Desk Job - Difficult to lose weight

afrndz17

Hi there everyone,

I just want someone to share their story, if you have lost weight while having a office job, if you did what did you do to lose weight? I cant seem to lose weight and I don't know if it is because I have a office job or I am not eating enough, not exercising enough? I've tried everything and not seeing any changes. I am wanting to drop 20 pounds. Any kind of advice will help, thank you so much.

CoryGray1

See a doctor or clinic that specializes in weight loss through hormone therapy

Ironandwine69

Most likely you are not on a deficit.

A_Rene86

Hi there. The most important aspect of weight loss is what you do or don't eat! If you have a sedentary job and can't find time to exercise outside of that, then focus on your calorie intake and accurately measuring and logging your food. Exercise helps, but you can absolutely lose weight without it. With that said, a couple questions...

What is your height, current weight, goal weight? How many calories are you currently consuming and are you consistently weighing and logging your food? This information will allow people to give you more personalized advice.

I work in an office at a very sedentary job, but I make an effort to get at least 10,000 steps a day. It's easier than you'd think. If you can afford one, get a fitness tracker, or even download an app on your phone (if it's a newer smart phone) and set a goal for yourself. I find seeing the number on the screen encourages me to move more.

kommodevaran

First find out if you are losing weight or not. With as little as 20 pounds to lose, weight will come off so slowly that it can be hard to separate from natural fluctuations. You need at least a month of regular weigh-ins to see a trend.

If you aren't losing weight, it's not because you aren't eating enough. You are eating too much - as in, not little enough, aka not having a sustained calorie deficit.

If you aren't losing weight, but you are hitting your calorie goal every day, your logging is off. It can be logging incorrect entries, or logging incorrect amounts, or not logging certain foods at all.

You don't have to exercise to lose weight. But exercise is good for you.

A_Rene86

Also, have you calculated your BMR or TDEE? Doing so will help you set an appropriate goal on MFP. Between .5 and 2 lbs a week is considered a safe rate of loss and with only 20 pounds to lose, you'll likely want to aim for the lower end of that. I started hoping to lose 25-30 lbs and am currently down 18 of that. It hasn't happened overnight, but it is happening. Patience and perseverance, my friend

kksmom1789

Hello,
I have a office job as well and have lost weight. I started being serious about counting calories on 11/1/2016 I weighed 181lbs as of today I weigh 157lbs so I've lost 24lbs I don't work out at all I have no time. I do have a fitness tracker and I aim to get 6,000 steps a day. I am only 5ft tall so MFP only gives me 1220 calories a day I personally try not to go over 1400 calories my fitbit gives me exercise calories so I am always still in the Green.
I hope this helps and if you have any questions please contact me. also remember this is a life style change!

afrndz17

Hi, I actually do try to fit in some exercise about 1-3x per week doing about 25 min of HIIT. My height is 5'1 I currently weigh 150 pounds and my goal weight is 130 - 135 pounds .. and I am eating about 1,200 calories a day I try not to eat past 7 o clock .. I do have a fit bit but I don't wear it often as I should.. I also get really hungry at night, I sleep it off though, not sure if that is healthy.

hlblakeley

I'm in an office job. Small office, with very limited space to walk. I find it hard to get 2000 steps most days by the time work is done. I usually will go walk around the local wal-mart or grocery store just to get steps (I leave my wallet in the car.) I am currently tracking my steps on my phone, so that means if I forget my phone or it loses charge, the steps don't "count." I'm looking into an activity tracker though. I am currently working on staying in my calorie limits, and trying to find ways to work out at my desk. I have the back half of a shared office so no one notices if I'm doing desk push ups or stationary lunges.

inertiastrength

I have a desk job and I lose weight just fine. I make a conscious effort to get at least 5K steps in during the office day by walking on my breaks and a little on lunch. I take care of the rest of the steps at night by taking a long after dinner walk.

A_Rene86

afrndz17 wrote: »

Hi, I actually do try to fit in some exercise about 1-3x per week doing about 25 min of HIIT. My height is 5'1 I currently weigh 150 pounds and my goal weight is 130 - 135 pounds .. and I am eating about 1,200 calories a day I try not to eat past 7 o clock .. I do have a fit bit but I don't wear it often as I should.. I also get really hungry at night, I sleep it off though, not sure if that is healthy.

How did you decide on 1200? Have you calculated your TDEE and subtracted from that to achieve the rate of loss you're aiming for?

Also, how are you measuring your food? A scale, measuring cups? I'm sorry for all the questions, but they're necessary to find a solution. More often than not, inaccurate logging is the culprit.

cathipa

afrndz17 wrote: »

Hi there everyone,

I just want someone to share their story, if you have lost weight while having a office job, if you did what did you do to lose weight? I cant seem to lose weight and I don't know if it is because I have a office job or I am not eating enough, not exercising enough? I've tried everything and not seeing any changes. I am wanting to drop 20 pounds. Any kind of advice will help, thank you so much.

