LTL - Labor Day 9/5/16

crewahl

Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Monday -- crewahl / Charlie
Tuesday --60in2017 / Millie
Wednesday -- minimyzeme / Kim
Thursday -- MICHGOLFER2 / Jane
Friday --Jimb376mfp / Jim

Today's topic: Labor Day

Okay, we're a newer group here with some newer members - so let's get acquainted by telling what we labor at. What's your work, and how does that impact your weight loss?

crewahl

I work as a Business Analyst at a Boston-based insurance company. My work involves figuring out not just what happened, but why, what we can do about it, and what the impact will be. It's "thought" work using a computer, so I'm a desk jockey. (Although I'm not as short as some.)

How does it affect weight loss? Well, I'm not doing physical work, but there are still some positives. We have a good mildly-subsidized cafeteria, so there are plenty of good food options during the day. I use the stairs a lot, so I don't need a StairMaster. And Boston is a great walking city, so there's plenty to do on foot. I generally get off the train one stop early and walk the last 1.5 miles to work.

So my labor is sedentary, but that doesn't mean I have to be.

jbrack381us

I am a Planner/Buyer for a company that makes tires and wheels. I work at the corp office mostly, but visit the plants occasionally. My job is definitely a desk job with a computer. Thought work, like Charlie said.

It affects my WL that when I am home, I can eat the lunch/snacks I bring from home at about the same time every day. No cafeteria in our building, just a small food cart that does not serve really healthy options. I work 2+ mi from home, but way to much traffic to walk safely. My gym is also in that same stretch. So to go before or after work or later at night are all options when I choose for them to be.

Bigger problem has been when I travel to the plants and learning to make some new/different choices for meals. Last year, I was in CA for the better part of 4 months and gained close to 30# because I was not on the WL train at that point.

gadgetgirlIL

I co-direct a master's program in Clinical Exercise Physiology. Other than the days when I'm teaching in our lab, I'm mostly at my computer dealing with endless emails.

Being in an academic field that promotes exercise both for prevention and rehabilitation from chronic disease helps keeps me motivated to engage in regular activity as well as to eat a healthier diet. My mornings are spent at our fitness center across the street from campus. This fitness center is located in a continuing care retirement community so I see first hand the effect of inactivity on aging and the ability (or lack thereof) to take care of one's activities of daily living. I also have some amazing residents who have been active their entire lives who you would never guess were well into their 90's. They are positive role models for me.

I wear a lot of hats in my position which often leads to conflicting deadlines and stress. When I'm stressed, my first reaction is to turn to food which is not conducive to weight maintenance. But on a positive note, both my work locations have refrigerators and microwaves so I bring my own food with me since the offerings by the food service operations at both sites are less than desirable.

Al_Howard

I'm a retiree! for the last 6 years.
I worked 35 years in retail men's clothing , the last 9 at Men's Wearhouse in southern NH. Although weight was always a concern (vis. my 1979 WW goal date), I never considered myself "obese", and used to get plenty of activity on the sales floor.
The last 9 years was for Comcast as an inbound sales rep. Sitting on my butt 40 hours a week was NOT contusive to even weight maintenance. I went from around 250# to 335#. Finally the doctor said I was diabetic, and I got back on the WW band wagon.
Although nowhere near goal, I'm so much healthier than I was (less BP meds, and A1c mid 5's)
TOL (The Old Lady, my bride of almost 52 yrs.) and I have been on the WW journey since our soiree to it in 1978-9. Although we both got to goal, we both said "thanks" and didn't look back. Oops .
GoaD has been a great spot for me on my return, as it is a no BS board, and you can really learn, not just diet stuff, but real life mechanisms to deal with weight and life.

goldenfrisbee

My brothers and I own a small telecommunications company. We install and maintain business communications systems, voice and data cabling and fiber optics. My job is a combination of sales, customer service and estimating. Mostly a desk job.

I used to spend a lot of time out in the field doing service calls but since being almost exclusively in the office my weight has gone up. I've always been heavy but it increased after I stop doing the service work.

Recently we relocated our office to my hometown and now I work two minutes from my home, so I can usually get home for lunch and most often have a very healthy meals now.

beachwoman2006

I am now retired (since 2012). For the 28 years prior to retirement I worked in IT and then programming. While I was in IT, I actually got quite a bit off exercise because I provided desktop support for our entire company. My work took me between all of the various buildings and I walked to and from most of the buildings. But that didn't stop me from getting to my heaviest weight.

