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973741 tn?1342342773

Weight Loss and Exercise for those who work in an Office

Stuck behind a desk all day at the office?  What can someone in that position do to exercise during the day, maintain weight loss, etc?  they can have pretty tempting food in that break room and coffee and donuts does not equal a sleek physique.  How should people in this inflexible situation manage their day for some exercise and eating well?  
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Avatar universal
I do not do exercises in the office, but I always try to walk to work and back, I do not use public transport
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1 Comments
Good for you!  All counts.  I try to remember that if I can't pack in a large amount of exercise, small amounts add up over the coarse of the day!  
Avatar universal
I practice eating less by skipping breakfast so from 6pm to 12 noon i dont eat. I sometimes achieve it. Its really helpful because i have patm. I drink alot of water. Bottles. Its all in the mind . i have to stay busy. I dont exercise because i have long walks to do arrends.  Plus i daily mop the whole house or rake outside a bit.  I feel great with such diet. I pray to god to help me achieve it more often.  
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3 Comments
There is much evidence out there that the one meal we shouldn't skip is breakfast.  I say this as someone who skipped breakfast a lot in my life, in the sense of sitting down and enjoying a large meal, but I usually did eat something, even if it was just some fruit.
same here!  6pm to 12 noon - that's my fasting window.  That's 18 hours.  Sometimes I do 16 hours.  I try to do 30 minute brisk walk during fast hours.  I need to lose weight to do IVF.  If I can't have NHS then we'll self-fund.
How are things going Edwardssarah??  
20879826 tn?1560494038
I sit on the desk most of the day too!  Thanks for all these tips.  I think it is important to keep a tight schedule - choose a time for workouts and stick with it.  In may case, 30 minutes first thing in the morning is best.  It's just in the treadmill.  Then I do intermittent fasting.  I slacked down during the holidays and having a hard time getting back into the routine.  But will eventually do!  What I did was have fasting 5pm to 9am, but recently, I tried fasting 6pm to 12 noon so basically skipping breakfast.  Not too successful in keeping the sked - especially if usual sked gets broken by unexpected events, and the sugar spikes haven't resolved themselves yet, but slowly getting the groove back!
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1 Comments
Again, I know there's a million ideas about weight floating around out there, but can't think of anyone who recommends skipping breakfast especially if you're exercising in the morning.  I realize the term intermittent fasting seems to have gotten to be a much larger category of lifestyle, but what it originally meant was to not eat for an entire day once a month or twice a month.  Whether that's a healthy idea or not is something I don't know but just prolonging the time between eating without changing the amount one eats just compresses the time period in which you eat.  Don't see how that does anything but cause bloating and possibly lead to reflux.  What you eat and how much energy you burn is still going to be the key, because no matter what you do your body is going to get used to it and that will be your new normal.  Please, everyone do what works for you, but just saying, fasting isn't just spacing out meals.  It's not eating.
Avatar universal
Its all about time management and taking good care of your health. Work out is really important to keep the body in good shape. You mind will work properly if you body respond as quickly and efficiently. Mind and body are connected and work as peer to peers. So Digest the fact the you need to take the tome and workout at least twice or thrice a week otherwise be ready to bear dire consequences. And you also need to control you appetite for tempting food and you can for sure if you want good health.    
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Avatar universal
Being desk-bound at your 9-to-5 (ugh, more like 9-to-7) can set up a series of weight-loss hurdles. Your typing fingers are the only part of your body actually getting a workout and mindless snacking at your desk under the glow of fluorescent lights isn’t exactly helping to whittle your waistline.
1. Prioritize 30 Minutes of Exercise
Give your daily schedule a good look and try to find 30 minutes to work out five days a week.

2. Turn the Stairwell into Your Gym
When you get to work, take the stairs instead of the elevator,30 minutes of exercise a day by spending 10 minutes walking up and down the stairwell three times a day (or just 30-minutes straight.

3. BYO Vending Machine
Turning a desk drawer into your healthy eating paradise can keep you out of the chips and cookies in the office vending machine, saving you tons of calories. Like dried fruit, nuts, non-buttery popcorn, and tea.

4.  Drink 91 Ounces of Water per Day
active women should be drinking at least 2.7 liters, or 91 ounces, every freaking day. While you should be doing this on the weekends too.throughout the workday can fight off fatigue, prevent dehydration headaches, and (hopefully) keep you from snacking when you're not hungry.