I have an office job and I have lost weight. Its fairly simple - create a calorie deficit and stick to it. Weigh your foods and preplan your day. Log everything you consume. Exercise is great for many reasons (cardiovascular health, bone health, mental health), but is not a requirement to lose. If you can find time to exercise (for me that is 5am).

afrndz17

Thank you all so much for your advice and tips..

cathipa

CoryGray1 wrote: »

See a doctor or clinic that specializes in weight loss through hormone therapy

Really?

afrndz17

Well I just read that the lowest you could go was 1200 and nothing below that I figured it would suit me because I have a sedentary job.. .. if you don't mind me asking what is TDEE? I am measuring all my foods & weighing them at the moment..

toxikon

If you have a sedentary job, it can be more difficult to lose weight. You'll need to have a higher calorie deficit to make up for the lack of activity. Exercise helps, but your weight loss will be 80% diet.

You just need to go to a TDEE calculator website, put in your stats, set your activity level to "Sedentary" and get your results. When you know your approximate TDEE, you can subtract 500 calories from it to lose approximately 1lbs a week.

Then it's just a matter of accurately tracking your calorie intake. Use a digital kitchen scale if you don't already. Track everything - even a pat of butter, or a can of soda. Everything adds up!

cathipa

afrndz17 wrote: »

Well I just read that the lowest you could go was 1200 and nothing below that I figured it would suit me because I have a sedentary job.. .. if you don't mind me asking what is TDEE? I am measuring all my foods & weighing them at the moment..

You don't have much to lose. Set MFP to 0.5-1 pound a week. Its a reasonable goal that probably won't lead to binging and failure. TDEE = total daily energy expenditure. This is the number of calories needed to survive and what you burn with activity.

jemhh

1. Be sure that you are eating in a deficit. Weigh your solid foods with a digital kitchen scale. Measure your liquids with measuring cups/spoons. Log the calories using verifiable nutrition info based on those measurements.
2. Understand that losing a half pound is losing weight. Many people claim not to be losing and then admit that they are losing, just not as fast as they'd like.
3. Measure weight loss over the long term. Compare this month to next month, not today to tomorrow and even today to next Tuesday.
4. Be patient. A twenty pound loss at your size may take six months to a year. If it comes off sooner that is fantastic but should not be expected.

fitzmonkey13

I work an office job. I find taking short walks throughout the day helps. Instead of a coffee break, I walk briskly around the outside of the building for 5-10 minutes a couple of times a day, or take a walk at a nearby park my lunch. I also try to do one fitness thing per day after work, even if it's just a 20-30 minute walk or bike ride after dinner. I found a carpet remnant and put that down in my laundry room with a padded bench, and slowly invested in a few cheap free weights and a yoga mat. Now I can do 15-30 minutes of exercise whenever I can squeeze it in, without having to leave the house.

I also do extensive meal planning every week. I do a lot of meal prepping so that I never end up at work without a game plan and the right supplies to get through the day. For example... Last night I made breakfast smoothies before I went to bed. This morning I had my smoothie and half an apple bar (that I baked multiple batches and froze a couple of weeks ago). Today at work I have a morning snack (chia seed pudding), Lunch (veggies and homemade hummus, cheese and Melba toast) and an afternoon snack (apple slices and peanut butter yogurt dip). Then I'll go home and we are having pita pizzas topped with leftover pork loin and veggies from last night's dinner, and a big salad. I also have a plan for the rest of the week, and reminders on my phone each night for what I need to do for tomorrow (take fish out of freezer before I go to bed, chop some veggies for lunch, etc.)

It's a lot of work initially because I needed to get a lot of food prepped and ready in the freezer. Some nights I just don't want to cook, but knowing I have pasta sauce, chili, soup, etc. in the freezer means I always have an easy dinner.

Calorie deficit is important, and I track everything on mfp. Most days I find I'm hitting my calorie targets. I find that working in the little bits of exercise here and there to be really motivating, and it provides a cushion for days when I want to have an indulgence like some chocolate or an extra helping of something with dinner. When I look at my notes and see the progress I'm making, it really helps keep me on track and makes this whole process better.

I've been working on this for a while, but I've been serious and focused for a little over a month and I'm down 4 pounds over 4 weeks, which is exactly the pace I'm working for. Before that I was just saying "I want to eat better" and "I hate being fat" and "I hate feeling tired all the time". But I wasn't doing anything about it. When my husband and I decided to get serious, we started planning and supporting each other through the process. I do most of the food prep, but he follows me around washing dishes, or does other household stuff like cleaning and laundry while I'm banging around in the kitchen. If you have someone in your life, get them on board if you can. It makes a world of difference.

afrndz17

Thank you so much for giving me hope! I really needed to hear this from someone.

rachelr1116

afrndz17 wrote: »

Well I just read that the lowest you could go was 1200 and nothing below that I figured it would suit me because I have a sedentary job.. .. if you don't mind me asking what is TDEE? I am measuring all my foods & weighing them at the moment..

I've lost 58 lbs and I have a sedentary job. For the past 4 months I've been even more sedentary at work than normal because I'm covering the phone line and can't get up to walk around every so often like I used to. I do exercise after work and on the weekends some but not on a regular basis. The most important thing, like others have said, is to make sure you're weighing your food and logging accurately. And I've never had my calorie goal set lower than 1400 per day. 1200 calories is really only right for very petite women who really don't move much. Trust the number that MFP gives you when you set your goal to .5 or 1 lb per week.