Office Workers Unite!

figureitout87
figureitout87 Posts: 126 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hey guys,

I'm sure a lot of us know the struggles of office life. Sitting for most of the day, office snacks and potlucks, cafeteria or vending machine food.

I'm lucky enough to have a sit to stand desk, but I definitely don't utilize it as often as I should.

What are your favourite ways to offset working in an office setting? What are your biggest struggles?

I love going for walks on my breaks. Lately we've had a lot of snow and rain, but spring is coming soon and I'm excited to get outside more!

My biggest struggle at work is definitely sugar. If I feel like I need an energy boost I'll turn to chocolate or candy - which I rarely feel tempted by outside of work.

What kind of goals do you want to set for yourself while at work? Right now my goals are to pack food rather than eat the junk I find at work. Snack reccomendations appreciated!
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Replies

  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
    I walk six miles daily between taking the dog out and commuting. Can you park further away from the door or get of the metro a stop earlier? I eat protein for breakfast, salmon loaf, meatloaf, one of those chicken cordon blues; I eat a banana for snack, try to eat lots of veggies for lunch, and sometimes just nuts, blue cheese and a pear for dinner. I also keep a planters unsalted nuts premium blend of 2 pounds on my desk. I counted out the 20 nut pieces that are in an ounce and now eyeball it once a day. I'm trying to be no sugar until Easter but have purchased some treats to share with my siblings when we pack the easter baskets saturday night.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Desk job here...I've been brown bagging my breakfast, lunch, and snacks for about 4.5 years now. I rarely participate in the office potlucks...occasionally, if it's actually a special occasion like the office Christmas party or whatever...but just some random Friday, and I'll pass. I have no issue forgoing the doughnuts and whatnot...they're really not my thing...occasionally I get a desire to have one, but it's rare so I don't worry about it much.

    To move more I generally will get up and go talk to colleagues about this or that rather than emailing them or paging them on a phone. I work on the third floor and typically take the stairs...I also tend to use the first floor break room to get my water and the first floor restroom facilities. I park further away from the building and I also don't look for rock star parking at the supermarket or other venues...nothing wrong with having to walk a bit. When I get home I'm usually on my feet cooking or cleaning or playing with my kids, etc...I don't usually sit down until dinner which is around 8:30 most nights.

    Beyond that, I make time for deliberate exercise most days.
  • curiousgp
    curiousgp Posts: 122 Member
    Laughing so hard I'm crying over the "leave my desk so I don't get a blood clot or something" comment....

    I have a step counter and make sure I get 10,000 steps in. I have mini goals through out the day - 2500 steps by the time I get to work, another 2500 on break, 2500 at lunch, 2500 second break. Therefore any steps I get in AFTER work are gravy. Yes - I will walk in place to meet my goals. Other goals - I keep a 20lb kettlebell in the office and I do 20 swings every break. I also do ten squats every time I visit the rest room. We don't have stairs - so this is my version of walk up five flights of stairs to use the potty on another level I guess.....
  • bmchillz
    bmchillz Posts: 10 Member
    I currently don't have a step tracker so that would keep me occupied and active during my work day. I also try to walk after I eat lunch. Sometimes I do squats at my desk since I have a private office. I stretch a lot, too. I'd love to do more so I'm looking forward to more ideas in this threat.
  • figureitout87
    figureitout87 Posts: 126 Member
    curiousgp wrote: »
    Laughing so hard I'm crying over the "leave my desk so I don't get a blood clot or something" comment....

    I actually have a coworker who is off work due to getting a blood clot that almost went to her lungs! Who knows if the correlation is due to sitting, but it's something to consider!

