I work in an Office, and losing weight is so hard!
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I have a FitBit to track my steps.
I bring healthy snacks, so I don't waste money in the lunch room.
I exercise after work, so I look forward to that.
I drink a lot of water, so I'm always walking to the bathroom.
I stand as much as possible.
For me, I typically don't eat "lunch." I walk for my lunch. I have 2-3 snacks per day at my desk.
This is pretty much me, but I can't get a fitbit because I have a severe nickel allergy. I heard that they recently recalled the offending devices. Hopefully they're working on a model that doesn't have a stainless steel sensor.
On top of that list, I also park far away from my work building and my school building (I go to school 3 nights a week) so I have to walk more. I go straight to the gym after work and then straight to school after that 2 nights a week. It means dragging around and packing up a lot of bags - lunch bag, gym bag, school bag - and sometimes feeling like I don't really have any time to do anything. I am out of the house from 7:30AM-10PM most days, but I have more energy now then I did last semester when I was eating like crap and laying around in my spare time.0 -
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I'm pretty sure the OP is a guy for those referring to him as a she
Also OP, the biggest hurdle you'll have is feeling silly or something in front of your coworkers. Get over that, quickly. And you won't hurt anybodies feelings by not having cake/cookies/donut. If all else fails, keep a stash of paper towels at your desk and then throw whatever they give you away and put a paper towel over it.
Haha yes I am a guy, but I didn't want to correct anyone or make them feel bad. But either way all the responses are helpful (some a little more blunt than others, but whatever) I was in a meeting earlier and all I was doing instead of taking notes, was making a shopping list!
you are adjusting nicely to corporate america - making your shopping list during a meeting! ha we've all done this. btw good for you for not taking all this advice too personally. some people get so bent over not so friendly advice.0 -
And the reason people are jumping on you OP (and it took quite a bit for me not to as well). You state that
A) You've been getting to/from work for 10 months
The gym is too far because you can't drive.
You must have some form of transportation to get to work. Thus the "gym is too far" is seen as an excuse. Does it really take 10 months to get a driver's license?
You're blaming the fact that you're bored or don't want to hurt feelings as the reason you're snaking/grazing. Another excuse and misplacement of blame. Other people have little to no impact on what you consume and "bored eating" doesn't matter if you're making proper snaking choices.
So people are taking issue with it. They see that you have already identified what is wrong and what they are saying is "stop blaming other people or some made up circumstances and go fix it."0 -
This thread is ridiculous.
Not ridiculous enough to prevent you from posting, I see.So many enablers. Enabling isn't supporting. It's the opposite.
Who here has enabled? Who told the OP they shouldn't worry about having poor eating habits and it's all okay? Not a single person. People ask questions when they don't know and the OP has admitted he's made poor choices but would like to get some help about it. How does that warrant "get your lazy *kitten* out" statements?0 -
I find that I do better with my eating when I'm at work and I have a 9-5 desk job. I pack every single thing (including snacks) that I'm going to eat at work every day and avoid the cafeteria. When I get bored I log onto MFP or twitter instead of snacking. If you have an hour lunch break consider using the first hour to take a walk and the second half to eat.0
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there is this for sure.. but it includes preplanning. bring healtier thinsgs to snack on at work. drink more water and exercise when you get off of work or before work. you don't need a gym so that isn't a good enough excuse. its all comes down to choice of what you eat and what you do. How bad do you want to be losing weight or be healthier? ask yourself thatthere's this feature called "logging calories" on MFP and I use it.0 -
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I started walking on my lunch.
Started out small, mapped out a route using Mapmyfitness, and I could walk it only just in an hour, then started pushing myself to walk a little bit further each day, taking the long way around roundabouts, walking around the block an extra time when I have the time before I go back.
Now the weather is better, I walk for a few miles after work.
If you drive, park further away than normal for the extra walk before and after work.
Tell others in the office you're on a diet, and get them to stop you snacking.
