Are you wondering why the scale just wouldn’t budge even if you never missed a single workout session at the gym? As you stab at your salad, you wonder how much more food you need to cut out to score that dream body of yours. Before you punish yourself with more grueling sessions at the gym, you need to evaluate if your job is sabotaging your best efforts to be lean. Below are the top 3 ways your job is making you fat.
Deskbound
Do you have a deskbound job that requires long continuous hours of sitting and being sedentary? Most jobs these days require us sitting at our desk for long hours, and that can contribute to our expanding waistlines. So, the remedy is to make a conscious effort to stretch and walk about a little. Remind yourself to take toilet breaks, water breaks, and a small catch up with colleagues. Also, you can park your car slightly further from the office and use the stairs more frequently. These little habits go a long way to help keep the fat away.
Snack attack
It seems like the office sets us up to fail because we are constantly surrounded by unhealthy, sweet, and delicious treats. Many well-meaning colleagues bring home-baked cakes or cookies to share. Not to mention there are also free snacks available in the pantry. Unfortunately, most of these freebies are usually sweet and provide a lot of empty calories. You will not feel full until you pack a dozen of sweet treats Protein-based food such as eggs can feel you up better than half a dozen of sugar-glazed donuts. So, set a limit of sweet treats you can have in a day and avoid other treats if you run over your quota. Your colleague will understand if you skip one or two rounds of her freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
You are my sunshine
If your work area doesn’t have any windows and you arrive at work before the sun comes up, then you could miss out on a natural, powerful fat burning effect from the sun. A 2014 Northwestern University study found that exposure to the sun was associated with BMI. The study showed that bright light in the morning hours seemed to have a slimming effect. Light helps to regulate circadian rhythms, which in turn regulate energy balance and expenditure, say the study authors. They suggest getting 20 to 30 minutes of sunlight between 8 a.m. and noon each day to avoid unwanted weight gain. So, there you have it — yet another reason for walking to work and going out for lunch.
Before you add additional workouts to your schedule or cut down on food, you ought to be more mindful of your work habits. Avoid the freebies and remind yourself to take constant breaks at work might be more effective in staving from packing on the pounds.
