Desk job + trying to lose weight = BAD combination! HELP!

K_Smith86
K_Smith86 Posts: 123
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm in need of some help, pronto. My job requires me to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day. While that's fine and dandy and pays the bills, it really doesn't help with my weight loss. I'm the type that when I'm bored, I find myself wanting to snack. When I'm stressed, I find myself wanting to snack. Both of which I'm trying to kick in the butt. Back about 6 years ago, the job I had required me to be on my feet my entire shift, so anything that I ate on my lunch break, I burned off by the end of the day. After that job, I ended up at a desk job, where I noticed the weight add on, and then it just spiraled out of control. Left that job, went back to school, and now I'm at a desk job again. I REFUSE to let the weight come back on, and am trying so hard to lose it. But I'm noticing that the weight is just kind of staying there. Not really gaining, and not really losing.

If I do get hungry or a case of the munchies at work, I'll go to the fridge in the warehouse and grab my baggie of grapes I brought that day, or a granola bar - something that's on the healthier side. But I still feel like a grazing cow. Not something I'm fond of. I've noticed that when I do drop some weight, it's usually in my leg area, but the target area right now is from the waist up. Well, if I'm sitting all day at work, and eat, the weight is going to go right for the places I'm trying to drop the weight at. It happened before, and I don't want it to happen again.

So my question to all of you is, if you have a desk job, or a job that requires you to be sedentary for most of the day, what do you do to help curb the munchies? Mind you, I am able to get up and walk around a bit, just have to stay within grabbing distance of the phone. I get an hour lunch break each day and go for a walk for about 20-30 minutes of that break, weather permitting. I'm just so afraid that the weight isn't going to come off the way I'd like it to if I don't find something to help with the feeling of needing to graze when I'm at work. Please help! Thanks :)

Replies

  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I have a desk job. I am sitting at my desk for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. But I am also very busy.... I find that I sometimes forget to eat because I have a lot to do. It's easy for me to stay within my calorie goals because I just bring my lunch and morning snack with me to work and that's all I eat. I don't know, I guess we just don't handle sitting at a desk all day the same. Lol.
  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 644 Member
    I bring in all my own food and have snacks at set times - 10 am and 3 pm with lunch anytime between 11.30 and 13.30. Beyond that I don't eat and I don't really fancy any more food than that - you can check out my diary if you like. If I feel peckish I will have some tea, peppermint or blueberry feels like a treat in itself.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    I have a desk job, and that's probably part of the reason I got so big. No activity + no calorie accountability = fat me .

    So, you just have to adapt. Now, I get up once an hour to refill my water cup and go to the bathroom. I bring all my own food and preplan my MFP journal. There's no question about what I'm going to eat for the day. And I still eat ALL day - I love to snack. But I know that everything I eat fits into my calorie goal, so it's good :)

    As far as stress eating goes, it helps me to remind myself that food has NEVER solved a problem for me. It's not a friend like that. Food does some good stuff - it gives me energy so I can live an active life, it nourishes my body, it's fun to have socially and experiment with. But it's not a therapist or a counselor, so why treat it like one?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Being sedentary is a penalty, but not a massive one - a couple of hundred calories maybe so I wouldn't focus too much on that. It's not going to stop you losing weight as you can lose weight lying in bed.

    Managing the munchies and the snacking are another thing. I work at a desk most of the time and worse it's at home so the kitchen is never far away. Low carbing cut my appetite and some discipline about what it in the kitchen (or what is visible at least) helps.

    If you have access to low calorie / whatever snacks it stops you eating the wrong thing.
  • violetta88
    violetta88 Posts: 117 Member
    Some tips I've picked up:

    - Water. All the time. When I snack it's just to have something to do with my hands - a water bottle serves the same purpose but without the calories.
    - Snack little and often. I usually have a snack every couple of hours of around 100 cals or so - fruit, crackers, cereal bars, etc.
    - If you're like me and have things like candy and crisps so you're constantly eating (skittles are the worst culprit!) substitute something like dried fruit pieces or nuts.
    - Walk on your lunch break. It'll burn off a few extra calories!
    - Try to keep yourself busy - pick up extra work, work to tight deadlines - you'll be too busy to think about food!
    - When cravings hit, go for a wander and chat to your colleagues (if you can get away with it!)
    - Stick something inspirational - like a quote or a picture - on your computer.
    - If your colleagues tend to bring in snacks, tell them not to offer you anything.
    - Most importantly, if you have a food trolley, schedule a bathroom break when it's due!

