Does your job make weight loss difficult?

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  • peasantgirly
    peasantgirly Posts: 173 Member
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    I'm on the road probably 3 out of 5 days checking foreclosure houses. I stop at convenience stores all the time, so I totally feel your pain. Sometimes I get lucky and they have a low cal healthy snack I can grab, but sometimes it seems like it is all just junk. It's not easy.

    Also, sitting in the car trying to cram as many properties into a day as you can makes it hard in general - it's nearly always fast food. I have just learned to balance the fast food and make good choices when I do have to stop. Or sometimes I eat breakfast at home and then skip lunch and eat a good dinner.

    Also, I do work from home some days, and that is crazy hard, too. I actually eat more when I'm home I think!

    I also used to do foreclosure inspections and this current job is similar in that I am also trying to get in as many stores as I can. 12-18 hour days sometimes and if I forget my lunch (how many times have I done THAT?!). And also, working from home the other days of the week can be tricky. I've had to completely clear out all bad food from the kitchen (don't look at today's diary, apparently I missed a box of brownies on a top shelf, lol).
  • LunaMischief
    LunaMischief Posts: 166 Member
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    Desk job, with very minimal need to get up/move, with a cafeteria and little convenience store in the building and right downstairs. So it's very easy to go grab a candy bar or chips when I get the 10am munchies. I've had to start bringing in little containers of carrots or a banana with my lunch as a just in case!
  • peasantgirly
    peasantgirly Posts: 173 Member
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    You do have quite the challenge! I find challenges with my job, though slightly different. I'm a middle school band director who is also highly involved with the high school band program. This being said, the first 4-5 months of school are the greatest challenge for me. My water intake goes down because I don't have regular access to a restroom, work hours are crazy due to extra after school rehearsals which means it's easier to swing by and pick up dinner from somewhere rather than make it. And don't even get me started on the delicious Friday night football game foods. That's my personal struggle. Best of luck with yours!

    You need one of those huge water carriers that hikers use, I think it's called a camelbak. Yep, here it is:
    http://www.rei.com/product/811578/camelbak-lobo-hydration-pack-100-fl-oz
    Can you see yourself walking around school wearing one of those? :happy:

    It's not the drinking part that I struggle with, it's getting rid of it, if you know what I mean! Only 2-3 minutes between classes and the bathroom is clear down the hall. :wink:

    You're the teacher! What are they gonna do if you're late? Give you detention?? :wink:
  • Shadom
    Shadom Posts: 24 Member
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    Yes it does! The hours are awful! I get up at 5 a.m. Leave home by 06.30 to beat the traffic. I'm supposed to start work at 8 am. and finish by 4pm but never get out till maybe 5.30 or 6 pm. By the time I reach home it's dark outside and I am unable to go out to exercise. It's difficult but I don't think that it's impossible. I think that I shall have to become very creative. I am thinking of ways to do this. I am also a homemaker.
  • peasantgirly
    peasantgirly Posts: 173 Member
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    Convenience store food is so gross for the most part. Just think of all the grubby hands that get near those things and it should kill your appetite pretty quickly. Also, at places where they have grill items, I have to wonder how often they wash the tongs (and how often they get dropped on the floor).

    Haha, I'm not hungry anymore :laugh:
  • abbyaxiom
    abbyaxiom Posts: 33
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    I worked as a server, expo, and bartender at Unos Chicago Bar and Grill (formerly Pizzeria Unos).....so yeah I know exactly how it is. Even with the nutrition kiosk in the restaurant reminding me one deep dish mac-n-cheese plate has 2000 calories....working 8 to 12 hours a day and getting half priced food made it hard! I had to tweak our dishes (which managers and kitchen staff hate doing) just to stay within a decent calorie range....
  • Megabot
    Megabot Posts: 173 Member
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    Yep - my regular work day is a 10 hour day. All just sitting. When we're on crunch mode, work is 12+ hours a day. When it's in crunch mode, it's either working one or two weekend days also. During OT, they buy us dinner. When it's really stressfully close to a deadline, they bring in lunch AND dinner. So completely sedentary life, free food (usually cheap carbs), and a lot of stress all the time? (the longest I ever worked was 53 days in a row, 14 hr days...that was pretty rough.)

    So I joined the gym *next door* to my work, and i try to go every day at lunch, now, regardless of if they bring food in or not. It takes a huge amount of restraint and fortitude to both avoid free food AND go to the gym all the time.

    But it CAN be done!!
  • DollyMiel
    DollyMiel Posts: 377 Member
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    I work at one of our zoo's food stands, so I'm always tempted by discounted (usually super-expensive amusement park priced) food. Not to mention standing at a register, next to a soda machine, constantly....

