New to desk work- gained 4 lbs

Set your activity level to sedentary,
Ask your employer to provide you a standing desk option. Provide documentation about how sitting is the new smoking, etc. Make it look like a smart business decision.
If you can't stand at your desk, park at the far end of the parking lot, take the stairs, practice some isometric exercises at your desk a few times a day, tap your feet, drink a lot of water so that you'll have to go to the toilet several times. There's just a lot of opportunities to move at a desk, but you do have to reorder your eating habits to account for the lower TDEE of a sedentary job.

Those who want to work out will find the will and the time; those who don't will find excuses.

pamfgil wrote: »

You're going to have to decide to make exercise a priority and schedule it. Can you pre prep some meals to cut down cooking time and start training your scions to do cleanup chores if you haven't already :-)

I work a sedentary job as well. Only, my work days are 12 and 1/2 hour rotating off tours. You may not be getting any physical activity in at work, but that's what your time off is for. I literally Only get 5 to 6 hours of sleep on my work days without exercise, so it's impossible for me to workout on those days outside of work. However, I make up for it on my off days with longer workouts. I spend 2 to 3 hours at the gym on average on my off days. I am also pushing to do 50 minutes of straight cardio during that time. And on my work days, if I'm able to get a break (which isn't guaranteed) I utilize them to the fullest. We have a gym at work, which I will try to get in 20 minutes of cardio for my lunch break, or 15 minutes of stairs or speed walking on a 15 minute break. I have even been known to take in resistance bands, wrist/ankle weights, and a door wedge resistance band to utilize in my office. Some workplaces will make accommodations for employees to have an adjustable desk that can raise and lower so you can sit or stand....and some even go as far as placing treadmills behind the desk so their employees can walk while working....there are also chair frames for the giant sized yoga balls you can purchase to replace the regular office chair, which requires you to tighten your abdominal muscles to sit on it....get creative....the sky's the limit!!! There are also many types of chair exercises you can do....just a Google search away!....

A previous poster is 100% correct, if you want to exercise, you'll find a way....if not, you'll find a million excuses not to....my advice, don't give yourself the time or thought to come up with excuses or you will....just do it!!!!

I'm in the accounting field as well. I get up and walk through the building a couple of times a day and also try to take a lunch walk a couple of times a week. Other than that, I lift 4-5 times a week and aim for 10k steps on nonlifting days and 8k on lifting days. I try to stay active around home and go on bike rides, etc. with my daughter as well.

If you cannot sustain the level of activity you had before the job, drop your calories. It's common to gain weight when moving from an active job to a sedentary one and it's because of sitting around and so still all day. I have times when my motion-sensitive lights go off in my office because I am so still, only moving my hands on the keyboard/mouse. I have to make a solid effort to get up and move.

I worked an accounting job for 30+ years often more than 8 hour a day and 90 minutes of commute. Did not gain weight.

Here is what I did:
Most gyms open at 5 AM or before. Be there.
Pack your own food for lunch and snacks
Don't eat stuff people bring in for the "special occasions" that happen every other day.
Play (active) with your kids when you get home
Television/social media is a time waster, limit it.

Good luck.

OP, I'm in much the same situation, although I've been working for many, many years. First off, it's tough to transition from staying at home with the kids to a full-time job with maybe school aged children. Not sure if that's what you're facing. My work hours start between 6AM-6:30 plus I have about a 1 hour commute. I'm already up at 4AM just getting ready for work. I can't do morning. And I *really* couldn't do mornings when my kids where in school. Not only did I have the commute, I also had the added issues of getting the kids up and out to the before care place. Coming home was the same deal. Get them picked up, get home, get homework started, get dinner started. This after having a mentally exhausting day. Yes, these are all excuses that many people have addressed here. But eating and helping my kids out were important to me, so as many of us do, I came in last.

Now that my kids are out and I do have more time, it's still really hard after being "out" for 10 hours a day a least due to work and commutes. Going another place to do exercise seems like another thing on my to-do list. I do struggle with that. When you're at home and don't work, exercise doesn't feel like a chore, it's an outlet. I can't get it to feel like an outlet these days!!

I don't have any answers but just wanted you to know that I understand the change is hard.

The one thing you can do, that's NOT fun, is to lower your calories until you get it together. I'm very regimented about what I eat in the office.

