Can a job be too strenuous and inhibit weight loss goals/cause weight retention?

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justinejacksonm
justinejacksonm Posts: 75 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so this is the THIRD time I am attempting to create this post...they keep disappearing.

I started working at an Amazon fullfillment centre in October, psyched that the physical work will actually BOOST my weight loss efforts and have since gained about 15-20 lbs. That is not to say there hasn't been any slacking off or badness on account of holidays, travel, or lack of exercise. But it's definitely a thing and that is why I am here, hopefully for some feedback.

I work 10 hours 4 days a week and it-is-tough. Some days are easier than others but at Christmas mandatory overtime had me working from 7:30am-7pm 4 days a week. It isn't unusual to have stretches or time in my day when my Fitbit says I am in a heart rate zone of 95-115 while I am schlepping (or trying to) ridiculously big boxes in and out of my PIT (powered industrial truck) and into or out of really small bin spaces. Oftentimes the stress and pace kick into high gear if I have to pick and unbox say 30 items, break down the boxes, and do it fast cause there is someone behind me waiting to get by or work in that same spot.

We are monitored like germs under a microscope every minute of our day. There is always someone standing around watching us, waiting to catch people slip up and make a mistake so they can scan our badges and yell at us. If you make more than 2 mistakes per 1500 units, each one is flagged in the system and the manager gets a report and they will retrain you. There is little organization or communication so while we are being timed and tracked for time off task between scans, it is not unlikely that you are trying to stow items and have nowhere to go with them. Either you can't find available space or where you THINK it would go won't accept it, so you have to drive back to have someone look it up. Again, it's all pressure, all day, cause the system does not tell us where to stow items but it WILL tell us it won't go somewhere and then tell the manager every time we tried scanning to the wrong location or bins that have reached their maximum ASIN limit.

Diversion there, sorry, but it may not be clear what the nature of the work is or what kind of stress.

In short, I stand all day and do very physical work. I have bruises all over my legs on a weekly basis trying to handle boxes bigger than me, up to 50lbs. and move them in and out of really small, awkward spaces. On New Year's Eve I realized I was in trouble when I looked in the mirror at a party and saw *just* how much weight I had put on. I started fresh with a dedicated workout plan and eating right. Very right, Tracking EVERYTHING until about Valentine's Day when we went away on a trip. I kinda maintained some discipline but have fallen off track and gained back the 2 or so pounds it took almost 2 months to take off, plus some, I'm sure.

Here's the thing and what I am really here to ask. When I get done work, I am EXHAUSTED. My feet are killing me, my back is tight and sore, my legs ache from my ankles to my hips and now even when I try to force myself into working out when I get home at 7pm, I can barely muscle through. My muscles are so tight and weak from working all day I lack the flexibility and strength I used to have. I am absolutely fatigued and my body feels beat the hell up.

It seems, in theory, I would be getting in better shape doing this kind of work and I am wondering if it is possible that (like over training) it is just TOO MUCH hard work and it is putting a strain on my body. Could it so and if so, could that be causing my body to retain weight/water? Could the stress be a culprit maybe a combination of the above?

Is it too much on my body to push myself to force myself even when I am dead tired at night to work out, too, on top of my long day? My Fitbit and MFP are linked and it rarely shows an increased calorie need during my day although my body says the complete obvious. I try to listen to what they are telling my I need, calorie wise, but I am starving. By 9:30am I've burned off my breakfast and can't wait to eat. Headachey, etc. By lunch I am ravenous, I eat a small snack at 3:45 and by the time I leave I am starving for dinner and often jump right into working out THEN eating and showering and bed finally, by 10:30-11pm.

I do not just eat anything despite my hunger. I pack nutritious and portioned foods. I COULD eat more but I don't.

Could my job be killing my health and overworking my body??
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Replies

  • justinejacksonm
    justinejacksonm Posts: 75 Member
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    It should be noted that I used to be a night owl and get mad that my BF wants to go to bed so early. Most days I am dead to the world, now, and am ready to pass out if I am laying on the floor doing bridges or back bows or stretching. For me to be that tired, it's crazy.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
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    I think to some degree, stress can impede our progress, but ultimately CICO will prevail. Therefore, my first question is more about you:

    What is your current weight?
    What is your goal weight?
    What weight loss rate (lbs per week) do you have set with MFP?
    How are you tracking your calorie intake (are you using a kitchen scale whenever possible to measure portions)?
    Are you using accurate entries from the database?
    What is your activity profile set to (I'm guessing active because of your job which explains why your steps aren't seemingly syncing with your activity).

    For now, let's figure out your calorie issues, then we can figure out exercise. Ultimately, calories management will hep the weight come off. Then you can figure out exercise.

    Take a breath. We'll figure it out.
  • kam3190
    kam3190 Posts: 157 Member
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    No. My job is very physical and it affords me ALOT of calories to eat. I eat 2500 and lose a lb a week. I do know that when I first started the job i put on about 10 lbs because I could easily eat more without realizing it if I wasn't logging. Logging had kept me on track and I can eat a sizeable amount of food to lose weight. I could NOT work the job I do and eat 1200 or 1500 calories a day.
    Also you can't use any emojis on your phone or it will automatically delete everything you type before the emoji. (that might be what happened )
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,970 Member
    edited April 2018
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    Too much stress for too long can most definitely affect your body, your defenses, your hormones, and a variety of other things. A number of years ago (when I first put on most of the weight I'm now working to lose), I went through adrenal exhaustion. It's not fun, and yes, it can mess with your body, but mentally you will probably be breaking down as well. This is something your doctor would diagnose, however, as it's not as common as some would like to think/wish.

    Everyone processes stress differently, so I can't say if your job is putting you into that kind of position or if you're just tired and worn out. Your doctor can diagnose more serious issues (such as I experienced). Oh, and to be fair, I did NOT try to restrict my eating anywhere near what I should have been.

    If that's not the case, and it's just extra stress, then there are a few things you can do. Tighten up your logging, and take a look at your macros. You may need to play around with them a bit to see what your body needs. Are you giving your body the proper fuel to get through your days? Are you eating enough fats, proteins, carbs to fuel your workdays? How are you adjusting your meals the other 3 days of the week? You don't mention those days at all, and they could be having a MAJOR impact on your weight.

    Exercise is great and all, but if you're that tired after a day at work, then save the workouts for your days off. Adjust your calories accordingly. Weight loss has a heck of a lot more to do with what we put in our mouths than it does with our activity level. Were you in an active job before this? Is your body still adjusting to the new workload/activity level? These are also things to consider.
  • justinejacksonm
    justinejacksonm Posts: 75 Member
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    and I had met with a dietician to go over my goals and needs and as far as *what* I am eating, she really didn't have much else to suggest cause I do pretty good on my own, just maybe eat a bigger snack before I leave work and eat a little after my workout/before bed, to not eat dinner so late.
  • justinejacksonm
    justinejacksonm Posts: 75 Member
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    I was not working til Oct, from April-Oct cause I broke my foot JUST as I started to try to get back into shape. I did pretty well, walking on crutches proved a great workout and despite my inactivity I was starting to look very svelt just by doing upper body cardio stuff from bed every day and crutching around. Before that I worked at a desk job in customer service. I was inactive mostly but had the time to wake up with my BF (as I have to do now to get ready for work) and go for a jog or do a quick workout and shower BEFORE work and maybe do another after work at 6ish. I just don't have that time anymore. I just feel like my body is worn out. And I admit ,like I said, I was already getting in bad shape and on top of that before I could undo it we had a trip to San Diego in November and lunged right into those long long brutal days during peak season at work, NO workouts, a couple drinks after work to destress, than the holidays, my bday in January which is when I officially started over again an was doing good. I went to Atlanta in mid February and that threw me off a lil but when i got back and weighed myself, I was still a little lighter than when I started in January.
  • justinejacksonm
    justinejacksonm Posts: 75 Member
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    most days I'll actually finish about 200-300 under my budget, at least according to Fitbit.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    justinejacksonm wrote: »
    most days I'll actually finish about 200-300 under my budget, at least according to Fitbit.

    For your type of work, Fitbit could be off decently.

    If HR model, and your HR goes up high enough, it'll start using HR-based calorie burn.
    Which won't be accurate for slightly more active daily movement. So you could have hours if decently inflated calorie burn.

    If HR model and it's correctly using the step-based calorie burn, your stride length could be wrong and it has you walking much more than you really do. So again inflated calorie burn for hours could be a decent amount.

    Have you ever gone and walked a known 1 mile at your average daily pace (not exercise pace, not grocery store shuffle, in between) and confirmed Fitbit had the distance correct?

    With so much feet time, this is important stat for you if you want to use that tool well.

    And if it's slipping into HR-based calorie burn formula - it may be best to turn that off during the work day, leave it for sleep and workouts.
    Which actually - your interval style workouts are still incorrect usage, but it doesn't sound like that much time weekly.

    And it appears half the responses to you forget that increased water weight does NOT mean increased calories.

    Some of your increased water weight at start of job could have been just increased blood volume to deal with getting oxygen to the muscles better for use, and mainly for cooling - unless your workouts were already at the same level. In which case, no.

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