SubscribeHow to Lose Weight By Quitting Your Job
Stress in the workplace significantly increases the risk of obesity.
Could it be time to find another job?
Research has shown that there is a very strong link between job strain (heavy demands, little decision-making power, and little social support) and risk of obesity.
What's interesting is the link to central obesity (waist circumference >102cm/40" in men, >88cm/34.6" in women).
This study was carried out over 19 years.
- Job strain on one occasion: 17% more likely to develop obesity or central obesity than those who reported none.
- Job strain on two occasions: 24% higher chance of obesity, 41% of central obesity
- Job strain on 3 or more occasions: 73% higher chance of obesity, 61% of central obesity
Causation?
The data was adjusted for "smoking; intakes of dietary fiber, fruits and vegetables, and alcohol; and levels of physical activity during follow-up" - and also excluded obese individuals at baseline.
I don't doubt there is a link. These days many jobs are sedentary and high-pressure - not a formula for good health.
Time for a re-think on your employment situation?
I know I like to blame my job for making it very difficult for me to stay lose weight. It isn't even a sedentary job. I am on my feet moving and walking all day. Work alone - I log 6000, steps on my pedometer.
At the end of June I was thrilled I was actually going to have time to exercise.
All of July, everyday I was up and on the treadmill, carefully eating 3 healthy meals a day. Now that the new term has begun, I've no time for breakfast (I have to take meds 1 hour before I eat - so I get up take them, do my prep work on the computer, shower and then grab something quick and am out the door.) I have less than 30 mins for lunch break, and I usually need to use it to get some extra things done for my classes. I didn't prepare a lunch the night before knowing I wouldn't have time to eat it and also because of complete exhastion at the end of the day (I am sure it is because I am not exercising). I come home try to get dinner going - but am starved and eat while making dinner and then 1 hour later am running my kids to thier sports and lessons.
I know, they are all bad choices (excuses, excuses) and I could do it all differently, it is just that I get into such a rut with my job - and all the responsibilities and stress, eating and exercising takes the back seat.
I lost several pound this summer, everyday I wake up and say, today will be a good day, but once again - it takes a back seat. Well - maybe today.. gotta go!
ReplyHonestly, I lose weight in proportion to work I'm doing. If I'm jobless (too often the last few years), I tend to put ON weight, then I lose it when I'm working.
ReplyI'm with Alvin on this one.
I have a fairly sedentary desk-based job, but find it much easier to watch what I'm eating whilst working because I am in a set routine. I have cereals for breakfast as it's quick and easy, and prepare lunch before I go so I know what I'll be eating, and when, during the day.
At weekends and when I'm away from work it's much easier to find myself slipping into the kitchen for a snack.
Having a sedentary job is no excuse for getting no exercise either. I have a 3 mile walk to work in the morning and try and get out and about at lunch. I also try and move around whenever I get the chance during the day, for example by taking things to people by hand instead of popping them in the internal mail.
ReplyAs for lunches and other meals, I cook all of my meats on Sunday and make nutritions meals of lean meats (chicken breast, fish, turkey breast, lean beef, etc.), nuts, fruits (early in the day), vegetables, and starchy (unrefined) carbs.
I agree completely with this. I have a desk job and it is much easier for me to stick to my eating plan when I'm at work. I actually set reminders in Outlook so I eat when I'm supposed to.
Here's a hint I like to give out to my fellow sedentary workers: drink more water. It not only keeps you hydrated, but it requires that you get up from your desk regularly to go to the bathroom. I drink 10oz. per hour through the workday and typically have to visit the restroom once an hour. It gets me out of my seat and gives me a good walk as well.
ReplyFor those of you who seem to function better with a steady job, do you have frequent strain at that job? With Dawn, it sounds like she falls into the last category in that article (more than 3 times), which means it's difficult to plan, difficult to want to plan (yes, cooking the weekend before is ideal but not if you're fretting about work and don't have a job that understands you have a life outside of working hours). Add to that what sounds like a rigorous school schedule and taking care of the kids and I can understand why she'd run out of time and energy for herself.
I think the key is to find a job that understands that you have a life to attend to outside of working hours, and that you need time for meal planning, working out, etc. Some places are naturally regulated to let you work for a set time and not get too much into overtime, but others will take everything they can from you, and it does make it difficult to lose weight with that attitude from your employer.
ReplyI like having a job just not for the money but also to take up time. If I only worked a couple hours a day I would be thinking of food every second. Work saves me from obesity.