Offer to get the drinks more often, so you are away from your desk.
There's no such thing as willpower, if you are serious about losing the weight, you'll do it.
Don't make excuses0 -
Hello,
I really need help controlling my weight in this now non active life style. At my old job I was always on my feet, running around, sweating and seldom had time to stop and eat. Now since I sit at a desk all day long, and our office has a built in cafeteria and staff, I feel that all I do is munch and snack. I admit that I often eat to pass time, so I often catch myself getting a muffin or grabbing a tuna salad just to kill time. I guess my question is; to my fellow office workers, how do you deal with eating healthy and staying active at work?
Find other stuff to do to pass/kill the time. It can be difficult - but hopefully there will be work to keep you busy!
Keep out of the cafeteria - log the food you are going to eat or better yet, only eat what you bring in and at lunch for outside for a walk.
Drink lots of water and herbal tea too.0 -
I also work in an office. Simple things like, dont leave change or cash in your wallet for vending machines. Keep healthy snacks and drinks at your desk so if you are hungry you eat that... and limit what is there. If you don't have it, you wont be tempted. pack your lunches with extra veggies or whatever you prefer. Besides teh occasional donut or sub lunch I dont eat out anymore. Its expensive and can throw on the lbs!! Remember, just because it tastes good doesnt mean it is good. Also, I get up and walk during my 'breaks". do laps around the building or whatever it takes to keep ur pulse up for a few minutes each day. I cant wait for it to warm up outside because I take long walks on my lunches! 0
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I work in a hotel and there are a lot of social gatherings and celebrations of hotel victories going on, so a lot of food, especially when the housekeeping staff gets to cooking. Homemade egg tarts, noodle dishes, shrimp, pineapple chicken, oh wow are they so yummy. But standing behind a desk all day does not help me in the slightest.
So, I do whatever I can for physical activity. I jog up and down the stairs when a guest asks for something brought up to the rooms, when a delivery comes in and the boxes are a decent enough size, I do some lifting with them. I also offer to clean the back office as organizing boxes and moving everything gets me active. Oh, and I jog to and from my bus stop.0 -
This thread is ridiculous.
Not ridiculous enough to prevent you from posting, I see.So many enablers. Enabling isn't supporting. It's the opposite.
Who here has enabled? Who told the OP they shouldn't worry about having poor eating habits and it's all okay? Not a single person. People ask questions when they don't know and the OP has admitted he's made poor choices but would like to get some help about it. How does that warrant "get your lazy *kitten* out" statements?
I'm with Nerdycurls on this one...
The definition of enabling...
en·a·ble [en-ey-buhl] verb (used with object), en·a·bled, en·a·bling. 1. to make able; give power, means, competence, or ability to; authorize: This document will enable him to pass through the enemy lines unmolested. 2. to make possible or easy: Aeronautics enables us to overcome great distances. 3. to make ready; equip (often used in combination): Web-enabled cell phones.
Just because people say it's okay, they felt that way too, that's NOT enabling that is called being empathetic. People expressing their shared experience does not make an enabler. Enabling would be just keep doing what you're doing. Or like how if someone has a serious addiction and their family won't stop giving them money to feed their habit...that is enabling.0 -
Is this a pity party or something? Get your *kitten* out of bed and to the gym. You don't have to be active at work, just workout before or after work, eat within your calories and that's it. What so hard?
This thread is ridiculous. So many enablers. Enabling isn't supporting. It's the opposite.
I grew up in NYC. To be fair to the OP, he is commuting from LI to "the city" so I assume Manhattan, which is probably 2.5 hours of his day wasted on the train each way. I know, excuses excuses, but that's a huge chunk of your day to lose to activities. I suppose he could do squats on the LIRR, not like he'd even be close to the weirdest person on the train.
