Desk job fear of gaining weight
Famof72015
Posts: 393 Member
So I know that gaining weight is eating in a surplus but how come all of these desk job posts all of these people say they have gained weight? Just because they eat at a surplus and has nothing to do with being inactive?My fear is that just by me sitting I'll gain even though I know to stay in a calorie deficit. I'm so use to be up and moving all day long. Granted it's only 20 hours a week but still I would hate to think sitting in my *kitten* for 20 hours is going to make me gain weight and get a flat *kitten*! Also I'm use to getting 10,000 steps a day. Working out 1 hour /6 days a week and running 5-7 miles every Saturday. Start new job Monday. Help put my mind at ease
1
Replies
-
Walk around if you're worried... I work at American Girl during the holiday season in the call center .. I'm at a sit/stand desk and always take my breaks .. you can move some. You'll be fine!3
-
Because people don't want to take ownership of their own behaviors.13
-
I lost ~125 pounds while being inactive. When you are inactive, you need to eat fewer calories to account for that lack of exercise-burned calories. A calorie intake amount that is a deficit for an active person may be a surplus for that same person when they are inactive.Famof72015 wrote: »So I know that gaining weight is eating in a surplus but how come all of these desk job posts all of these people say they have gained weight? Just because they eat at a surplus and has nothing to do with being inactive?My fear is that just by me sitting I'll gain even though I know to stay in a calorie deficit. I'm so use to be up and moving all day long. Granted it's only 20 hours a week but still I would hate to think sitting in my *kitten* for 20 hours is going to make me gain weight and get a flat *kitten*! Also I'm use to getting 10,000 steps a day. Working out 1 hour /6 days a week and running 5-7 miles every Saturday. Start new job Monday. Help put my mind at ease
Someone who's used to eating a certain number of calories while active needs to adjust that downward when they are inactive in order to sustain the same calorie balance. They won't gain weight simply because they are inactive but because they are consuming more calories than their body is using if their intake creates a calorie surplus.
Inactivity, by itself, won't cause weight gain.5 -
Okay so change MFP from lightly active to sedentary? Although I do have a Fitbit which sums to MFP so not sure how that works. I'm going to try like heck to get up and move as much as I can.0
-
Famof72015 wrote: »So I know that gaining weight is eating in a surplus but how come all of these desk job posts all of these people say they have gained weight? Just because they eat at a surplus and has nothing to do with being inactive?My fear is that just by me sitting I'll gain even though I know to stay in a calorie deficit. I'm so use to be up and moving all day long. Granted it's only 20 hours a week but still I would hate to think sitting in my *kitten* for 20 hours is going to make me gain weight and get a flat *kitten*! Also I'm use to getting 10,000 steps a day. Working out 1 hour /6 days a week and running 5-7 miles every Saturday. Start new job Monday. Help put my mind at ease
Your activity level, combined with how much you eat, determine your deficit, maintenance, or surplus. It's all connected.1 -
Just because you have a desk job what's stopping you from working out outside of working hours. I have had a desk job for years. I put on the weight cause I got lazy not cause of my job. Happy to say I've pretty much reversed all of that with a better lifestyle when I'm not working3
-
collectingblues wrote: »Because people don't want to take ownership of their own behaviors.
Yup.
I gained a metric f-ton, and then lost two, all while working an office job. A surplus is a surplus, a deficit is a deficit, regardless.5 -
I've worked office jobs most of my life, and most of my life I've been quite slender.
I gained weight while travelling around the world with my bicycle for 8 months ... returned to office work and topped up the weight gain a bit with a few bad habits I picked up from my travels (eat everything!
) ... and then lost 50 kg while still working at the office job.
Aside from taking control of what I put in my mouth, I also started climbing stairs ... first thing in the morning, on my breaks, when I come back from lunch...
I also walk as part of my commute and walk at lunch.4 -
Famof72015 wrote: »Also I'm use to getting 10,000 steps a day. Working out 1 hour /6 days a week and running 5-7 miles every Saturday.
My office job had a step challenge last October. I discovered that I was averaging about 10,000 steps a day without even trying. I put in a bit of effort for that challenge and ended up with a daily average of 16,000 steps. But that did include some other activities like cycling.
In addition to what I said about climbing stairs and walking (above), my husband and I also walk or cycle after work, and we cycle fairly lengthy distances most weekends.
And my office job is 36 hours a week, plus I attend university part time.
2 -
I do think generally speaking, a full-time desk job = sedentary, even if you DO move a lot in your off hours (and log exercise calories burned and such). Part-time, maybe not. Just my opinion!
