How to stay in shape when you sit at a desk all day?

[bergmann620]

So, I used to work for Swenson's (a drive-up burger joint), and even though I ate there every day, I weighed 30 lbs less than I do now.

The difference? I sit at a desk for 10+ hours a day at work.

I got myself a gym membership and a Fitbit (average ~6,500 steps a day) and am trying to cut down on portion sizes and WoW, but it seems like I'm fighting a losing battle when I spend so much time riding the pine at work.

Anyone got any tips or examples of what they do to stay in shape in spite of sitting at a desk all day?

[Deleted]

Talking for myself, the college work required me to be in front of my PC almost all the day, if not working, just playing games or procastinating on Tumblr, so i started an alternate routine every morning:

-Wake up early.
-Stretch all muscles.
-Push-ups
-Weightlifting (in time I used some old BIG books, then I bought a pair of dumbbells)

And, of course, cutting down to the half the amount of and avoiding the most I could all unhealthy food.

[Saravat]

You can't sit for that long at a time without doing damage to yourself, regardless of the gym membership. Maybe you do get up and walk at work (congrats on the Fitbit!), but it's likely not enough. Consider getting a standing desk. If you're lucky enough to be in a workplace like mine, your job may pay for and install the desk for you.

Get up and MOVE - even if it's just walking a single flight of stairs - once an hour; do more if you get stuck in a meeting for 1.5 hours. If you can, take frequent 10-15-minute breaks and use them to take a BRISK walk.

I am going to guess that you may have to consider a more significant change in eating patterns than just exercising portion control. If you aren't active throughout the day, as you once were, you really do have to adjust your eating habits. The good news is that those eating changes (heavy on the fresh fruits and veggies; very light on the processed foods and sugar if you eat them at all; very light on the alcohol) are changes that will serve you well throughout the rest of your life. Go for it!

You CAN do it. I work in a state public health department, and unless we're traveling we're all at desk jobs all freaking day...and the vast majority of us are in good shape. It's because we walk like crazy, take the stairs, arrange for delivery of farm-fresh fruits and vegetables right to the office every week, decorated the stairwells with inspirational posters to help motivate us to use them, do things like set up office-wide walking challenges based on steps per day or total miles per week, and encourage one another to eat healthy.

Even if you're not in an office setting where there's much enthusiasm for health maintenance, you can likely find a core group of people where you work to share your concerns and interests...and that helps. Good luck!

[Reg]

Use your breaks at work to take a walk.

[Ettan]

Get a dog and let him walk you 10 clicks 4 times a day. Every day, for the rest of your life.
Then all this keeping in shape suddenly becomes a nonissue.

[bergmann620]

Get a dog and let him walk you 10 clicks 4 times a day. Every day, for the rest of your life.
Then all this keeping in shape suddenly becomes a nonissue.

I have a pack of dogs =)

We spend a fair bit of time walking them, but we're definitely not as consistent as we should be.

[zhero]

So, I used to work for Swenson's (a drive-up burger joint), and even though I ate there every day, I weighed 30 lbs less than I do now.

The difference? I sit at a desk for 10+ hours a day at work.

I got myself a gym membership and a Fitbit (average ~6,500 steps a day) and am trying to cut down on portion sizes and WoW, but it seems like I'm fighting a losing battle when I spend so much time riding the pine at work.

Anyone got any tips or examples of what they do to stay in shape in spite of sitting at a desk all day?

ask for a desk you stand at.

[Ahhdurr]

I had the same problem.

Walk/run everyday even if it's only 15-20minutes.
Lift weights.
Cut garbage out of your diet; chips, soda, fast food. Switch to healthier stuff; fruits, nuts, ect.

[Spectral]

Run when you get home, eat a bit less, watch the pounds fall off. I have a pure desk job, but I run ~50 miles/week. Takes an awful lot of food to keep gaining weight at that point.

[Spanky007]

Eat more fruits and vegetables and cut out fattening, greasy foods. Losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise.

[Revi]

Probably sit at a desk 10 hours a day as well, but I take 35-45 minutes out of every day to work out and I eat healthy, seems to do the trick

Really though, if your gaining weight just change your diet, it's all about what you eat and how much of it.

[Deleted]

For a sedentary desk job, a LCHF diet will keep you from gaining weight. It won't 'keep you in shape' which I equate to fitness and working out, but you will 100% lose weight.

Stay away from sugar, stay away from fruit and fruit juice, stay away from eating carbs. It's really that simple. Stick to eating fatty meats, cheese and a decent amount of greens. For example, my breakfast right now is some bacon, cheese and a sausage with a glass of unsweetened almond milk and a side of full fat mayo. You can't half arse this diet though or you will end up doing more harm than good. As soon as you throw carbs into the mix you will get very large very quickly and all sorts of problems could occur. Stick to it strictly and you will see and feel a lot of the health benefits cutting carbs out of your life does.

Throw in some exercise and you'll drop that gained weight in a couple of months. This is a lifestyle change, not a get thin quick diet (although it does do that but that's not the point).

[klaps_05]

what i did was go to a gym coach and tell him i have 1 hour every day for work out. he made me a sick high intensity workout and i use that, i work about 9-10 hours a day, 7am-5-6pm and usually handle it in the evening + an hour-ish swim every saturday.

with all that said, like my coach advised me, its all about your diet as you can use it as a valve on how much energy you have.

[brimdog]

dynamic tension exercises can be done while sitting at a desk and are simple enough to multi task while working.

[Deleted]

Use your breaks at work to take a walk.