ReplyI have daily pull your hair out stressors at work. No wonder I'm fat.
ReplyThe stress at work makes me lose weight. The down side? Not in a healthy way.
Replyi gained weight when i left my job to start working for myself. over the years i have put on tons of weight, which is when i began working from home and loggging tons of hours on the computer.
ReplyHmmm, there are many sides to this....we can't blame outside circumstances for the choices we make re: what we eat and how often we exercise, but I can also say that I've experienced working in a job that I didn't like and getting up to the highest weight that I've ever been in my life.
At the same time, that situation motivated me to change my ways (which I did, while I still had the same job), and I dropped 43 pounds. So, I think it still comes back to the choices that we make, in whatever employment circumstance we are in. ;)
ReplyObviously stress causes A LOT of problems.
ReplyMy job is extremely sedentary, but I'm lucky enough to work from home where I can get up and stretch and stroll whenever I like. At previous jobs, where I didn't have as much freedom, I did weigh more. But it was also during the transition that I started going to the gym and dance studio six days a week, which I could have been doing while working former jobs.
ReplyI had an exciting, but highly stressful, job in high tech and never new how many hours I'd be working per day or even where I'd be working (lots of travel). My schedule mutated constantly, and it was impossible to make plans. I never knew when I'd be able to cook, to say nothing of when I could exercise. Meals were interrupted by emergency phone calls from work, so I was either eating boring things (energy bars) or coming to the table late at night, ravenous.
I gained weight, but everyone said it was because I was in my late 40s, and woman that age gain weight.
I quit my job and was unable to lose the weight even when I became careful about what I ate. Very discouraging. But then I realized that now I had control over my schedule and I could block out time for serious fitness activities. In the past year I've lost 13 pounds and gone from a size 14 to a size 10. I work out 5 hours a week (flow yoga, weight lifting, aerobics, and resistance training).
For me, the job/diet issue was the long hours and utter lack of control over my schedule. I'd take the job again, but make it clear to my family that workouts were a priority, even if I had to work out in the middle of the night at a 24-hour fitness center.
ReplyKaren said: For me, the job/diet issue was the long hours and utter lack of control over my schedule
My problem exactly - I just coulcn't say it so simply! - Thanks
ReplyIt was definitely a problem for me. My father was very ill the last 3 years of his life, and it was CONSTANT stress. After he died, I took another job that was also very stressful (working for two divorce lawyers!). After 7 years at that job, I "retired" and have been working part-time at a much less stressful job. Within a month, I had lost 20 pounds, WITHOUT any major changes in diet or exercise. I think stress has a HUGE (pardon the pun) effect on my weight. I think each person responds to the stresses in their life differently.
ReplyI have gained weight with my stressful, sedentary job. I'm also more active when I'm not working. Like the money, miss the peace.
Replywell i dont have a job but i am a high school senior and i consider that my job. and although school started on the 4th of september i have already lost weight- 7lbs to be exact. and it follows a predictable pattern i always lose weight during the school year, particularly during the winter, and then gain weight in the summer to fill out the desired areas of my bathing suit. MY ALEGED REASONS: stress, inablitly to eat breakfast or lunch, shivering in the freezing buildings, running from class to class in a ridiculously over-sized building, not to mention that seeing fat teachers and skinney freshmen is all the incentive in the world to not over-endulge is there in your line of vision.
ReplyI disagree with Alvin. I once had a job as a secretary and sat at a desk all day. I lost more weight with that job then I have with my jobs that I am on my feet all day. The secretary job was the least stressfull job I have ever had in my life.I have to agree with the main article.
ReplyHaving a very physical job is not a cure either. I work 10 hours a day in an auto parts factory. We only get one 20 minute break each day and still many employees have weight problems. My problem is not eating enough, but moving all day can bring about a lot of other health problems aside from just stress or weight. Working all day has made my kidney disease worse, has contributed to carpal tunnel syndrome, and leaves me just physically and mentally drained! I'm 23 but I feel more like 53. Stress can come with any job and the important thing is to try to work with your own schedule the best you can. I am still trying to find ways to get to get enough calories and feel energized.
ReplyIn my believe its not the job that causes the problem. It the eating disorders (used mildly) we develop while working. The total disruptions of our metabolisms, whether not eating on time, no having enough time to eat or to digest properly or no time to eat at all. Our natural metabolism goes out the window.
Reply