As for people gaining weight due to desk jobs, I think a lot of times it is because they don't realize just how active they were at other types of jobs, and are still eating exactly the same foods and number of calories. I was always very overweight to begin with, but I put on 30+ lb in my first year at a desk job. Before that, I'd worked mostly in retail management and was standing for all or part of my shifts and moving around quite a lot. Then I was seriously just sitting at a desk for 8-9 hours per day. It made a big difference. For me another factor was being under a lot more stress with greater responsibilities, and simultaneously having a salary increase that made "fun" sushi dinners and constant Starbucks runs a lot more affordable & appealing than previously. So it was a combination of bad things and definitely my fault for not taking the changes in lifestyle into account.
I guess what I'm saying is, it's not magically going to make a person gain weight when they work at a desk job. Especially if you're aware of your CICO and cognizant of how lifestyle changes impact you. If you're that focused on not wanting to sit on your bum & get flabby or a fat bum, you'll take control and that will not happen...especially not sitting for 20 hours per week. Not to say your concerns are invalid, by any means. But that's the amount of time a lot of people watch TV. You'll be fine!
8 -
Even with a sedentary job, you can still exercise. Do a walk in the morning before work or at lunch. Go to the gym or go for a run after work. If your job is part time, you will have lots of hours available when you can do something active. Make weekends fun time, doing something active. If you drive to work, get there early or park farther away from the office so you can walk more. If you take a train or bus, get off one stop early so you have an extra walk. Walk stairs whenever you get a chance. Move around the office as much as you can, while still getting your job done.1
-
You can easily convert a regular desk into a standing desk. Put a folding chair on top of your desk and your computer on top of the chair. The height should be good. If it's too tall, get a step stool.1
-
Keep up your workouts & steps, don't eat at your desk, and you'll be fine.2
-
I had a mostly desk based job for 39 years - during that time I was slim and fit, unfit but slim, athletic and fit, fat and unfit, fat but strong, fat but fit, slim and fit again.
Your job is only a part of the big picture.
You can still build in activity into your day, you can exercise before work, during lunch breaks, after work, at weekends, days off.3 -
I understand your worries. I gained after moving from an active job to a desk job BUT that was my fault. You've recognised you'll be moving less so you can prevent it!5
-
Famof72015 wrote: »Okay so change MFP from lightly active to sedentary? Although I do have a Fitbit which sums to MFP so not sure how that works. I'm going to try like heck to get up and move as much as I can.
You don't need to change activity level setting if fitbit is synced to mfp.6 -
I lost weight at 1240 calories being totally sedentary (office worker here). There's no way around it, though, if you've been in active jobs and had an active life and you go from doing that to sitting 20-40 hours a week, you've drastically changed your activity. You can increase it in other areas or you can decrease your intake.2
-
I think in general (especially when weight gain is involved) people don't realise that they need to adjust calorie intake or increase activity (outside of work hours), to maintain their current weight.
In my case I became disabled, virtually overnight. I went from being a fit, active mum of 3, to being disabled and virtually wheelchair bound, in a couple of months, during my last pregnancy. Mum of 4, under the age of 7 and suddenly disabled, life took some adjusting to. But my diet either stayed the same or I ate more junk/convenience foods, just to get by. Activity levels dropped massively. Therefore I didn't lose all my pregnancy weight gain but over the years I gained more.
Various diets saw some weight loss, but as soon as I stopped "dieting" or life got in the way, I soon regained weight lost and often gained even more. Since finding & using MFP, as a tool to monitor my diet, macros and weight fluctuations, I am finally in control. By logging my calorie intake and comparing it to any weight changes, I now know what calorie average I need to lose weight or to maintain my current weight. Which has put me in control of my weight, and improving my overal health, rather than the unhealthy yo-yo dieting. I mention my disability, just to point out that I'm sedentry (more than most), due to my inability to exercise, or even walk. Yet I've successfully lost 39lb and improved my blood test/blood pressure results.
If you continue using MFP as a tool in this way, you will be able to monitor any changes and adjust accordingly, before any weight gain can become an issue. By either increasing activity levels or decreasing calories in, should you see any changes in your weight.1 -
Thanks everyone. I'll keep up my active lifestyle outside of working in orporate walking the stairs at work on breaks and walking to the hospital instead of taking the bus. And of course stay wishing deficit. Have a great weeeknd!2
-
Well, you have a great weekend too! I think you may have coined a new greeting. "Wishing" you a nice deficit!4
-
I work in an office 37.5 hours a week where everyone is pretty much always sat down during working hours, and I'm one of the only ones there who isn't stick-thin! You seem to have received some pretty solid advice here but I just thought I'd put that out there - having a desk job doesn't mean you have to put on weight
3 -
Of course if people decrease activity yet eat the same amount of calories they will gain weight.