After switching to a programming role, I sat at a desk almost exclusively. BUT that's when I lost my weight. I joined WW@Work in November 2002, lost 60+ pounds between then and September 1, 2004. Until I was put on some medication in 2015, I stayed at or below goal. Right now I'm about 3 pounds above goal and have been struggling to lose THREE FREAKIN' POUNDS for over a year now.

myallforjcbill

I am getting ready to retire in a few months after 31 years. I started out in corporate accounting, moved in Financial Planning & Analysis, with stops in productivity, pricing management and for the last 4 years as a Due Diligence Mgr in the Mergers & Acquisitions group. Job right now is fairly sedentary now with travel restrictions and a bad back. But I walk almost every day and learned to manage fairly well. Staying home (currently due to my back) is the bigger challenge.

88olds

Retired as of 1/1/15. First half the year in Key West. It was great. Ate lots of fish. Had loads of fun activities. Lost 7 lbs w/o trying. Green zone heaven. Came back to Chicago, up 4 lbs in a month. Not a good adjustment.

The good news is, come January it's back to KW for good.

podkey

Another retiree here. Like Murple I spent many years working with the electron microscope. In my case I was more into the biological realm than her physics side. I spent many years in eye research using the electron microscope as my favorite tool as well as doing medical photography and more. I took an early retirement after crushing two vertebrae in my back (2001) and getting a fusion of T4-T7. Joined WW "by accident" in fall of 2007 following some biking friends into a meeting during a Sat morning bike ride. Down 55 LB and achieved lifetime status in early summer 2008. Took up flamenco guitar for fun and enjoyed playing for student dancers and the occasional public appearance until my lady from Spain moved back permanently to Spain. I like the outdoors and enjoy biking. I passed the 100,000 mile mark in 2014. (did not get there overnight but that is mileage from 172 to 2014 or 42 yr) As our friend Brian would say "I out ate my legs" which is why I slowly gained just up to the point of crossing into "obese" status. I needed a plan and an attitude transplant which fortunately happened. So far so good.

Jimb376mfp

Retired in 2010 after 42 years of Civil Service, most with USAF as HR Director at several AF Bases.
My job now is to take Sadie, our dog to Fido Field dog park. I volunteer at SPCA and do water aerobics 4X a week.
Challenge to being retired and weight management is keeping active. I joined WW 2013 and plan on getting to Onderland in 2017. GoaD. Connect and now MFP have helped me to keep me focused on WL on a daily basis.

wwchrisdad

Forced in to retirement 2-1/2 years ago but now wishing had been forced in to retirement 10 years ago. I'm an avid hiker. I am also a volunteer puppy raiser for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind. Very gratifying to train this puppy to make a difference in someone's and have the benefit of getting lots of steps in with the Guide Dog puppy, in addition to our own 2 dogs.

MICHGOLFER2

My DH and I own a small consulting company. My job is office based, mostly a mixture of compliance and HR. How does it impact my WL? Positive: I can usually arrange my schedule to make my meeting, I have a fridge and microwave which makes it easy to bring my lunch, I am in control of my "spaces" in my office. Negative: the stress of being responsible for other people's jobs, occasional personnel issues, demanding/difficult clients - it is hard to leave the job at the office and easy to eat my stress.

Johnkaz63

I'm an accountant for a municipality. It's affect would be neutral. I bring my lunch most days and have ample good choices around me when I decide to go out. I have been doing things like taking the stairs to increase activity since I started my journey.

minimyzeme

We're some interesting folks!

Earlier in life I worked for a photographer before deciding to go back to school for natural resources. I worked in both public and private sectors for many years as a forest hydrologist in the Western U.S. before moving back to NY State 13 years ago. Since that time, I've been a consultant for municipalities, water quality improvement groups, regional planning councils and natural resource firms.

I got fat earlier in my career. Stress and timelines, coupled with the social aspects of the job led me to eat and drink more than I needed to. Part of the reason for my move was my ailing mother and in hindsight, those stresses didn't help the situation. I recognize now I used food and drink somewhat as a crutch to deal with 'life'. So I go bigger and bigger.

On the 'plus side' (not size) working mostly from home definitely helps me manage my food better. Unfortunately, I've gone from many hours in the field to relatively few of them and now work mostly at a desk. This keeps me more sedentary than I used to be. When I do get to the field it can be for several hours of hiking / investigating thus there is some exercise on the job still. A far cry from what it used to be but better than nothing. I've made a point of reworking the social part of my job. Even though I do the necessary meetings and greetings, I've cut way down on the associated eating and drinking.

One thing that has really helped me deal with weight loss is dealing with the tradeoffs inherent in watershed management. Many of the municipalities I work with are struggling with flooding and erosion problems. Some of that can be traced to historic and contemporary land use changes. With natural resources (as with anything else) there are always tradeoffs to contend with. Over-simply stated, increased development often leads to increased runoff. Understanding this and being able to articulate it to municipal officials is a good reminder for me that I have my own tradeoffs to manage when it comes to weight loss.

linmueller

Worked as a MEd Tech in Dr. offices, and later a lab tech for a manufacturer for a total of 20 years. Then "retired" and started volunteering in my kids' class and school.