    Hope some of that helps! Best of luck :)
  • rivka_m
    rivka_m Posts: 1,007 Member
    I tend to bring in a huge bag o'food every morning - small pieces of fruit plus berries or grapes if I have any. I need to plan ahead better and bring in raw/slightly cooked veggies as well as those fill me up even better. Those get kept at my desk to graze on. I also split my lunch into two servings since I tend to want protein at 10 am and again around one.

    And I agree, tell your coworkers if they're the sort to bring in treats, so they don't offer (and don't get offended when you don't have any of whatever they brought).
  • prdfthrof2
    prdfthrof2 Posts: 2
    Hi, My name is David

    I have been a Fitness Instructor / Nutrition Specialist for going on 6 years now. I have made my goal to help at least 1 person a week 2 years ago and have not failed yet. (Knock on wood) LOL. I'm not bragging or at least not trying to, I am telling you this because I have made my own "Guide to Eating Healthy" that has helped me help every single one of my clients in the last 4 years. Yes it took me almost 3 years to put this Guide together but when I finally gave them out to my clients. They have never appreciated a gift more than it. I had one of my newest clients walk up to me about a month ago. He told me what his goals were and where he wanted to be in the next year. His name is Ralph Guyen. Thanks Ralph for letting me mention your name and your goals. He told me he wanted to lose 75lbs in the next year. So just last week (he has been working with me for a little over 2 months now) he walks up to me after our workout and tells me the most amazing thing I've ever had any of my clients tell me. He says "David, Do you know how much weight I have lost since I told you my goal last month?" I replied "Yes Ralph, you said you wanted to lose 75lbs by this time next year." He says back to me. "Forget that! My NEW goal is 100lbs!" My jaw nearly hit the ground. I asked him what happened to his original goal and he told me that he lost 20lbs in the last month all thanks to my Guide to Eating Healthy. I told him that it wasn't all my Guide, that it was the commitment he made to himself and how well he was applying the guide. So we go on to chit-chatting for about an hour more. He had mentioned to me that I should help people on the internet and to sell my guide to them and how much people would be all over it. So I did the next best thing. Like I said I like to help people, I don't know what it is but I have always had the itch to be a helpful person. Hence the industry I got a degree in. Fitness Instructor / Nutrition Specialist. So I decided to do what Ralph had mentioned to me, only i didn't want to sell it. Even though he probably is right, I could make a lot of money, but that is not who I am so I recently got a website up and live and converted my "Guide to Eating Healthy" to an eBook. I am giving it away Totally FREE and and have actually added a 2nd eBook to the website as well. If your interested, please come on by and grab my Free Guide to Eating Healthy for yourself. I would truly appreciate it and would love to help anybody and everybody I can and please if you like both the eBooks please don't keep them to yourself, I encourage you to let everyone know who is interested. My goal is to help you, and if I can do that even if I don't personally know you. I will. Well that's my story today. Please get the word out, and come grab your own copy of my "Guide to Eating Healthy"

    *You Can Never Fail If You Don't Stop Trying*

    Sincerely,

    David O'Connell
    Certified Fitness Instructor / Nutrition Specialist
    http://www.free-solo-ezines.com
  • LadyL2012
    LadyL2012 Posts: 127 Member
    This what caused me to put on a stone and a half in a year. I now spend a lot of time in my car and at a desk.

    Reduce your calories and do some exercise either before you go to work or when you get back.

    I ALWAYS bring my own food in, that way it is calorie and portion controlled, I know exactly what I am eating and it means i don't go out and spend money I don't have on unhealthy stuff or food that I have no idea what's in it.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    Try to get up every hour and take a walk around the off ice. Not only will you burn a few calories but you will break up the boredom.

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