GamecockFan14 wrote: »

I'm an accountant and started a job in July after being a SAHM for 7 years. I pretty much sit from 8-4 unless I get up for whatever. We don't have to take a lunch at my work, so I work straight through to get out early to beat traffic. By the time I get home it's time to make supper, yadda yadda. I used to go to the gym 5 times a week- I haven't been since the beginnng of July. I miss it. I don't find much motivation working out at home, but it looks like that's my only plan. For those of you that have a desk job, how do you get consistent exercise in? Even when I go to the gym, that will probably only equate to what used to be my normal daily steps.

I'm also an accountant with a desk job...

Monday - Usually a rest day...'cuz Monday and I always have a case of the Mondays...and I'm usually pretty sore...
Tuesday - Indoor trainer ride AM (30 min)/Lift PM
Wednesday - Road ride AM 45-60 min
Thursday - Indoor trainer ride AM (30 min)/Lift PM
Friday - Road ride AM 45-60 min
Saturday - Longer road ride (90-120 min) or climbing session at the rock climbing gym...usually a couple of hours
Sunday - Lift AM/maybe a walk or some yoga later in the afternoon...maybe just some hanging out on the patio with a beer...

Fitness is a high priority for both my wife and I so we take turns with domestic duties and responsibilities. The reason that Tuesday and Thursday are rides on my trainer is because those are the days my wife gets up and goes out for an early morning run and I need to be home because the kids are still in bed and too young to be left alone anyway.

In the evenings, we alternate dinner responsibilities...I lift on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, so those are the nights my wife cooks...I cook on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and most Sundays. I do most of the cooking in our house as my wife does most of the getting kids bathed, laundry, etc...

I do my best to make this all happen, but I'm also flexible...life happens and sometimes I don't get everything in that I would like, but that's life. Having a sedentary job means that deliberate exercise is that much more important to your general health and well being.

The rock climbing is typically a family adventure as we all enjoy climbing, kids included...sometimes we opt for a family hike in the mountains. I've been known to take one of my kiddos in the pedal trailer on a long Saturday ride from time to time...

I also do things like take the stairs at work...I try to get up and just move around a bit every hour...I forgo "rock star" parking pretty much anywhere I go...stuff like that to just move a bit more.

I don't spend a great deal of time in the actual gym...

I'm a lawyer and I work at a desk from 8:30-5:30. I have three kids, two are in school. I am usually up around 6:30 to get up and get ready for work before waking them up and getting them ready. Then it's off to work. Home around 6, dinner, homework, bath, bedtime, a marathon until 8:30 when everyone is in bed. After cleaning up from dinner, I exercise. I have weights and a treadmill, so I usually do some combination of a hill program and weights or a Focus T25 workout. Once a week, assuming I can get my husband to be home with the kids, I go to a class at the gym (usually Zumba) and I try to get in a run or two over the weekend. Over the summer, I've been trying to go for a walk during the day at work, but that's more for mental health rather than a calorie burn. I have MFP set at 1450 and I aim to burn around 200-300 calories with exercise and eat back around 50%. I'm not super strict and could lose more quickly if I was tighter with my logging, but I've lost a total of 36 pounds (this go around, since having my last kid) and have 10-15 to go, depending on how I look and feel.

Essentially, you have to make a choice, either before the kids get up or after they go to sleep, unless your SO is willing and able to be with them while you get your workout in.

Also, I plan my work food. I don't keep food in the office, rather I bring in my lunch and snacks each day, so when I get hungry, I can only reach for what I have, which I know will keep me in my calorie allotment. As I've learned here, food is for weightloss and exercise is for health (and some extra calories). You can lose by keeping your eating in check, even if you don't have time to workout most days.

"I'm a Chartered Accountant and consequently too boring to be of interest."

Up at 5, light breakfast and at the gym by 5:30. Home for a shower by 6:30 and at work by 7. God I love living in a small town where there is not much of a commute. Now this is a new routine for me, but it seems to fit well. Not sure what weekends will look like once camping season is done.

I think the comments about eating for your activity level have said it all.

I started a full-time job that is a desk job and gained four pounds as well. This was in April. Being a bit more organized and trying to plan ahead at packing lunches--and not allowing myself to buy lunch at work--made the weight come right off, in less than a month.

Right now I am working my full-time job (2 hour commute each way = 60 hours/ week) plus a second, part-time gig a few times a week. I average about 70 hours working; so I say from experience it is doable. Being really organized will lay a good foundation and from there it is just follow-through (the harder part). Good luck!