Recovering from a desk job
paulerdmann1
Posts: 55 Member
Hey friends,
My name is Paul and I love pasta. Oops, sorry I thought this was the carb fetish site I go to in my lonely times. I had, for many years, been the funny fat guy. That all changed in my late 20's when I decided to do something about it and become the regular funny guy or SansFat funny guy. I exercised and ate right until I was at my lowest weight and highest strength. Nearly 100 lbs down I looked good, felt great and landed a smoking hot honey to boot. I had a lot of free time to devote to my body and my diet. Shortly after my wedding I started to put some of the weight back on but was still in decent shape. 6'2" 245lbs with a cute little beer belly. But then it happened... promotion to a desk job. I went from working 36 hours a week in an active position, to nearly 60 hours riding a desk. The food people left around was high carb and high calorie.
2 years into this job my wallet had never been thicker but sadly neither had my stomach. I had gained everything back that I had lost and was tipping the scales at 345 lbs. 10 pounds more than my previous highest weight. So for the past 6 months, I've been working hard and eating right. When I say eating "right" what I mean is putting in nutrient rich food at the recommended amount, simple concept but many people (myself included) sometimes think the solution is starving yourself. I'm happy to report that the scale said 301 today which hopefully means by the end of this week I'll be back in the "200's" which is a great feeling. I use MyFittnessPal to track calories and have for years, but today I thought I'd give it a shot using what may be it's greatest resource, it's community.
To round out the story for you a bit more, I left that desk job and started my own woodworking business. I'm active again and away from my greatest temptation, break room donuts.
All my love,
Paul
My name is Paul and I love pasta. Oops, sorry I thought this was the carb fetish site I go to in my lonely times. I had, for many years, been the funny fat guy. That all changed in my late 20's when I decided to do something about it and become the regular funny guy or SansFat funny guy. I exercised and ate right until I was at my lowest weight and highest strength. Nearly 100 lbs down I looked good, felt great and landed a smoking hot honey to boot. I had a lot of free time to devote to my body and my diet. Shortly after my wedding I started to put some of the weight back on but was still in decent shape. 6'2" 245lbs with a cute little beer belly. But then it happened... promotion to a desk job. I went from working 36 hours a week in an active position, to nearly 60 hours riding a desk. The food people left around was high carb and high calorie.
2 years into this job my wallet had never been thicker but sadly neither had my stomach. I had gained everything back that I had lost and was tipping the scales at 345 lbs. 10 pounds more than my previous highest weight. So for the past 6 months, I've been working hard and eating right. When I say eating "right" what I mean is putting in nutrient rich food at the recommended amount, simple concept but many people (myself included) sometimes think the solution is starving yourself. I'm happy to report that the scale said 301 today which hopefully means by the end of this week I'll be back in the "200's" which is a great feeling. I use MyFittnessPal to track calories and have for years, but today I thought I'd give it a shot using what may be it's greatest resource, it's community.
To round out the story for you a bit more, I left that desk job and started my own woodworking business. I'm active again and away from my greatest temptation, break room donuts.
All my love,
Paul
24
Replies
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Your's is the first/only post I opened up here this evening. I am dipping my toes back in and am quite frankly terrified. I used myfitnesspal 2.5 years ago tracking my daily intake and I dropped 30 pounds, stopped and went back to eating unconsciously. I don't know my current weight but I can feel it. I am currently 100-120 pounds overweight (obese). I made an appointment with the nutritionist who introduced myfitnesspal to me but my appointment with her is one month away. So I do not want to wait. I just did my tracker for the day and am double what my intake was supposed to be for safe weight loss 2 years ago. Anyway- I don't do social media. More of a private person. But I decided to read something from someone. What struck a familiar tone is the sedentary work at a desk. I am "miles" behind you but wanted to say that your story sounds positive and healthy so good for you. I don't know how this works re following these posts so in case I am unable to find you again, please accept my cheers for you on this journey. Carla8
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Thanks Carla. I think you're awesome for caring about yourself. Keep killing it.1
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I hear ya on the desk job! I sit on my butt most everyday from 7:30am-5:00pm. It sucks! I lost a lot of weight before but gained a bunch back. It's hard starting over but I plan to kill it this year! I'm sure you will too!
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I too work very hard to hold down this chair and desk. I'm now at my heaviest weight (160ish at about 5' tall
) just got back into MFP after a hiatus of sorts. So far so good. I just keep telling myself that I deserve the time and effort it takes to get "me" back. You deserve it Too! Very best of luck. You have a great attitude and that will help you more than anything! 3 -
sunnycloud82 wrote: »I hear ya on the desk job! I sit on my butt most everyday from 7:30am-5:00pm. It sucks! I lost a lot of weight before but gained a bunch back. It's hard starting over but I plan to kill it this year! I'm sure you will too!
2018 is our year! Let's kill it!4 -
gypsysoul0317 wrote: »I too work very hard to hold down this chair and desk. I'm now at my heaviest weight (160ish at about 5' tall ) just got back into MFP after a hiatus of sorts. So far so good. I just keep telling myself that I deserve the time and effort it takes to get "me" back. You deserve it Too! Very best of luck. You have a great attitude and that will help you more than anything!
