Working over full time and losing weight

Fkika3131

I also work about 50 hrs. a week. I have learned to walk 30 min during my lunch break and then I eat at my desk. I don't eat at the kitchen at work cuz my co-workers aren't eating healthy foods; they make sure to tell me how delish their food were . After work I tried to get a bike ride for another 15 - 30 min. Weekends I tend to do alittle more exercises. You have a great day and we are ALL here to motivate each other.

RenewedRunner

My day
6AM- Wake up Kid #1, feed, get out of house at 6:45
6:30-Wake up Kid #2, feed, get out of house at 7:15
7:30-Get ready for work (20 min commute)
8:30 Be at work
4:30-Get off work
5:00-Get home
5-7-Cook dinner, supervise homework, clean the house-laundry, dishes, take care of dogs, etc
Alternate days: 530-730: kids have practice so gone for that meaning I get home at 8 and we rush through whatever homework is left and get them fed

7-Clean up dinner, pack lunches for tomorrow
8-Get kids in showers and off to bed (they are 11 and 10 but this still requires nagging)
8:30-Finally have free time (unless it is alternate days which means we are still getting homework done and haven't gotten to a shower yet most days). I work out, take a shower, collapse in exhaustion. Rinse and repeat.

So that right there is a 14.5 hour day. That doesn't include any days where I need to go buy groceries or run errands, do something after work like meetings (in one yesterday until 8pm), or game days which are even later than practice days. And up until last year, I had schoolwork on top of that.

EVERYONE is busy. I challenge you to find more than a handful of people who are able to do whatever they want with their time. You need to sit down and do a time chart. I do that for my students. We can't get any more time as there are only 24 hours in a day, but we can MANAGE our time better. Less facebook, more push ups.

Say no to the food, No one makes you eat work food. I keep packs of Better Oats oatmeal in my desk. Cheap, easy, quick, healthy, filling.

Drink water. Lots of it. Take a bottle and fill it up at least 4 times a day. Minimum. Hunger and thirst are often confused.

Find small workouts. Lots of people like 30 Day SHred as it is only 25 minutes. I bet you can find 25 minutes (I ran last night between my work and my after work meeting. It meant taking a baby wipe bath but I did it)

Plan your meals out. Take a lunch pail with ice packs. Yogurt and Kashi keep me very full.

Excuses or success. You can have one or the other, not both.

Lyerin

I work in a professional job, definitely more than 40 hours a week. I also have two young children, and my daughter is involved in a lot of activities (my son is too little still).

I get up early in the AM and exercise. That way, even if I do nothing else for the rest of the day, my workout is done. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I run in the early AM. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, I do a boot camp class in the early AM. I run on Saturdays after boot camp. I also squeeze in 2-3 Zumba classes per week, which I do after work. I view Zumba as "extra" so if I have to miss it, it's not a huge deal.

I have breakfast at my desk everyday and keep food at work so I always have something healthy on hand. I also keep healthy snacks in my desk - almonds, quest bars, etc. for times when I really need a snack. I used to bring my lunch everyday, and I need to get back to that because it saved $$ and was better for my weight management.

I don't eat candy out of candy jars, I don't eat cake served for anyone's birthday, and I eat nothing left in the kitchen at work. Especially with regard to the leftovers left out in the kitchen, I remind myself that I am not a garbage can. It is not my responsibility to eat stuff that others don't want. I attend all of the events, but I either bring my own snack or just spend my time chatting with coworkers instead of eating. A piece of cake isn't worth the time it would take to burn those calories.

I have a FitBit Flex and I use it to try to up my steps during the day - taking the stairs, walking down the hall instead of sending an email, etc. I think it has had a positive impact. I don't eat back those calories, but I sort of count them as "extra".

Other than that, I track everything with MFP and log in all of my food.

cookiealbright

If you sit at a desk all day (like I do) you can't eat as much as a guy working in a mill (like my husband). Sometimes I go for a walk at lunch time. I work out 2 or 3 times a week plus use my treadmill at home early in the morning before my shower twice a week. It's time consuming, but so is sitting around doing nothing eating chips (which is what I used to do). You have choices to make every day.:flowerforyou:

MelRC117

Getting a new desk job a few years ago stalled my weight loss. I stopped working out after work and I snacked more. I worked about the same amount each day (11 hours) but my previous job I was active and out and about all day. Sitting around made me more tired than being active.