  • megzchica23
    megzchica23 Posts: 419 Member
    I got myself a fitbit and it helps me get more steps. It reminds me to get up and move every hour and I listen. I also log everything I am eating for the day first thing in the morning. If it isn't log, it does not go into my mouth. I take walks at lunch if I can, I go to the bathroom on the floor below me. I only use stairs. Also, if I am working on multiple policies for an insured, I will take one at a time to the hole punch, punch it and put in binder. Then I scan the next one and get up and do that. If I have mail I take it to the mail area every time I get something to send out instead of collecting it and doing it all at once. When I make my lunch. I will pop my tv dinner in microwave. Walk to my desk, grab my cup, get water, stir meal and put back in microwave, walk water to desk, then walk back to get my food. I do the same at home now. It is less efficient but I try to break everything up into smaller trips so I walk a lot.
  • PrincessMel72
    PrincessMel72 Posts: 1,094 Member
    I try to get up and move around a lot. I drink a ton of water so that means hourly trips to the restroom anyway. Sometimes I'll walk down the stairs (I'm on the 6th floor) and around the building on breaks but it's starting to get really hot during the day. I exercise every evening for 30-45 mins and I do my best to avoid the potlucks/team lunches and birthday cakes/cupcakes that seem to happen on an almost weekly basis. I bring my lunch to work and sit in the breakroom with my favorite coworker and we take lunch later (2pm) so we don't have a ton of people in there with us. Office work is great, but I kinda miss running around like a crazy person when I was a veterinary practice manager. Got lots of exercise just at work!
  • moesis
    moesis Posts: 874 Member
    edited March 2017
    Bound, chair bound. My job has me sitting the majority of the work day. I am also in a northern climate, but I am lucky in that Minneapolis, MN has many miles of skyway connecting the buildings. This gives me the opportunity to walk during my breaks and lunch.

    Typically I will eat my lunch while I am working, I'll call into a meeting and then eat while I am on mute. This clears my lunch break for my walk.

    Sugary food is at every corner. I combat this by leaving my wallet at home. This leaves me stuck with the healthy food I brought from home and the free (yuck!) coffee at work.

    I wear a Polar M400 that beeps at me when I haven't moved for awhile, so I try to make it a point to do something every hour; refill my water, get coffee, go to a meeting in person instead of calling in. My Polar allows me to have an overall activity goal, versus a step based goal.
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    I work a desk job, but for some reason I find it the easiest to stay on my diet while at work. Our building has a private gym so I almost always go hit the weights and cardio immediately as work lets out. Really helps me partition my day. Otherwise during the day I like to take little field trips and say hello to coworkers lol.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
    Just purchased a stand up desk
    LOVE it. Purchased on Amazon. Also bought a fatigue mat.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    At the moment I have a Vari-Desk in an office on a 5th floor of a building on a 10-acre site of several buildings. I stand at the desk most hours of most days, and this past week finally began walking outside in varying paths around and among the buildings. My time is being billed to "unassigned", so I regard my perambulation as business. I've also some times used the 1st floor restroom and climbed the stairs back to the 5th floor, which earns 1 minute of stair climbing for 9 calories. I recently acquired a bread making machine and discovered that I particularly like a whole wheat bread that I can easily make with it. So, now that I've got so much bread, I bring a slice to work each day and make my lunch with it. I toast the bread and cut about an inch of banana and spread it on the bread for an all-natural fruit topping, and have a pleasant little lunch. I've also recently moved my protein shake from having it in the morning at home to having it with my lunch at work.

    In the early months of this journey, I was taking my lunch from among the free snacks offered by my employer. I found that simply by speaking up, I could influence the shopper to supply us with a more attractive variety of snacks, such as yogurt, mozzarella sticks, granola, and jerky.
  • HealthierRayne
    HealthierRayne Posts: 268 Member
    I am typically glued to my desk, aside from trips to the mail room and bathroom breaks. I am able to eat at my desk so I use my lunch hour to workout. I am extremely grateful for my company having a wonderful and free gym (it's in the building across the street from me, so it can be tricky to always find motivation when it's -35C) so I do my best to take advantage of that perk as often as possible.

    Aside from the gym I also take public transit so I get in some walking to and from the train station.

    There is ALWAYS food, candy, treats on display. Almost every Friday the boss comes around to take your order for lunch being delivered too. I just have to remind myself that my goals are more important and ensure I always bring the food I have planned out in advance for myself.
  • figureitout87
    figureitout87 Posts: 126 Member
    It's awesome to read how everyone manages their desk jobs!

    I joined the gym downstairs today (I already have a membership elsewhere) - I'm going to use it fir a back up when I'm not sure I'll make it to my regular gym, or in case it NEVER STOPS RAINING (which I'm starting to think is possible).

    What do typical lunch/snacks look like for everyone?
  • kcpond
    kcpond Posts: 661 Member
    I usually try to keep my lunch easy, so I usually have a sandwich, fruit and a yogurt. Unless I forget or dont have time to make a lunch and then I usually end up buying something, try to keep it somewhat healthy but eating out usually isn't.
  • jayv85
    jayv85 Posts: 142 Member
    I luck out and work in a powerhouse where there's no vending machine. So I bring my lunch and there's no temptation. I try to get up as often as possible, but I just make sure when I get home I workout.
  • GemstoneofHeart
    GemstoneofHeart Posts: 865 Member
    Oh man, it seems like we have a darn potluck every other week. So annoying and tempting at the same time.
    I have seen these silly little "under the desk" elliptical pedal machines and I kinda want one. It would help burn some extra calories throughout the day when I'm stuck on calls and can't get away from my desk. I'm a project manager, so some days are light and I can get out, other days I'm stuck in my chair digging out of problems.
  • figureitout87
    figureitout87 Posts: 126 Member
    edited March 2017
    GemstoneofHeart wrote: »
    Oh man, it seems like we have a darn potluck every other week. So annoying and tempting at the same time.

