Desk job fear of gaining weight

Famof72015

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

dawn_westbury

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!

collectingblues

Because people don't want to take ownership of their own behaviors.

seska422

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

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.

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.

Famof72015

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.

jemhh

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.

ldwatene

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 working

PaulaWallaDingDong

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.

Machka9

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.

Machka9

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.

seltzermint555

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!

spiriteagle99

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.

Cbean08

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.

lorrpb

Keep up your workouts & steps, don't eat at your desk, and you'll be fine.

sijomial

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.

Panda8ach

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!

misnomer1

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.

CMNVA

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.

Wendyanneroberts

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.

Famof72015

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!

JeromeBarry1

Well, you have a great weekend too! I think you may have coined a new greeting. "Wishing" you a nice deficit!