What are you eating during the day? Are you drinking water or soda and coffee with creamer? If you really do log every thing you eat into MFP, I think you will see what changed. Eating healthy doesn't take that much more time than not. Plan out your meals so when you get home you already know what you're making more dinner. I hated coming home and realizing I never took anything out of the freezer and then just saying screw it and run to McDonald's.

lavaughan69

Walk half of your lunch break. 15 minutes if it's a half hour, 30 minutes if it's an hour. Depending on your bodyweight, you can burn an additional thousand calories a week.

This.

I eat at my desk and then I do a brisk walk for a 1/2 hour. If you can't fit in much exercise then you're going to have really watch what you eat and be consistent with your logging. I know that I don't get enough activity so I keep my calories to 1,200-1,400. Some days even less if I know I need to save room for special occasions.

But I suspect if you've already lost weight that you know this already and what you're really looking for is motivation. Working long hours is just one of the excuses we like to give ourselves when we just can't get motivated. I don't mean to criticize, it's just something I know from experience. When life gets more difficult we seem to like to use it as an excuse for why we can't eat properly...like it would just add to the stress of life. In reality, being unfit, eating poorly just makes us feel tired, sluggish and depressed, and that's far more stressful in the long run!

alpine1994

I lost 35lbs while working 60 hrs a week and not being allowed to take a lunch break, and traveling one week every 2 months (I have since gotten a much better job!!)

I brought lunch every day except Fridays, when a coworker and I would go to Panera and I'd get something there around 400 calories. I very rarely strayed from my daily calorie allotment during the week, but I would allow myself to go over on the weekend if I really wanted to. The 10 minutes it took at night to prepare/pack up my breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the next day was honestly the best way I could've spent that time. It was vital to my weight loss success. As far as dinner, you need a grill! We grill lean meat and grill, steam, or roast veggies pretty much every night.

As far as exercise, I got into the habit of working out right when I got home. Put down bag, change, let Jillian Michaels kick my butt or hit the pavement outside. Sometimes I went to the gym but I found I had a much better routine going if I stuck to my home workouts. I bought myself a range of weights and DVDs, a heart rate monitor, a running app on my phone, a good pair of sneakers, and lots of work out clothes from TJ Maxx. My current office has a gym downstairs that we can use for free (I am so greatful!) and I go down there right after work. I actually get a lunch break now but I prefer to socialize with coworkers and work out later. A bonus is that I miss the traffic and have the rest of my night to relax and hang out with the bf.

The hardest part is starting. Making changes isn't easy, especially ones that will last, but I took baby steps. I didn't jump into working out 5-6 days a week and eating healthy every day overnight. I changed small things, and I remember that I started with breakfast, then lunch, then dinner, then snacks, etc. Start today but changing one little thing. Do it for a few days, then add something else. You can do this!

Rogsman

In my backpack (laptop style) I bring a wide variety of calculated snacks on top of what I normally eat that day. So if I get stuck at work I have enough "healthy" calories to survive for some extra hours. They never get stale cause I'll often hear a coworker complain of hunger and toss an extra snack at them.

So in my bag:
Breakfast
Snack
Lunch
Snack
Extra Snack
Extra Snack

A 1/4 cup of almonds/walnuts with some dried raisins works great.

BlueBombers

I work full-time as well, have two young sons who have activities most week nights. I get up nice and early at 4:45-4:50 in the morning and workout then. I also make my breakfast, lunch and snacks the night before so I have good healthy choices prepared and it prevents me from going out at lunch or buying something from the vending machines. I find preparing meals ahead helps a lot with a busy schedule.

meganrpelican

put your gym clothes in the car. change into them as you are leaving work, then you have no excuses. that's the only way I get it done while working full time and having an internship.

SoDamnHungry

Eat less. Pack your own food. Don't get tempted by all of your coworkers who bring in delicious, calorie laden food.

Also go to the gym.

SoDamnHungry

put your gym clothes in the car. change into them as you are leaving work, then you have no excuses. that's the only way I get it done while working full time and having an internship.

This for sure. I can't be trusted to go home and change. Straight to the gym.

dandelyon

Definitely plan ahead and stick to your schedule! Saying no to work food is so important when you are there all the time.

The adjustment period is hard. It's difficult to recognize that you have time to do things when you used to have so much MORE time to do things, and it's hard not to be "too tired" at the end of a long day, even if it was a day of sitting on your butt. It sounds like you are in your routine now, and you will definitely want to tighten up your outside schedule, not just so you have time to exercise, but so you can live your life and not feel like it's just work and sleep :P

You can do it!