    Me too! We are constantly having food days, ordering take out and people bring snacks in everyday. Considering, I think I do okay - but it makes will power difficult.

  • ABabilonia
    ABabilonia Posts: 622 Member
    I also joined the gym downstairs in my building. I work for a healthcare company, so I have the flexibility to walk quite a lot during the day (my manager is super awesome). Even though my work is technically a desk job I end up my day​ with ~10,000 steps. I also, though, face the cookies and junk food temptations, so I using my will power to avoid the temptations.
  • curiousgp
    curiousgp Posts: 122 Member
    I secretly cover the under desk elliptical also!
  • srsrsrarah
    srsrsrarah Posts: 10 Member
    curiousgp wrote: »
    Also adding that to combat the office goodies - my rule is I don't indulge unless it is home made. I'm not a fan of those that bring store bought cookies to the office - how is that a treat?

    I have exactly the same rule. A nice home made cake is worth it but a cheap supermarket one ain't
  • tabletop_joe
    tabletop_joe Posts: 455 Member
    The under desk ellipticals seem to run pretty reasonably priced. I may go for it, thanks for tip, folks!
  • deetails26
    deetails26 Posts: 108 Member
    figureitout87 wrote: »
    curiousgp wrote: »
    Laughing so hard I'm crying over the "leave my desk so I don't get a blood clot or something" comment....

    I actually have a coworker who is off work due to getting a blood clot that almost went to her lungs! Who knows if the correlation is due to sitting, but it's something to consider!

    Yep- this is accurate. I'm a clot survivor myself. Prolonged sitting is a risk factor. I have to make sure I get up and walk around at least every 2 hours.
  • donovanwoodworking
    donovanwoodworking Posts: 25 Member
    I work a desk job from home. There are days I feel just glued to this chair. Outside of the coffee, water, diet coke runs I do not move around too much. Being home I eat a healthy lunch then most days go right back to work. Being home and working is not an easy thing. At times (with a retired wife) distractions abound. I have co-workers who use a treadmill or stand up desks. I haven't done anything in that direction. It's hard to stay motivated to move.
  • wellthenwhat
    wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
    I work a bank job that I enjoy. I do put an effort into getting more exercise out of work because of it, and I miss my active job, but I love my environment here, too.
  • jayv85
    jayv85 Posts: 142 Member
    dlboyle26 wrote: »
    figureitout87 wrote: »
    curiousgp wrote: »
    Laughing so hard I'm crying over the "leave my desk so I don't get a blood clot or something" comment....

    I actually have a coworker who is off work due to getting a blood clot that almost went to her lungs! Who knows if the correlation is due to sitting, but it's something to consider!

    Yep- this is accurate. I'm a clot survivor myself. Prolonged sitting is a risk factor. I have to make sure I get up and walk around at least every 2 hours.

    I wonder if I can use this to be approved for a standing desk
  • isotoner
    isotoner Posts: 6 Member
    Desk job here. I try to get up & walk several times a day. I'm on the 2nd floor so I always take the stairs. I'm just getting back into good habits, so I'm trying to stay away from snacks but everyone seems to think they need to be on the credenza between a coworker & my desk. If I keep stress low, I avoid that.
  • wishfuljune
    wishfuljune Posts: 2,604 Member
    Desk job here too. I try and get up every hour to walk around a little bit. I also drink plenty of water so that I also have frequent bathroom trips/excuses to walk. I also work out at the gym after work and do some cardio and weight-lifting. I also take my dog out for a longer walk in the morning.
  • zepolainat
    zepolainat Posts: 3 Member
    Those office potlucks will get you!! I work at a call center as a facilitator for incoming employees and I spend 6 weeks with them in a classroom setting, needless to say we always build a bond, and so I feel messed up not participating in the potlucks so what I do is I will bring a healthy dish and make sure if someone wants me to try some of what they made I take a small portion enough to taste and say how good it was lol also I try not to encourage a potluck lol but if someone brings it up then I let the class have one

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