I quit my job because I thought it was making me fat

1nprgr3s

So I had this fantastic job, I enjoyed it and I'd been doing it for 6 years. Unfortunately I often worked long hours, sitting down, and not taking breaks and stuffing my face with rubbish while doing other things and over that time I slowly gained 20kg (44lbs). So recently I became convinced that it was my jobs fault I'm fat so I resigned. I'm now about to start a job where I will be on my feet all day and will actually have to take breaks because I won't be able to eat while I work. So realistically is this going to make any difference?

L1zardQueen

As long as you are in deficit, that's all that matters. Being more active means you get a few more calories per day but you need to be sure your calorie tracking is accurate.

VintageFeline

By blaming the job you have ultimately shifted responsibility from yourself and believe you are powerless because of circumstances. The reality is, you and only you are in charge of what and how much you put in your mouth. That's the stone cold reality. I wa sa full-time dance student ten years ago and still overweight. Why? I didn't care about how much I was eating.

Until you take responsibility, the job you do is irrelevant.

RAinWA

Probably not. It wasn't the job that made you gain weight, it was too much food. The new job may not have as many chances to eat while at work, but if you don't address how many calories you are eating, changing jobs won't make a whit of difference.

rsclause

I went from mostly active to sitting at a desk. Quitting is not an option as its my company but I have compensated by running before going to work. If you ever get in that rut again you may want to give it a try. I actually look forward to getting up at 4:30 AM now and never set an alarm.

genpopadopolous

The job didn't put the food in your mouth, you did.

callsitlikeiseeit

your job did not make you fat.

eating more than you burn did.

Debmal77

VintageFeline wrote: »

By blaming the job you have ultimately shifted responsibility from yourself and believe you are powerless because of circumstances. The reality is, you and only you are in charge of what and how much you put in your mouth. That's the stone cold reality. I wa sa full-time dance student ten years ago and still overweight. Why? I didn't care about how much I was eating.

Until you take responsibility, the job you do is irrelevant.

This!

cmriverside

I would think it would make a difference. Just go in with the mindset that it will. That was a pretty drastic change to make, so make it work!

Alatariel75

It's a real shame you gave up a job you loved rather than changed your habits. I hope you love the new job, because it would be a real tragedy for you to spend hours a day doing something you don't enjoy because you didn't make reasonable adjustments for something you did.

CaladriaNapea

I used to be a full-time high school English teacher (I quit at the end of this past school year). There are things that were amazing about being a teacher (students!) and things I hated (I'm looking at you, standardized exams . . . ), but it was a job where I was extremely active--I usually sat down only three times throughout the day (before school began, during lunch, and after my last class). My Fitbit usually said I got 15k+ steps a day. However, over my two years of teaching, I gained around forty pounds. I chalked this up to having no life whatsoever--no time for exercise, no time to de-stress, no time to sleep, no time to spend with hubby, which led to sky-high amounts of stress, which led to over-eating (which, yes, was completely my decision. If I had been less stressed and got a decent amount of sleep once in awhile, I probably would have made a different decision, however). Now that I work from home, that weight is coming off quite handily, even though I take less steps overall now (although I do exercise). However, losing that weight now with my massively-less-stressful job has required a lot of removing poor habits that I developed during teaching and prior as well as building new, healthier habits.

TL;DR: Teaching is a ball of amazing suckiness. Jobs can effect your stress (and other physiological factors) that can lead to poor decision making. A better job may help you be healthier, but that still requires you to consciously build healthy habits.

PennWalker

1nprgr3s wrote: »

So I had this fantastic job, I enjoyed it and I'd been doing it for 6 years. Unfortunately I often worked long hours, sitting down, and not taking breaks and stuffing my face with rubbish while doing other things and over that time I slowly gained 20kg (44lbs). So recently I became convinced that it was my jobs fault I'm fat so I resigned. I'm now about to start a job where I will be on my feet all day and will actually have to take breaks because I won't be able to eat while I work. So realistically is this going to make any difference?

A lot of office environments are really unhealthy. I used to work in an office where I was surrounded by candy, cakes, treats people would bring in especially around the holidays, etc. I liked working there, but I also constanly wished I could quit to get away from the food culture.

Every office/job has some problem. I don't know if you were able to talk to your old employer about the need to move more. Were you able to ask for help maybe a standing desk, or the need to take a walk for your health, or even the need for an assistant if the workload was too much? What if conditions change in the new place? Friendly communication can sometimes help. I don't have any answers, just throwing out these thoughts.

pinuplove

Increased activity will help, but you're still going to need to log your food. I agree with the others who have said I hope you like your new job, because it would be a shame if you traded a great job for a not-so-great one instead of changing other things that were within your control (food, activity outside of work).

brenn24179

whatever works for you! I will say I did a standup high energy job in a grocery store and thought I would lose weight because I had always did office work. No, it didn't happen. I went to the gym for 1 year and did not lose weight. My hubby seems to lose weight when he is active but for me it is my Food. I have to watch my food intake! But my husband does not seem to be hungry if he is real active. Everyone is different.

markrgeary1

I thought my job was making me a drunk so I quit it. Then I had to quit drinking cause I didn't have any money.

Good luck.

kbmnurse

Is this really a question?

Afura

What was it about the job itself that caused you to eat the rubbish? Because I've had friends in those kind of environments where they are just tied to the desk 14hrs a day, and you become so exhausted you make bad choices because they're simple and quick. But it really is a choice issue.
Are you going to make better choices or continue eating 'rubbish' regardless of whether or not you're tied to the desk?

metalmeow1

You don't go to work to lose weight. You go to work to make cash to pay the bills. Even if you found a job as a personal trainer and you were active all day, you'd still gain weight if you exceeded your daily caloric maintenance.