I use almost every hour long lunch break I can to walk just over 3 miles which usually burns around 200 - 250 calories and that's equivalent to about half a sandwich worth of energy. I also walk another hour back home which burns the same amount of calories (instead of taking the bus). I know different jobs are different and in some work cultures you just work during lunch but imo if you can walk during lunch do that.

At first it was also hard to control my diet since work is so boring that you turn to food to make the day a bit more enjoyable but eventually if you hold out long enough and deny yourself "treats" you will divorce your positive emotions towards food and become objective about what you eat. Then you'll realise you're only meant to eat to survive and don't "need" to eat the 90% of food out there that is crap but only "want" to eat it :S (Take it from someone who is a vegetarian and managed to get fat off cakes etc. which led to becoming fat....)

A little tip - once you get past the first week or so of controlling your diet, it becomes considerably easier in my experience - your neurological reward pathways start to change and your stomach will get smaller over time - it's just the beginning that's hard.

I've been eating at a deficit whilst working an office job and I've lost 14 kgs (about 30 pounds) so far and nearly hit my target weight so its definitely possible. Now I'm also a lot more aware about macronutrients etc. and plan on switching to a much healthier long term diet once I reach my goal. Having said that, on the day I do I plan on having a massive pizza to celebrate

[Marthenil]

1 hour of working out (find something you like) per day and a healthy diet is all it takes really.

[Osmeric]

Eat more fruits and vegetables and cut out fattening, greasy foods. Losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise.

Cutting down starches and sugars can also be effective, when coupled with exercise. Carb calories are just as bad, if not worse, than fat calories.

Low-starch vegetables are an excellent thing to increase in your diet. I don't understand the kale craze, though.

I've been dieting like this and walking 10,000+ steps/day for the last month, and my weight is down 10 pounds. I sit at a desk all day.

[Deleted]

Talking for myself, the college work required me to be in front of my PC almost all the day, if not working, just playing games or procastinating on Tumblr, so i started an alternate routine every morning:

-Wake up early.
-Stretch all muscles.
-Push-ups
-Weightlifting (in time I used some old BIG books, then I bought a pair of dumbbells)

And, of course, cutting down to the half the amount of and avoiding the most I could all unhealthy food.

Well that's all probably helpful but I just have to point out a few things you got .. wrong. (sorry)

Ok first off.. you need 8-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It doesn't really matter when you wake up or when you go to bed so this one is pretty irrelevant unless you suggested it for building willpower or something.

Then you don't need lifting exercises at all.. just stretching and cardio to stay healthy. Get your heart bumping for 10 minutes a day and you're golden. Just lifting heavy stuff doesn't really help and can be skipped if you just want to be healthy.

And finally, you can eat all the unhealthy crap you want as long as you don't ingest more calories than your body needs (less if you need to lose weight) and get all the needed minerals, nutrients and vitamins.

[Senathor]

Stop looking for excuses, stop thinking about how tired you are and just exercise. People have an unfortunate tendency of initially overthinking exercising and as a result they stay reluctant. When it's time to exercise, turn of your mind, don't think about anything negative and just do it.

[bergmann620]

Well that's all probably helpful but I just have to point out a few things you got .. wrong. (sorry)

Ok first off.. you need 8-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It doesn't really matter when you wake up or when you go to bed so this one is pretty irrelevant unless you suggested it for building willpower or something.

You probably need that much. People differ.

Then you don't need lifting exercises at all.. just stretching and cardio to stay healthy. Get your heart bumping for 10 minutes a day and you're golden. Just lifting heavy stuff doesn't really help and can be skipped if you just want to be healthy.

Weight training is as key for overall fitness as cardio is. Further, stretching has been shown to actually be problematic.

And finally, you can eat all the unhealthy crap you want as long as you don't ingest more calories than your body needs (less if you need to lose weight) and get all the needed minerals, nutrients and vitamins.

Terrible advice. Unhealthy crap is unhealthy for a reason. High calorie density, low mineral/vitamin/nutrient density.

- - - Updated - - -

I use almost every hour long lunch break I can to walk just over 3 miles which usually burns around 200 - 250 calories and that's equivalent to about half a sandwich worth of energy. I also walk another hour back home which burns the same amount of calories (instead of taking the bus). I know different jobs are different and in some work cultures you just work during lunch but imo if you can walk during lunch do that.

Unfortunately, I tend to work through my breaks and lunch for the OT. I have been trying to walk more before and after work with the dogs.

At first it was also hard to control my diet since work is so boring that you turn to food to make the day a bit more enjoyable but eventually if you hold out long enough and deny yourself "treats" you will divorce your positive emotions towards food and become objective about what you eat. Then you'll realise you're only meant to eat to survive and don't "need" to eat the 90% of food out there that is crap but only "want" to eat it :S (Take it from someone who is a vegetarian and managed to get fat off cakes etc. which led to becoming fat....)

The other thing I struggle with is some low-level narcolepsy. Even fully rested, I will fall asleep at my desk (At work, or at home gaming) or driving or anything else if my mind isn't 100% engaged. SO, I eat throughout the day to stay awake. I have shifted to sunflower seeds to help limit calories, but it still sucks.

A little tip - once you get past the first week or so of controlling your diet, it becomes considerably easier in my experience - your neurological reward pathways start to change and your stomach will get smaller over time - it's just the beginning that's hard.

I've been eating at a deficit whilst working an office job and I've lost 14 kgs (about 30 pounds) so far and nearly hit my target weight so its definitely possible. Now I'm also a lot more aware about macronutrients etc. and plan on switching to a much healthier long term diet once I reach my goal. Having said that, on the day I do I plan on having a massive pizza to celebrate

Luckily, I had a stomach acid issue for a while that really limited my portion sizes, and that has definitely helped me start eating more under control.