tips for a 9-5 office worker....

randa_behnam
randa_behnam Posts: 488 Member
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
Im just looking for advice really on how people are losing weight who are in a similar position to me. I work in an office all day 5 days a week, i get home at 6pm and im not a gym person but i do have a treadmill and space to move around for yoga etc.

I just want to know what sorts of routines are people doing and how many times a week and for how long of whatever they are doing thats working for them? So far i find that most of my calorie burning comes from doing non stop cleaning and laundry on the weekends!! lol.

i love the treadmill but i dont really know how long or how hard i should be working.

Replies

  • ygrad2001
    ygrad2001 Posts: 230
    I am in your situation. Do you have digital cable? If so there are free workouts on OnDemand that you can do. Is it possible for you to work out before work? Do you take breaks and a lunch break? If you have steps in your job you cld do the stairs on your break. I like going to the gym so I am there 5-6 days a week, even if it is only for 30 mins. I mostly go to the gym for zumba classes so that doesn't make the gym seem so bad.
  • kthom
    kthom Posts: 175
    The best amount of exercise for your health is 60 minutes most days of the week. I get up early and work out before I go to work at my office job. I find that I am too busy in the evenings with supper and kids to do it then. You just need to find what works for you that you can stick to.
  • anna441
    anna441 Posts: 253 Member
    I also have a desk job which is boring sometime...I stretch out everythime when I have to get away from my desk...
    LOL...I do few stretchings while I visit the restroom...
  • lripson28
    lripson28 Posts: 213 Member
    I'm going through the same thing! I decided to wake up early and go run on the treadmill for awhile before work. Then at night before I go to sleep I started doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD.
  • Shirley61
    Shirley61 Posts: 7,758 Member
    I am a 9 to 5 worker but only 3 days a week so my exercise is frequent.
    I do at least 30-40 mins everyday after work and on my days off I do more.
    I change things up with the Will Fit Plus, yoga, strength training and aerobics.
    I also have a recumbent bike and use that too. I am waiting for the weather
    to break so i can walk at my lunch hour again.
    I hope this helps. Good Luck on your exercise routine.:bigsmile:
  • Mary830
    Mary830 Posts: 64
    **BUMP**

    To reply to when I am not at work!
  • Melis25Fit
    Melis25Fit Posts: 811 Member
    I work in an office from 7am-3:30pm.

    This is what I do.

    Up at 4:45am - Treadmill or Elliptical for 45 mins (Treadmill for you start at 30 mins and raise the incline as you want to challange yourself.)

    Home by 6, shower, get ready... Breakfast is usually egg whites (which i make the night before and nuke the next am) with a piece of fruit and bagel thin with light strawberry cream cheese.

    Snack around 9-9:39ish am- Yogurt

    Lunch11:30-12ish- bring in premade--- lean cuisine, salad, tuna, etc.

    Mid afternoon snack of granola bar around 2 or 3

    Dinner at home. Lean meat, little whole grain something or other, and lots of green veggies.

    You could do treadmill after work, but I honestly have no ambition to go after work, and you'll get it done right away in the morning.

    Also avoid office goodies! Maybe have a piece or half of something- if you've got good self control. Otherwise, just walk the other way!
    Good luck!
  • randa_behnam
    randa_behnam Posts: 488 Member
    i would love to get up early, but i find it hard to get to sleep before 11 and i wake up at 6:30. if i got up at 6 and did half an hour of exercise that would be great but i cant use my treadmill that early cos i live on the top floor of a block of flats, im sure my neighbours wont be too pleased.

    I do have time after work to do what i need to do, i just dont really know what i need to do and for how long. Unfortunatly at work i dont have the facilities to "freshen up" if i start running stairs in the building.
  • lal73
    lal73 Posts: 116
    I have the same type of job....I just started walking for 20-25 minutes during lunch outside using a tracker on my cellphone called Cardiotracker and i burn about 130 - 150 calories walking briskly. I also do Jilian Michaels DVD's or the free excersize videos on Cable when i can about 3 or 4 times a week for about 30 minutes.....

    You would be surprised how much it helps, and its really not a lot of time taken out of your day at all...Especially if you can do something during lunch.
  • BrianJLamb
    BrianJLamb Posts: 239 Member
    Definitely hit your treadmill in the mornings. Sometimes do a 35 to 45 minute moderately high rate. Other times do a high intensity bursts, like sprinting for like a 20 minute off/on stretch. It will give you tons of energy and motivation to last through your day.

    At night a few nights a week, do some yoga, some pilates, core training stuff. It should work out well for you.
  • JennDoesKeto
    JennDoesKeto Posts: 244 Member
    I also have a desk job which is boring sometime...I stretch out everythime when I have to get away from my desk...
    LOL...I do few stretchings while I visit the restroom...

