignore them when asked to do their chores.

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If I didn't love the U.S.A. so much I'd totally be moving to France! The fact that they have 35 hour work weeks and much more generous vacation time on average is tempting enough, but now health officials are looking into the benefits of sleep on work performance and, get this, the possibility of paid nap time at work.

Are you serious? A nap break? That's awesome in theory, but I wonder how that would work exactly... Instead of "break rooms" they'll have "nap rooms," with grungy beds all kinds of people are sleeping in at different times? Or maybe everybody gets a comfy reclining chair and the office goes quiet at a certain time each day?

Seems easier to just shorten the work week a little more, and maybe promote a start time of noon across the board. Every day can start like a Saturday, wouldn't that be awesome?

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If you love going to work everyday that's awesome, but unfortunately you are a minority. More people than not are doing the "work to live" thing, and feel stressed out and unhappy about their job pretty regularly. Whether you're not getting paid enough, you've got a pile of stressful projects coming due, or you just picked the completely wrong field for yourself, burning out on the job is a serious problem -- for both your career and your health.

Realizing you have a problem...Hate to use a cheesy cliché, but the first thing you have to do is acknowledge that you're burning out at work. It's a vicious downward spiral, and you can't climb out unless you make a conscious effort towards change. So what signs should you be watching for?

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Are you stressed out at work -- miserable everyday because you can't stand your boss? It's more than just sitcom fodder. Employees who work for tyrants are more likely to experience exhaustion, job tension, nervousness and depressed mood.

A recent study found that more than 30% of employees got the "silent treatment," weren't given credit when due, and had promises broken by their supervisor. More than 20% said their boss made negative comments about them to other employees or managers, while also blaming others to cover up mistakes and minimize embarrassment.

So what can you do if your boss sucks? Stay visible at work, making sure employers notice your strengths and talents. Also, try an optimistic approach -- even if your current supervisor is a jerk, you'll want the next one to know what you can do for the company. Lastly, if your boss is more than just a bad manager, and is actually abusive, don't stand for it -- look for help from your human resources department, or seek outside legal advice.

(Thanks to Boing Boing for the link)

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