If I were you I'd try to get my awesome job back! Tell them you thought you had to move and turns out rent didn't increase after all.

Packerjohn

Sorry if thus is harsh, but you are just making excuses. The job did not cause you to gain, you eating more calories than you needed to maintain did.

If you look for excuses you will not control your weight because there is always somethin out there where you can convince yourself you're a victim.

dragon_girl26

In the past, I worked several different places on my feet all day, and that was when I was at my heaviest weight. It wasn't until I started working a sedentary desk job that I lost all of my weight. How did that work? I started tracking and controlling my intake, and getting regular exercise. I started planning my meals and prepping in advance, rather than just winging it when I was hungry. Food is such a big part of our health in our daily lives, yet it also seems to be the one thing people give the least attention.
Your weight won't change until your habits change.

Unknown

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malibu927

You quit a job you loved because you overate? o_O

lightenup2016

I disagree with most previous posters. Inactivity all day is unhealthy, and can make it difficult to maintain weight because you must stick with a fairly low calorie goal. Yes, you could make the numbers work, but it's not easy.

OP, if you keep all else the same (calories eaten per day and activity level outside of work) then I would think you would lose weight with this new job. I do hope it's one you enjoy, as well!

metalmeow1

lightenup2016 wrote: »

I disagree with most previous posters. Inactivity all day is unhealthy, and can make it difficult to maintain weight because you must stick with a fairly low calorie goal. Yes, you could make the numbers work, but it's not easy.

OP, if you keep all else the same (calories eaten per day and activity level outside of work) then I would think you would lose weight with this new job. I do hope it's one you enjoy, as well!

No one said "don't ever workout or move if you don't do it at work." We're saying if you lose control at work then look beyond work at learning control overall.

Unknown

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VintageFeline

lightenup2016 wrote: »

I disagree with most previous posters. Inactivity all day is unhealthy, and can make it difficult to maintain weight because you must stick with a fairly low calorie goal. Yes, you could make the numbers work, but it's not easy.

OP, if you keep all else the same (calories eaten per day and activity level outside of work) then I would think you would lose weight with this new job. I do hope it's one you enjoy, as well!

Newsflash. I'm pretty darn sedentary. I have lost weight just fine. Because I don't cut too aggressively and i have made regular exercise part of my life. Don't condemn people to failure just because you can't possibly imagine them overcoming a certain lifestyle.

lightenup2016

VintageFeline wrote: »

lightenup2016 wrote: »

I disagree with most previous posters. Inactivity all day is unhealthy, and can make it difficult to maintain weight because you must stick with a fairly low calorie goal. Yes, you could make the numbers work, but it's not easy.

OP, if you keep all else the same (calories eaten per day and activity level outside of work) then I would think you would lose weight with this new job. I do hope it's one you enjoy, as well!

Newsflash. I'm pretty darn sedentary. I have lost weight just fine. Because I don't cut too aggressively and i have made regular exercise part of my life. Don't condemn people to failure just because you can't possibly imagine them overcoming a certain lifestyle.

I'm not condemning...what?? The OP asked if this more active job would make a difference in her weight than a job that is inactive, long hrs, with no breaks, and I replied with a clear answer. Keeping all else the same, including working out or whatever activity she does outside of work, then yes, a more active job should make a difference...no? It's all about the numbers, right? She's talking about increasing CO.

Afura

lightenup2016 wrote: »

I disagree with most previous posters. Inactivity all day is unhealthy, and can make it difficult to maintain weight because you must stick with a fairly low calorie goal. Yes, you could make the numbers work, but it's not easy.

The questions is, is she going to lose weight, not maintain. It is absolutely possible to lose weight or maintain being sedentary, people do it all the time. You get less calories to eat without exercise, I'll grant you that but h-e-double hockey sticks we have a lot of people on here we can't get to eat 1200 even begging for health, so even 1200 might be easy for her now.

lightenup2016

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

lightenup2016 wrote: »

I disagree with most previous posters. Inactivity all day is unhealthy, and can make it difficult to maintain weight because you must stick with a fairly low calorie goal. Yes, you could make the numbers work, but it's not easy.

OP, if you keep all else the same (calories eaten per day and activity level outside of work) then I would think you would lose weight with this new job. I do hope it's one you enjoy, as well!

Im sorry but this is all about choices, there are so many people who work a desk job and they have come to MFP and lost weight without quitting their job, they made changes, be it dietary or just using their breaks to walk more, taking the stairs, etc.. but these people managed to make it work, they are healthier now.

I completely agree. But she was simply asking if her change would make a difference. All else the same, I think it will. She's not asking about all of her possible options to increase CO or decrease CI, she's already changed jobs...correct?

Unknown

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PaulaWallaDingDong

lightenup2016 wrote: »

I disagree with most previous posters. Inactivity all day is unhealthy, and can make it difficult to maintain weight because you must stick with a fairly low calorie goal. Yes, you could make the numbers work, but it's not easy.

OP, if you keep all else the same (calories eaten per day and activity level outside of work) then I would think you would lose weight with this new job. I do hope it's one you enjoy, as well!

Worked fine for me. I gained 70 lbs during my 9-year office stretch. I then easily lost 50 by counting calories, having office treats in a controlled fashion, and spending half of my dinner break walking around the building. I since transferred to an even more sedentary job (hard to believe a fitness center job is more sedentary than an office job, but trust me, it is, at least in my case) and lost another 50. 10 1/2 years of sedentary work and I'm lighter than when I started.

Edit to address the OP (duh): You're increasing your calories out. That can be helpful. But if you increase your calories in to match, it won't make much of a difference.