Standing While Working… A Yoga Ball for an Office Chair… What Really Works?

There is no lack of advice on all the ways that you can lose weight by modifying the way you work. Unfortunately, many of these tips and tricks, such as sitting on an exercise ball instead of an office chair or standing while working do not address the most dangerous part of our daily work and home habits – the sedentary lifestyle. While many of these tips can add to a healthy new lifestyle, some can harm us. So, before you subscribe to the latest fad in workplace weight loss, consider a few ideas:

• Don’t skip breakfast. While you may think that skipping a meal may give you the liberty to add a few calories for lunch, it doesn’t work that way. Extreme hunger makes you overeat later and puts your body into starvation mode, triggering extra fat accumulation.
• Pack your lunch…and make it healthy. One of the biggest culprits of a stressful and hectic workday is running out to grab a high-fat, high-calorie sandwich or meal. Avoid this by packing a healthful, protein-packed lunch and lots of water (drink only 45 minutes before or after a meal). If you’re now working from home, pre-prepare your lunch and try not to graze during work hours.
• Park a little further away. If you work for a large company and are heading back to the office, you already know how big those parking lots can be. Parking further away gives you a little extra exercise each workday and you may even get the shady spot in the back corner! Or use the walk as the few minutes you need to start your day with positive thoughts, a quick meditation or setting your goals and intentions for once you walk through those doors. You can do the same at the grocery store or anywhere else you need to go!
• Take a walk on your lunch break. Even if you only have 15 minutes, take the time to walk around the block and get some fresh air. This is great for stress, productivity and weight loss.
• Run quick errands by foot. You may be taking a car for trips as short as a quarter or half mile. In the time you get the car started, wait for traffic, and park on either end, you might have been able to walk there…and burn some calories.

And here’s a final thought that may make your coworkers healthier and your boss happier: work with human resources to create a companywide health program that may include time off to go to the gym, incentives to eat healthier, competitions in exercise or weight loss and more. Not only will your coworkers be more productive as they get healthier but tackling these “daunting” goals together create a feeling of teamwork and bonding. Never has this been more important than during our current health crisis, where many have gained a significant amount of weight from being at home and unable to perform the activities they once did.

The bottom line is that we need to get back to basics. Our parents’ and grandparents’ jobs were, by and large, far more active. The dawn of computerization has certainly made us more productive in some respects, but it is at the expense of our health. The pandemic hasn’t helped. You, as a bariatric surgery patient that has researched the ins and out of weight loss, can be a catalyst for change, even for those who have not undergone a weight loss surgery procedure. In helping others take control of their health, you will invariably create a wonderful sense of achievement for yourself and make it easier to stick to your own plan and achieve the goals you have set for yourself.