To prevent this, eat less and/or more more outside that 20 hour commitment.0 -
I am in a wheelchair, so I am really sedentary! Someone at a desk job and I might both set our activity level at sedentary, but I will still need fewer calories because even a sedentary person who has a desk job moves around when not working! I have lost 32 pounds in 4 months, just by eating no more than 1200 calories a day. My doctors are very pleased, as am I. It really is nothing more than CICO!12
-
As far as your Fitbit and MFP setup, here is how mine is setup and this works for me. I do have a desk job but activity level and understanding the balance between it and how much you eat is important.
Set activity level in MFP to Sedentary
Enable negative adjustments (if you don't move your kitten you have to eat less that day)
I eat back 50-75% of the calories given to be safe, this will be trial and error for you
Understand that the way Fitbit adjustments work... by having a sedentary setup you will get large adjustments when you are active. Some people freak out when they see Fitbit adjustments that are more than they perceive for the activity, but the adjustment is not just for the specific activity but how many calories for the day you have burned over what MFP says for sedentary. It doesn't mean that it says you actually burned 200 calories on a short walk for instance but that you had burned 200 cals over Sedentary. I see lots of threads where this distinction causes confusion.
If you consistently get large adjustments and are losing at a good rate, consider increasing your MFP level to Lightly Active. You will get smaller adjustments that way.
Given the above settings I gain/lose/maintain as expected. If I move I get to eat, if I sit on my kitten I get nothing extra. No excuses for blaming my desk. :-)0 -
I think a lot of people gain weight when they work desk jobs because they aren't counting calories so they don't know how much they are actually eating, and they also underestimate just how many extra calories walking around actually burns. It does make quite a significant difference. But if you are mindful of how much you're eating and logging your food (assuming you have your calorie goal set correctly) you should not gain weight.2
-
As far as your Fitbit and MFP setup, here is how mine is setup and this works for me. I do have a desk job but activity level and understanding the balance between it and how much you eat is important.
Set activity level in MFP to Sedentary
Enable negative adjustments (if you don't move your kitten you have to eat less that day)
I eat back 50-75% of the calories given to be safe, this will be trial and error for you
Understand that the way Fitbit adjustments work... by having a sedentary setup you will get large adjustments when you are active. Some people freak out when they see Fitbit adjustments that are more than they perceive for the activity, but the adjustment is not just for the specific activity but how many calories for the day you have burned over what MFP says for sedentary. It doesn't mean that it says you actually burned 200 calories on a short walk for instance but that you had burned 200 cals over Sedentary. I see lots of threads where this distinction causes confusion.
If you consistently get large adjustments and are losing at a good rate, consider increasing your MFP level to Lightly Active. You will get smaller adjustments that way.
Given the above settings I gain/lose/maintain as expected. If I move I get to eat, if I sit on my kitten I get nothing extra. No excuses for blaming my desk. :-)
I am even more confused. I thought I didn't have to adjust MFP settings and let fitbit do it all? So you're saying if I'm sedentary I get more calories to eat back if I move my behind more? And if I'm slightly active I get fewer calories to eat back ?? So confused. Why can't I just always eat my target MFP calories? I never eat back exercise calories anyway, can't I just do that? Regardless if I set it to sedentary or lightly active
0 -
Famof72015 wrote: »As far as your Fitbit and MFP setup, here is how mine is setup and this works for me. I do have a desk job but activity level and understanding the balance between it and how much you eat is important.
Set activity level in MFP to Sedentary
Enable negative adjustments (if you don't move your kitten you have to eat less that day)
I eat back 50-75% of the calories given to be safe, this will be trial and error for you
Understand that the way Fitbit adjustments work... by having a sedentary setup you will get large adjustments when you are active. Some people freak out when they see Fitbit adjustments that are more than they perceive for the activity, but the adjustment is not just for the specific activity but how many calories for the day you have burned over what MFP says for sedentary. It doesn't mean that it says you actually burned 200 calories on a short walk for instance but that you had burned 200 cals over Sedentary. I see lots of threads where this distinction causes confusion.
If you consistently get large adjustments and are losing at a good rate, consider increasing your MFP level to Lightly Active. You will get smaller adjustments that way.