5.Chase Your Snacks with Protein
When you feel a snack attack coming on that's because the muscle-building protein takes longer to digest than carbs and sugar. So you won't feel the blood sugar spike and crash that follows. Nut butter, nuts, seeds, beef jerky, or even a hard-boiled egg will do the trick.

6. Bring Your Lunch
While taking a break from your desk is a great way to kick stress and bank more steps, that fast-casual burrito will likely clock in above 1,000 calories and make you feel sluggish in the afternoon.
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2 Comments
If you're only doing 30 minutes of exercise a day, that protein isn't going to build any muscle.  Eating excess protein can be dangerous and isn't recommended by nutritionists.  It is only recommended by those selling fad diets like paleo or Atkins but not by anyone who considers long-term health, as studies show low protein diets are the ones consumed by people being studied long-term for health purposes.  Now, if you're going to the gym for a couple hours or more every day and doing heavy resistance training, or you're a serious athlete doing serious training, then yes, adding protein is essential to adding more muscle, but that isn't because the muscle or the protein is good for you, it's because it helps you achieve what you want, which is performance.  That isn't health.  But if that's what you're after, again, 30 minutes a day won't give that to you, it's not enough.  Frankly. it's not near enough to even balance out all that time sitting at your desk.  The only way to do that is to not sit at that desk but walk around at work all day and do your thinking on your feet or while moving and then sit down when you're ready to put thought to paper.  I'm not say anyone is going to do that at work, only that it's a way to balance out things.  Another way is to bike or walk everywhere you go.  The stairs is a good suggestion, as long as knees and ankles and hips aren't an issue.  It's also likely the amount of water anyone needs is dependent on how much they're losing during the day.  If you sit at a desk all day you need less than an outdoor worker in the summer heat.  It's not the same amount for everyone, and also, there are other ways to get liquid than drinking water, such as eating an apple, etc.  But that's a smaller point.  Carbs are not the enemy, folks.  Veggies are carbs.  Fruits are carbs.  Legumes are a combination of protein and carbs.  So are nuts and seeds.  Whole grains are mostly carbs.  All are listed on everyone's list of what you should eat.  Red meat is great protein, and on everyone's list of what not to eat if health is what you're after.  (Life is much more than just the pursuit of health).  Peace, all.
Hey fitnesstip, I am just now seeing this for some reason.  I want to really thank you for posting that information.  Fresh ideas, good advice.  I appreciate it.
Avatar universal
Hey, Best Ways to Lose Weight at Work :
Eat a big breakfast.
Snack away.
Avoid dinner at the office.
Travel with nonperishable foods
Keep your hands busy.
Drink a glass of tomato juice
Start your  meeting with protein and fiber.
Drink before you dine.
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Drinking before you dine?  Depends.  Alcohol causes a host of diseases to have higher rates of probability to occur if you over do it, and you're basically saying drink every work day -- and of course people are also going to drink on the weekends, so nice gateway to alcoholism.  Again, tomato juice has nothing to do with weight loss.  It's high in both acidity and sugar, and many nutritionists will tell you tomatoes promote inflammation so go easy on them.  Snacking away if you're just sitting there doing nothing physical seems a good way to gain weight.  I wonder, Kristy, it's great to have new blood contributing, but do you have special education or qualifications so we know where your info is coming from?  Just to note why, besides the things I've written in response to some of your suggestions that seem contrary to the advice professionals and studies are showing, maybe you have a special expertise.  It would be nice to know that.  For example, why avoid dinner at the office?  If it's a healthful balanced meal then it really doesn't matter where you eat it, right?  It's not where you eat, it's what.  Again, I'm just wondering, because although your advice seems at odds with what we're being told, maybe you're right.  Fill us in.  And also, you might want to make some new posts, as mostly you're commenting on old posts most won't see.  But do keep contributing, we desperately need some new blood.  Peace.
Avatar universal
I think this feeds right in to the last post you started -- if you live that sedentary life, then as soon as the work day ends, get out and move.  Those folks have to exercise formally.  When I had a desk job, as soon as my day was over I went out and ran.  On the weekends, I played basketball.  Now I was a young lawyer in those days and so the work day and work week never really ended, so I took breaks, did my exercise, meditated, ate, and often had to get right back to working, but in that situation, being an active type of person, I just had to get out and move.  Otherwise my mind turned to mush.  It's how I got through graduate school and law school, where you sit in a library and study for hours on end.  But when the mind did all it could do, it was time to move.  Come on people, isn't anyone else out there?  Mom is working hard to help us all here, there has to somebody else here -- this used to be an active forum!
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