Words of Advice

I have a desk job too, I appreciate its super difficult. Feel free to add me to do this journey together though!

Exercise isn't strictly necessary for weight loss. It is good for you and earns calories for extra food though Good logging is most important. Get a food scale and weigh your portions. Double check the MFP database entries you're using for accuracy. Log EVERYTHING. I'm an office worker bee who generally only incorporates light activity at this point (walking). This works for me.

MFP probably won't win you any weight loss challenges. It's designed for the long haul - slow, steady, sustainable loss. It's likely someone at your work will cut out 80% of their normal foods, labeling them as 'bad,' and eat far too little while burning far too much to be sustainable. They may 'win' but not be able to keep the weight off.

I'm also stuck at a desk most of the day. Now that the weather's nice, I'll try to go for a 15 or 20 minute walk on my lunch break. I'll also get up and walk over to someone's desk to talk to them instead of calling. Sometimes I'll just get up and walk a loop of the office for no reason other than to stretch my legs.

Maybe since the office is doing a weight loss challenge you can get a group of people together to do a group walk? My office recently did health and safety training about reducing strain by getting up, stretching, moving, etc. So every now and then someone will announce a stretch break and everyone gets up and does it (we're kind of a goofy office already).

Weight loss starts with food, though. So log consistently, weigh your portions, and make smart choices. I know I'll get into the junk if it's at home or work so I've pitched it. I set myself up for success by doing meal prep on the weekends - pack lunches and snacks for work, chop up veg for dinners, even pack my stay-at-home wife some lunches and snacks so she can make the right choices. This weekend I even made enchiladas to toss in the freezer for later this week.

Feel free to add me, I have a diary open for friends and I only occasionally whine on my feed.

The closer what you eat while losing weight comes to what you'll be eating when you reach your goal, the more sustainable you'll find it. There are no foods that are inherently bad (with the likely exception of trans-fats). There are foods that you may find aren't usually 'worth' the calories because they don't go a long way toward helping you stay full. That doesn't mean you can't have them, just that you need to moderate them*.

(A personal example: on Hannukah, two of the traditional foods are potato latkes and doughnuts. I checked calories and decided that one regular latke was workable, but 240-270 calories for a custard or jelly doughnut was just more than I wanted to allocate. But I decided that I could fit a half of a custard doughnut in for 120 and still stay within my totals for the day.)

Pre-logging has gone a long way toward helping me deal with the guilt and negative self-talk that always used to follow my treats. It's not the high-calorie/low-nutrient food that 'ruins' my weight loss. It's the panic and regret and negative self-talk that convinces me the day is blown and I might as well gorge now that I need to watch out for. When I log in advance what I want to eat, it helps me see that, "Yes. I can have two slices of bread with lunch; I can have that piece of birthday cake at my nephew's party this afternoon. And if I have X for breakfast, Y with the bread for lunch and Z for supper... I'll still be within my calories for the day. And if I have time to exercise? I can even have a couple of snacks if I want/need them." So, when I have that cake at the party? I have it without the guilt. Because suddenly, the 'treat' isn't a 'cheat'. It's a choice. (And sometimes, as in the case with the doughnut above, I can choose NOT to have it or to have less than I thought.)


*You may find that you need to eliminate certain foods because they are harder for you to moderate. That's me and butterscotch. I won't keep butterscotch fudge ripple ice cream in my freezer, because I know I CAN go through a quart in a day or two, just a scoop here a spoon there. On the other hand, if I'm going out for ice cream with friends and I know I'm just getting one cone? I'll check the calories and if they fit, I'll have the butterscotch. I just won't get more for my freezer.

I've lost 77 pounds just logging my food (reduced calories of course) and walking. I also have a desk job. I take the longest route to the ladies room whenever I go which is much more often now that I'm drinking 8 glasses of water. I go for a walk on the morning "coffee break" and at lunch time. I have found that walking reduces my stress load and warms me up since I am constantly cold since dropping so much weight, lol. For me the key was in taking small steps to my goal. Do what you can but don't give up if you have less exercise one day. I take Sunday's off from walking but log my food every day which really is what is the most important.

I can out-eat my exercise deficit in about 30 seconds; food for thought (calorie free of course lol)

pinuplove wrote: »

Exercise isn't strictly necessary for weight loss. It is good for you and earns calories for extra food though Good logging is most important. Get a food scale and weigh your portions. Double check the MFP database entries you're using for accuracy. Log EVERYTHING. I'm an office worker bee who generally only incorporates light activity at this point (walking). This works for me.

MFP probably won't win you any weight loss challenges. It's designed for the long haul - slow, steady, sustainable loss. It's likely someone at your work will cut out 80% of their normal foods, labeling them as 'bad,' and eat far too little while burning far too much to be sustainable. They may 'win' but not be able to keep the weight off.

Not sure I could say it any better.