ETA: When I was living in Queens and working in Manhattan, I had to take a bus and then 2 trains. The total commute time was about 1 hour 45 mins (to travel like 12 miles). Rather than wait 15 mins for the bus, I would just walk 30 mins to the train every day, in whatever weather. During that period of my life I lost 80 lbs by logging my calories in a notebook. It's not impossible, OP everyone has obstacles. You have to want it.0 -
I agree with GuitarJerry a bit. By not calling out or bringing light to the excuses being made, you are acting as an enabler and promoting the continuation of the excuses.
Too many people on these forums confuse the shedding of light to be attacking the person. When more often than not, the person asking the question has no clue they are excusing their self-destructive behavior. The quicker these notions are swatted down, the quicker the person can get onto fixing their problems.
Being bored and work and using this as a scapegoat to eat high caloric food is an excuse and a way to deflect blame. There is no arguing this, it simply is.0 -
bump0
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I agree with GuitarJerry a bit. By not calling out or bringing light to the excuses being made, you are acting as an enabler and promoting the continuation of the excuses.
Too many people on these forums confuse the shedding of light to be attacking the person. When more often than not, the person asking the question has no clue they are excusing their self-destructive behavior. The quicker these notions are swatted down, the quicker the person can get onto fixing their problems.
Being bored and work and using this as a scapegoat to eat high caloric food is an excuse and a way to deflect blame. There is no arguing this, it simply is.
And there were lots that DID call the OP out on excuses...Still doesn't make any one else an enabler. Again, see the definition of enabler.0 -
I agree with GuitarJerry a bit. By not calling out or bringing light to the excuses being made, you are acting as an enabler and promoting the continuation of the excuses.
Too many people on these forums confuse the shedding of light to be attacking the person. When more often than not, the person asking the question has no clue they are excusing their self-destructive behavior. The quicker these notions are swatted down, the quicker the person can get onto fixing their problems.
Being bored and work and using this as a scapegoat to eat high caloric food is an excuse and a way to deflect blame. There is no arguing this, it simply is.
And there were lots that DID call the OP out on excuses...Still doesn't make any one else an enabler. Again, see the definition of enabler.
You can't bust out the dictionary definition of "enable" when the dictionary definition has nothing to do with the psychological use of the word.
I'll see your dictionary definition and raise you:In a negative sense, enabling is also used to describe dysfunctional behavior approaches that are intended to help resolve a specific problem but in fact may perpetuate or exacerbate the problem.[1][2] A common theme of enabling in this latter sense is that third parties take responsibility, blame, or make accommodations for a person's harmful conduct (often with the best of intentions, or from fear or insecurity which inhibits action). The practical effect is that the person himself or herself does not have to do so, and is shielded from awareness of the harm it may do, and the need or pressure to change. Enabling in this sense is a major environmental cause of addiction.0 -
Yeah, stop using facts you'll confuse the Hulk0
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I work in an office that celebrates everyone's birthdays with cake, chips, pop... (on my request, they started getting fruit trays). They also celebrate babies, weddings, people leaving.. Cake is almost a weekly thing.
Losing weight isn't THAT hard..0 -
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Working in an office does make it more of a challenge. there are a lot of really good tips on here, like packing your lunch and snacks is a huge help. Also if you feel like you want to graze or get snack, chew gum. I go through a double pack of gum a week and it does help. I do allow myself a very small portion of something sweet like 2 Hershey kisses, or Reeses Pieces just go take care of the craving. The fact that you realize what you're doing and getting great advice on here is a start, just stick with it and don't beat yourself up.0
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- When walking to work (short distance), I walk as fast as I can (without sweating - I'm in work clothes after all).
I'm just gonna be a little nit picky here. You burn more calories walking at 2 mph than 3 mph, if you're going the same exact distance. Just FYI. http://walking.about.com/library/cal/uccalc1.htm
Yes, but the extra calories arising from the slow walk are surely those used by your brain for thinking and your guts in digestion etc over a the longer time frame. You are going to burn those whether you were walking or not.