Today, I volunteer with BSF 2 days a week and MOPS one day every 2 weeks. Also do a little babysitting for the grand kids, some scheduled (2 days every 3 weeks) and some as needed.

As for how it affects my weight loss, positively! Having places to go on a regular basis, and getting out of the house (and away from the kitchen) is a good thing. I just have to guard against getting too busy. That results in lack of meal planning, not getting to the grocery store for healthy foods, etc, all of which is not good!

countcurt

I'm a physician. Although I still treat patients, I do a significant amount of management and consulting. Because I was fat long before I started [any kind of] working, and because I've been both fat and not fat while in my current job, I feel comfortable concluding my weight and my work have nothing to do with each other.

steve0mania

I'm a pediatric oncologist, but I don't actually see patients any longer. Instead, I'm research-focused, and have run a research lab studying pediatric cancer in the academic setting for a number of years. About a year ago I took a new position to direct a pediatric cancer research center, and moved my lab as well.

On the weight-management side of things, this means that I mostly sit at a desk in front of a computer. This is what I've done for a long time, so work itself isn't that conducive to weight-loss, although the one benefit is that I've got a fridge and a microwave in my office, so it's easy to bring lunch from home and prepare it here!

leeless511

I'm currently a Program Manager for an IT/telecommunication company that provides services/solutions to clients. For the past 3 months and moving forward I get to work from home and that has helped me be more active and less stressed because I don't waste an 1-1.5 hours on travel and another .5-1hr on getting ready to leave the house. I got back to goal since this started. I now take care of personal matters throughout the day and also work more hours on the job.

Prior to this change, I gained 12 lbs. in a year when I started working with this company, I believe due some stress eating (3-4 days of M&M's from vending machine, but stayed within my points usually) and lack of activity. The stress was related to the company undertaking massive change, I was assigned more projects than I could manage well & was given (3) direct reports. My job is sitting at a desk; working PC & lots of video conference calls/meetings. Since the meetings were video, you can't walk around (like I used to on audio only calls) because you have to be on camera.

But, I've been in the industry for about 30 years and over that span have been at the weight I am now (goal weight) a majority of the time. Early on I traveled (local market) much more and was not as PC bound and I think that helped keep me relatively good weight wise. I started gaining when I re-started working after selling my company and getting married. The jobs were much more sedentary and other life factors I'm sure impacted me and that gain was what brought me to WW. Meaning I don't think my job makes me fat, I think I am in control of that and I am thankful to have joined and embraced the WW lifestyle to help me keep the weight off and life in balance.

Rachel0778

I'm a Financial Aid Advisor at a college and I love my job. I used to have to work behind the scenes in financial aid processing which kept me at a desk with very little outside interaction. I had a long commute and wasn't happy so I definitely gained weight at my prior job.

Now I'm able to do a lot of outreach activities with students and I have a lot of one on one appointments to discuss financial counseling and money management. I love that I can actively make a difference in student's financial futures and I enjoy the problem-solving aspects of my job. I also have an incredibly supportive office environment. I'm able to use the track every day to walk during lunch and I've got a standing desk in my office so I'm not trapped sitting.

There are of course a lot of fast food places on and around the university campus, but part of my own budgeting is that I always pack a homemade lunch to save money so it hasn't been a hindrance in my weight loss.

lilybbbbb

I'm an instructional designer/content developer/eLearning manager on the sales training team for a large corporation. I used to teach and work in restaurants.

I sit wayyyyyyyyy more on the job than ever before in my life.
We have a nice cafe with a salad bar where I get my lunch every day.

My comfort/challenge/satisfaction levels heavily influence my weight more than the food selection or activity opportunities, though.

savignr

I work in supply chain for a major chemical company, headquartered in The Netherlands. In October, I will hit my 41 year anniversary. I worked in an office at the site for most of the time, and it was much easier to watch what I was eating. No cafeteria, no close restaurants, so if you wanted to eat you brought it. I now work from home about 90% of the time, which makes it much tougher for me, as I can eat anytime and pretty much anything I want. I've been doing well lately, though, by just staying focuses and acting as if I was in the office.

Jerdtrmndone

Truck driver over the road 15 yrs. work for co. installing high speed industrial equipment and drove for them also and did equipment repairs as needed 18yrs.. Retired 2010. Working pt. in a deli15 hrs. a wk. just for something to do instead of sitting around being bored and at least I get activity.