You do deserve it! I'm a firm believer that I haven't peeked yet. I'm getting the impression you are on that same path to reaching your peek. Best of luck on your journey and kick some *kitten*!1 -
*update*
The scale said 299.6 this morning! Back in the 200's!!!19 -
3
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Desk jobs are the WORST, I work in insurance and I sit at a desk all day every day and finding time to walk away is so hard!!!! Therefore I need to change my diet up a bit. Best of luck to you and others!!!3
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I am at a desk job I hate so I know the feeling! I am also in school and will hopefully transition to full time and quit this job in a year or so but for now it pays the bills and as a single mom of 2 I need the money. You are def inspiring though! Keep it up!2
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paulerdmann1 wrote: »*update*
The scale said 299.6 this morning! Back in the 200's!!!
Thats a great start!1 -
Great positivity and attitude, good luck. Im in a similar situation, job change to less active role while still eating the same equaled bad news. Going in the right direction.1
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Wood work is better than a desk job for countless reasons but my favourite is explaining the scars from the workshop incidents.
Well done on your continued life improvement 0 -
ponyosquid wrote: »Wood work is better than a desk job for countless reasons but my favourite is explaining the scars from the workshop incidents.
Well done on your continued life improvement
The scars have good stories. Let's just hope I get to keep all my fingers.1 -
I went back and visited the office last week and they were shocked by my weight loss. That inspired me to push harder this week. I see myself every single day so I don't see the same results as the people who go months without seeing me.
55lbs gone now.7 -
Nicely done on the progress!!
I too am battling the desk job fluff. There was a definite freshman 15 (or 20) that I added on top of my not ideal weight anyway. I recently got a standing desk to add a little movement to my day, and now I just need to avoid the constant barrage of donuts and treats.1 -
I know the desk job struggle as well as losing and gaining it all back. Though I had only lost about 30 lbs at the time, I didn't have much to lose back then and then I gained it all back plus a bunch. Gained more when I got married, but I am down 46 lbs since July and I am back to my pre marriage weight but I have quite a bit more to go. I lost the 46 lbs and now I am sort of stuck. I know at this point I should be adding in extra exercise or cutting calories a bit more, both really, but I have stuck with this plan and I am struggling to make more changes.1
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I know the pain - my husband and I both went from retail jobs where we were constantly moving and being on our feet, to a desk job where we were stuck for 8 hours. Because of this change, we both packed on more weight than I care to admit. I am trying to do better - my water intake has went up significantly, I am more aware of the food I am shoveling into my face, and being less restricted at my current job I try to walk around when possible. Super proud of you making back into the 200s, and I have faith you will reach your goal! Just keep up the awesome work, my dude!!1
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The struggle is so real. I used to wait tables and bartend. Because I was on my feet all day, I never bothered with an exercise regimen. Now that I work in an office setting, sitting for 8+ hours has killed my back and slowly helped me pack on over 50 unwanted pounds. But what was done can be undone. It just takes a plan, consistency, and patience. Best of luck to you all!
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thanks for sharing all your stories. I'm confident we can reach our goals if we work together. Maybe we can start a friend group of desk jockey warriors?2
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We've taken it up a notch my friends. My brother-in-law challenged me to a 100 day weight loss competition. Even though we are 21 days into the competition, the day 1 video just dropped on YouTube.
Check it out!
https://youtu.be/Q2vBtdDjWYM 2 -
https://youtu.be/qMLQPiMaN94
Here's the newest one.2 -
paulerdmann1 wrote: »thanks for sharing all your stories. I'm confident we can reach our goals if we work together. Maybe we can start a friend group of desk jockey warriors?
Count me in! I can seem my butt widening with every passing day and donut!
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positivepowers wrote: »paulerdmann1 wrote: »thanks for sharing all your stories. I'm confident we can reach our goals if we work together. Maybe we can start a friend group of desk jockey warriors?
Count me in! I can seem my butt widening with every passing day and donut!
Ha ha ha. It's pretty epic to feel the widening.
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I too have a 'desk job' - very sedentary. Sigh - I find reasons to walk around though lol. Inspired by your stories all keep up the great work and to Paul - what awesome results!1
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Thanks for sharing your story Paul. You know what, for me it is all about exercise...although so much of my life I had no idea. Looking back on it, it should've beeen obvious. In high school I reached 200lbs, but dropped back to 160lbs when a friend introduced me to jogging. After college I went back to 200lbs again, but lost it in the Army, where we exercised a lot. And later in life I had gone up to 240lbs but got my interest back in community 5k runs, and dropped down to 200lbs (funny that my formerly 'top' weight, was now a low). I briefly then gained back to 220lbs, but got down to 168lbs after taking up cycling as a sport. Anyway, that's only a partial run down of my ups and downs on weight. Most weight loss was due to exercise, a few times due to depression. I guess I'm 'lucky' in that depression causes me to not eat, I know for some it triggers the opposite.
I digress, but on the subject of exercise, I believe so many of us humans are built to expend energy. If we don't, our bodies store fat. I'm 179lbs now gained some over the winter cycling break.
Without exercise I couldn't diet to lose weight. I understand some can do it, but its an amazing achievement that I cannot reach. For me, exercise must occur.
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btw folks, I work in an office too. And I agree about it being a back killer. I got sciatica last year.
I now carefully sit up straight. I don't need sciatica again, it was miserable! (for me, lasted 2 months)1 -
rdupuy1142 wrote: »btw folks, I work in an office too. And I agree about it being a back killer. I got sciatica last year.
I now carefully sit up straight. I don't need sciatica again, it was miserable! (for me, lasted 2 months)
My motto through this experience has been "move more, eat less" I'm down 76lbs and have tons of energy.
Also cycling is my favorite.0 -
https://youtu.be/JzJJoS9N0oM
here's the newest video0
https://youtu.be/vKQdQlAJ9Ds
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