Given the above settings I gain/lose/maintain as expected. If I move I get to eat, if I sit on my kitten I get nothing extra. No excuses for blaming my desk. :-)
I am even more confused. I thought I didn't have to adjust MFP settings and let fitbit do it all? So you're saying if I'm sedentary I get more calories to eat back if I move my behind more? And if I'm slightly active I get fewer calories to eat back ?? So confused. Why can't I just always eat my target MFP calories? I never eat back exercise calories anyway, can't I just do that? Regardless if I set it to sedentary or lightly active
Well, you could but if that is your plan I wouldn't sync the Fitbit to MFP because the adjustments are sort of the point of doing that. I brought up the Fitbit piece since you mentioned it, but if you are going to eat what MFP says and not the adjustments I assume you are planning to use the Fitbit as a reference but not Sync it? If you are following the MFP model the idea is to eat back at least a portion of exercise calories.
But to answer your questions yes, if you are set to Sedentary that will give you adjustments for moving more, but you will have a lower amount of calories to start with. This of course makes sense, if you are truly sedentary than you have to eat less. If you move more and thus exceed a sedentary level then you can eat more. If you increase your base activity level to Lightly Active yes you will get a higher base calorie allowance but smaller adjustments as you would then have to exceed Lightly Active activity level before you would see an adjustment.1 -
Famof72015 wrote: »As far as your Fitbit and MFP setup, here is how mine is setup and this works for me. I do have a desk job but activity level and understanding the balance between it and how much you eat is important.
Set activity level in MFP to Sedentary
Enable negative adjustments (if you don't move your kitten you have to eat less that day)
I eat back 50-75% of the calories given to be safe, this will be trial and error for you
Understand that the way Fitbit adjustments work... by having a sedentary setup you will get large adjustments when you are active. Some people freak out when they see Fitbit adjustments that are more than they perceive for the activity, but the adjustment is not just for the specific activity but how many calories for the day you have burned over what MFP says for sedentary. It doesn't mean that it says you actually burned 200 calories on a short walk for instance but that you had burned 200 cals over Sedentary. I see lots of threads where this distinction causes confusion.
If you consistently get large adjustments and are losing at a good rate, consider increasing your MFP level to Lightly Active. You will get smaller adjustments that way.
Given the above settings I gain/lose/maintain as expected. If I move I get to eat, if I sit on my kitten I get nothing extra. No excuses for blaming my desk. :-)
I am even more confused. I thought I didn't have to adjust MFP settings and let fitbit do it all? So you're saying if I'm sedentary I get more calories to eat back if I move my behind more? And if I'm slightly active I get fewer calories to eat back ?? So confused. Why can't I just always eat my target MFP calories? I never eat back exercise calories anyway, can't I just do that? Regardless if I set it to sedentary or lightly active
Say you have set level sedentary and mfp gives you 1700 calories for 0.5lb a week loss. Mfp will give you ~2000 for the same if you set activity as lightly active. Both these numbers are hypothetical.
Now if you fitbit synced to mfp, activity level setting is lightly active, but you move very less that day. Fitbit will then reduce your calorie allowance by 300 for that day so your quota will be 1700.
Now, if you move a lot more than 'lightly active', fitbit will give positive calorie adjustment, ie it might give you 300 more, ie you can eat 2300 that day.
Bear in mind that any intentional cardio will also give you positive adjustment. Ie. if you run a lot on a particular day, you might be given a quota for ~3000 for that day.
Bear in mind that all numbers are hypothetical and only make sense in relation to each other.
1 -
If you can - stand up more and work walking into your daily routine. Standing burns an extra 50 calories an hour - not a lot but over 5 pounds a year if done for an hour every day for a year. Stand up when making a phone call. Stand more at home e.g. for a while when watching TV. Consider meetings where everyone stands! It makes them shorter!!! Stand on public transport.
Take the stairs, walk round the office, make your colleagues coffees, go for a 5-10 minute walk either outside or round the office. Go and see people rather than phoning or emailing them. Walk down your street and back again. When watching TV go for a 5 minute walk around the house every so often - say when the ads are on! The opportunities are endless!!!!
If over a day you can do an hour's extra walking a say that's around 200 calories net burned depending on your weight and speed (you would have used say around 100 anyway) - about 20 pounds of fat over a year.
It is useful to establish a baseline amount if you are aiming to increase walking (or standing) either in time, distance or steps as some of it will already be in your total energy expenditure calculations anyway at the moment.
Walking more and just standing more are independent factors for an reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease as well as helping reduce obesity which is an additional factor.
1 -
I try to make it a point to get up and move around every hour. Also, I walk on my breaks.1
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions