Work From Homers Unite

I’ve worked from home for 25 years. Not sure what we need to “unite” against, these types of thread titles always puzzle me, showing I’m probably too old fashioned or something

I have both gained and lost (150) weight while working at home.

I find that I need to be very conscious and deliberate about exercise, or it’s easy to just sit at my computer all day and work. We don’t have time eaters like commute time, water cooler chats, breaks, meetings, etc. that people working elsewhere often have. So I don’t feel bad about taking time for a couple of walks, workout, etc. It makes up some of the activity you don’t naturally get, like walking from your car to the office, etc.

I work from home and have had the opposite experience, but it's new for me so maybe that will change with time.

I find that I can now control my diet and eating much better since there isn't a vending machine or cafeteria nearby. Meal planning is easier and I can eat at scheduled intervals.

It's interesting how we all have different experiences.

@chrissearls82 perhaps it's due to the stress of 60 hour work weeks?

I've worked from home for over 15 years too. Was fat then, and I'm less fat now. Having free access to the kitchen can sue be challenge, so are long work hours when I have them (when I'm working on an urgent project it can be as bad as 20 hour days).

I have mostly managed to control my food by creating routines and my own food rules (if I want something I tend to overeat, I have to make the trip to the shop and buy a single serving, for example). I still don't know how to stop myself from going IDGAF when I take those overtime jobs, but it's fine. Occasionally being off plan is not horrible as long as I'm consistent all other times.

ETA:Plus side, I get to take a vacation whenever I want. This is my current view as I'm typing this

I've worked from home for two years. I find that it has helped immensely to change my habits and lifestyle. I'm not a morning person so when I was working outside of the home, I would wake up in the morning with just enough time to get ready and leave. I'd try to take short walks at lunch, but I live in a city where it rains often so that wasn't always possible in my work clothes; I always had stuff to keep me busy too. By the time I got home, I'd be exhausted from a stressful day, from being around people all day and workplace dynamics that just grate on you, and from the long commute. So I'd eat all my feelings and lay around for the night watching TV.

Now that I work from home, my mornings are much more leisurely. I make coffee and go for a walk in the neighborhood. Without the commute, I have so much more control about what I eat...I have time to make a healthy dinner the night before and have leftovers for lunch or I set the instant pot up early in the day so I have lunch or dinner ready when I need it. I take short walks throught the day or if I have a call for an hour, I go outside and walk. Even if it's drizzling out, it's manageable. On really bad weather days, I take time away from my desk to do short workout videos or I make a plan to work until a certain time and go walk at a mall or indoor track.

The first year I started working from home was stressful and I would eat whenever I was stressed, but when I made the decision to start losing weight, I changed what I had on hand at home to snack on and started weighing everything and planning meals and snacks in advance. It's definitely a learning curve. I've really appreciated the extra time it gives me to do what I need to do to take care of myself and that has actually made me more productive and efficient at work without feeling like if I didn't look busy all the time or wasn't chained to my desk, I'd be judged for "not working." Most days I get in 9-12K steps. On really busy days, that could easily be 5-6K. When I worked in an office, I was lucky if I got 4K for the whole day regardless of how busy I was.