    And churros. So many delicious, beautiful churros.
  • chaverland77
    chaverland77 Posts: 22 Member
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    OMG YES! From the time I get there to the time I leave usually minimal 9 hour shift sometimes 11 1/2, Im so busy that about 3 o'clock I realize I havent eaten and become a total B**tch. Im so hungry! My weight doctor got onto me because she wants me to eat 3 meals and 3 snacks. Last month I only lost 1 pound, she asked what I thought the problem was.....I told her I'm starving at work. I work customer service face to face and I don't have a problem eating in front of my customers but I'm still trying to maintain a professional appearence. I've addressed it with my boss numerous times and well.......I'm still starving at work!
  • kristinamc03
    kristinamc03 Posts: 7 Member
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    I cannot get up early to save my life. So exercising before work is out. I usually eat a decent breakfast and drink plenty of water through out the day. Lunch is iffy. By the time I get home from teaching I just want to pick up fast food for dinner. Then I have correcting or planning and I just want to sit in front of the TV and not exercise. Part of the problem is that my job comes before me and my needs. I know that I just need to reserve an hour to exercise at night and stick to it.
  • brandee1212
    brandee1212 Posts: 20 Member
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    I work at a place that offers unlimited candy, beer, and soda. On Wednesdays, they buy us pizza. On Fridays, they buy us breakfast tacos. Once a month, we celebrate birthdays with some delicious dessert and there is always some sort of goody that someone has brought in to share in one of the common kitchens. It's also a sedentary workspace, so it definitely makes gaining weight a lot easier!
  • saragato
    saragato Posts: 1,154
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    I had a similar challenge when I worked at a coffee shop 2 years ago. We baked the pastries (though they came to us frozen) and if any were ugly or got broken or whatever that made them unsuitable to sell by company standards, they were either broken up for free samples or the employees got to eat them. It also didn't help that when you worked the register you had to not only handle the pastries (thus ending up smelling them and their tempting yumminess) but you had to verbally sell them to the customer. "Would you like to try our delicious, buttery scones today? How about a warm, gooey muffin or flaky turnover?" Plus we had the perk of getting one free drink a day and everyone usually chose the super-sweet frozen coffees because you got overheated working around the oven and the coffee makers.
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    I work at McDonalds and right now, my schedule is all over the place. 6AM to 2PM some days and 10PM to 6AM others and 11AM-7PM most of the time. 11-7 isn't too bad because I can get up early to workout but it is so hot now that if I can't get in a run before 8 AM, I can't handle the heat.

    Plus, you know, the food. Especially smelling breakfast foods........UGH
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
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    I'm in healthcare. I'm on my feet all day long. We do not get lunch breaks. Makes it very hard to eat healthy and snack every two hours.
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
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    I work at a blood bank as a mobile phlebotomist. My hours are different every single day, which of course makes a routine impossible. Some days, we'll work 6 hours, some days we work 14 hours. It all depends on where the blood drives take us. Now that I've worked there a year, I can keep track of which places have facilities for us to eat in or use microwaves, or have a good place for us to store a cold lunch. It has been quite a challenge! I had lost almost 30 pounds before I started at this job, and since then, I gained 8 back. I'm getting back on track now, but it's hard after a 12 hour day not to crave something cheap, fast and easy, which doesn't usually translate into healthy!

    I'm a phlebotomist for Red Cross, my hours are exactly the same. Crazy isn't it??
  • RockyMtnJhawk
    RockyMtnJhawk Posts: 42
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    YES! I am a huge stress and emotional eater & my job and work environment are really stressful.

    When I'm successful it's because I've planned ahead with bringing my lunch and snacks to work and I do a ton of positive self talk. It's hard, really hard...
  • mimieob
    mimieob Posts: 54
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    I work in a grocery store deli....fried chicken, mac n cheese....potato wedges....deli meats and cheeses....yes my job makes it hard...but I try really hard...I eat at Larry's Giant Subs everyday I work....instead of the fried stuff I REALLY want....yummy
  • kgalea
    kgalea Posts: 156 Member
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    I cannot get up early to save my life. So exercising before work is out. I usually eat a decent breakfast and drink plenty of water through out the day. Lunch is iffy. By the time I get home from teaching I just want to pick up fast food for dinner. Then I have correcting or planning and I just want to sit in front of the TV and not exercise. Part of the problem is that my job comes before me and my needs. I know that I just need to reserve an hour to exercise at night and stick to it.

    I can totally relate to this!!! I used to be able to get up before work to exercise... Now that I have kids and work 30 miles from home it is sooooo rough getting up at 4:30 to hit the gym, knowing I have to be home by 6am so I can leave by 7am with two kids ready for school. Teaching becomes so time consuming if you are doing it well... :)
  • bethygirlie
    bethygirlie Posts: 311 Member
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    I am a PCT in a hospital and I work night shift. It's annoying sometimes because every day someone brings in cookies, candy, junk food and I'm like "really, we're having a party every day?" but yeah I just avoid it like the plague. I keep telling myself I'm allergic to that stuff. -_- lol
  • KateHill1981
    KateHill1981 Posts: 43 Member
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    I have two jobs. My first job is in the cafeteria of a school and my second job is delivering pizzas! I am constantly surrounded by foods that I love. I try to pack healthy foods and bring them with me but sometimes my willpower is weak.

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