WBB55: True, but walking faster gets my heart rate up so I continue burning calories for longer....? Also, I only walk 1.2 miles to work... in my case slowing down will burn 6 more calories!
deadyankee: Yes actually, more than anything it's a mental thing - if I walk faster I feel more tired, therefore I feel I'm doing well at this so I keep on trying.0 -
Is this a pity party or something? Get your *kitten* out of bed and to the gym. You don't have to be active at work, just workout before or after work, eat within your calories and that's it. What so hard?
This thread is ridiculous. So many enablers. Enabling isn't supporting. It's the opposite.
I grew up in NYC. To be fair to the OP, he is commuting from LI to "the city" so I assume Manhattan, which is probably 2.5 hours of his day wasted on the train each way. I know, excuses excuses, but that's a huge chunk of your day to lose to activities. I suppose he could do squats on the LIRR, not like he'd even be close to the weirdest person on the train.
ETA: When I was living in Queens and working in Manhattan, I had to take a bus and then 2 trains. The total commute time was about 1 hour 45 mins (to travel like 12 miles). Rather than wait 15 mins for the bus, I would just walk 30 mins to the train every day, in whatever weather. During that period of my life I lost 80 lbs by logging my calories in a notebook. It's not impossible, OP everyone has obstacles. You have to want it.
When you are a New Yorker commuting to work, your total time spent in commute can be anywhere from 2-4 hours. I have relatives who struggle to stay active due to their commute and thankfully they can stand on the subway and buses to help.0 -
I find that I do better with my eating when I'm at work and I have a 9-5 desk job. I pack every single thing (including snacks) that I'm going to eat at work every day and avoid the cafeteria. When I get bored I log onto MFP or twitter instead of snacking. If you have an hour lunch break consider using the first hour to take a walk and the second half to eat.
Actually reading the posts and stuff on the site has actually helped assuage my appetite! So this idea is pretty useful haha (Plus I kinda see it as a motivator. A lot of people posting negatively kinda helps me to not think about food... #SilverLining)0 -
I work in an office that celebrates everyone's birthdays with cake, chips, pop... (on my request, they started getting fruit trays). They also celebrate babies, weddings, people leaving.. Cake is almost a weekly thing.
Losing weight isn't THAT hard..
That's what the people with Hashimoto's, PCOS, hypothyroidism and diabetes say.0 -
Bump to read later0
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ETA: When I was living in Queens and working in Manhattan, I had to take a bus and then 2 trains. The total commute time was about 1 hour 45 mins (to travel like 12 miles). Rather than wait 15 mins for the bus, I would just walk 30 mins to the train every day, in whatever weather. During that period of my life I lost 80 lbs by logging my calories in a notebook. It's not impossible, OP everyone has obstacles. You have to want it.
i was just about to suggest something like this. when i commuted to my job in cambridge, ma i used to do something similar. i would get off the T (subway if you're not familiar) a station or two earlier and walk the rest of the way to work. when the weather was nice i actually drove halfway and biked the rest of the way to work. now i live in VA and i have no choice but to drive to work so at lunch i run.
there are lots of things you can do to incorporate exercise into your daily life. like you said you have to want it.0 -
I also work a 9-5 office job, and i know how hard it can be not to just snack at your desk! Keep healthy choices, like i always have some granola bars/ protein bars, apples, carrots, light yogurt, etc, in case i have the urge to snack. I go to the gym almost every night after work, but it that isnt an option for you, take a walk every night, the weather is getting nicer out, and it will be good see all the trees and flowers come to life! Just like the flowers are blooming, you can change your self too! There is a TON of work out videos on youtube you can do at home. Heck even if you walk a mile and do 50 crunches a night, its more than you are doing now and will help!! GOOD LUCK!!! You can do it!0
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All of the advice about bringing in your own meals and working in exercise while at the office is great....It's what I do and it seems to help a lot. I also just have a hard time sitting still, do I'm constantly moving. And I'm also about to take my 5th bathroom break of the day because I drink so much water.
I didn't chose the desk life, the desk life chose me. *sigh*
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