    lol i do the bathroom thing...i listen to my ipod all day so when im in the bathroom i go to the "big" stall and while im drying my hands i do crunches/twists or dance..so glad they can't put cameras in there!
  • joshiesdad
    joshiesdad Posts: 80
    I generally get up in the am at like 5 and do p90X. Then at work I get two 15 min breaks. I will walk for the full fifteen. I will also walk for 15 min of my lunch. I will try and get out to walk after work once the clocks change,
  • thecanface
    thecanface Posts: 1,180 Member
    same here! i get home at 6p, Mondays - either off or muscle blast class at 6:30p or kickbox class at 730p. Tuesday - either off or kickbox class at 6:30p. wednesday bootcamp class at 630 am, another boot camp at 630 pm and zumba at 730p if i am feeling extra energized, thursday kick box at 630p, friday -i go run and abs after work, sat 8 am work out to get my day started, sunday go when i have time. mostly around late noon. i basically get it out of the way as soon as i get out of work. i make it seem as though it's part of work. something i have to do before i can go home and relax.
  • ejb245
    ejb245 Posts: 195 Member
    I'm a 7:30-5 worker, 5 days a week with at least a 30 minute commute each way each day, so it's been a little tricky to lose the weight. I've been stopping by the grocery store on my way to work each Monday and picking up breakfast (Jimmy Dean turkey sausage sandwiches, 260 calories, and taste awesome) and lunch material (bagged salads, frozen meals, sandwich material, fruit, etc) for the week so I'm not tempted to go out for lunches which always derail me. When I get home, I try to go for a run, I started the C25K program, or one of the on-demand programs. I would love to do exercises at work, but its not realistic for me. I'm going for a run over lunch today, but that's mostly because I'm in the office alone and therefore, no one's here to see me bright red and sweating when I come back... I'm only through week 1 of the running program but it has an app for the iphone and I like that it tells me when to walk or jog because I don't want to have to keep track of that stuff myself. Hope that helps.
  • backinthenines
    backinthenines Posts: 1,083 Member
    I have a 9-5 job.

    I get up at 5:30 and spend an hour in the gym in the morning. On days where I double up I pass the gym on my way home, or I go home first, have dinner and then go out for a late run.

    Still plenty of time to train, I really don't know what the problem is unless you have a 2 hour commute each way or 3 small kids to look after etc.
  • Lexie28
    Lexie28 Posts: 219
    I work 7:30 to 4:00pm...I'm lucky because we have a gym where I work. So instead of sitting at my desk during the lunch hour I go to the gym...and walk for 45 minutes on the treadmill. At 4:00pm I head straight for the gym (outside of the workplace)...where I spend 30 minutes running on the treadmill...then another 30 minutes on either the bike, elliptical machine or stairmaster.
    I pack my lunch every evening and write the calories in a notebook for input the next day.

    Hope this helps in some way.

    Chers
  • CARNAT22
    CARNAT22 Posts: 764 Member
    I work 9 - 5.30 5 days per week and I have a 1 hour commute each way!!

    This means I leave home at 07:45 every day and get home at 6.30pm.. It doesn't leave me much time really (especially as I am the cook of the household)

    I find that if I am disciplined I can fit in a 30 minute work out 3 nights a week. On these nights I literally get home, work-out, jump in the shower and then cook so we don't eat until after 8pm on those nights...

    I also make sure I work-out on the weekends, and I incorporate 40 minutes walking every week day.

    It can be done but I still find it hard - the eating aspect is fine but exercising is not something I find enjoyable (yet I love how I feel afterwards so I perservere!)
  • krea4
    krea4 Posts: 1,823 Member
    I find it really difficult to exercise for the sack of exercising so I have been trying to build it into my daily routines.
    Think about how you could bring a bit of walking, cycling, running into your commute to work. If you get the bus or train try walking to the station or to the next stop away from your home. If you drive how about parking a couple of streets away so you have to walk to your home/office. 48 minutes of walking the kids to school and me back home burnt about 150 calories this morning. Good luck
  • Cristy_AZ
    Cristy_AZ Posts: 986
    I work 7:30 -5:00 m-thursday and 8-5 every other Friday. What works best for me is to get up early, I do a Jillian Michaels Dvd (30-60 minutes) 5 days a week, I walk on Saturday (was up to 4 miles, I had surgery and am just working back into this routine, my goal is 6 sixty minute workouts per week). I take Sundays off. Works for me! Good luck finding what works for you!
  • randa_behnam
    randa_behnam Posts: 488 Member
    Thanks guys, all really helpfull. I try and get in at least one day a week where i spend my full hour lunch break walking . i will start using my treadmill for that little bit longer to get at least 60 mins when i do use it.

    I do have the time after work, i find that before work i will tend to rush more. iv joined the gym about 4 times and its not for me. the classes i like get booked up quickly and the ones i can make dont usually start till 7:30 by which time iv got home and settled and usually had my dinner.

    Best get my *kitten* on that treadmill now :o)
  • maeadair
    maeadair Posts: 496 Member
    I have Leslie Sansone discs ...walking programs. She ranges from 15 min to 11 min miles or 4.5 - 5 mph at top speed. I adapt some of her moves and do them on breaks to incorporate some exercise in my work day. At home I do exercise bike (treadmill for you), and a mix of walking programs, Richard Simmons tapes, Biggest loser disc with cardio and specific area toning. I do these either before work or before bed depending on the day.
  • Mary830
    Mary830 Posts: 64
    I work 9-5 but, with the commute and getting kids to/from school I am out of the house from 7-6.

    Sometimes I get up early to work out, but those days are few and far between. Mostly I workout at home at night, around 7 or 8. I run or walk on the treadmill, and do strength training every other day with free weights or (currently) a kettlebell. I also have a lot of DVDs that I will work into the rotation when I get bored with my routine.

    Most days I workout anywhere from 30-60 minutes. On the weekends sometimes more.
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