Boost Weight Loss at the Office

For a large number of Americans, the workplace is where one of the largest chunks of our time is spent. About half of American adults work at least 40 hours every week. If this includes you, then chances are you know firsthand the challenges that come with trying to manage health alongside a career. Early mornings, late nights and jam-packed schedules don’t encourage long workouts and well planned meals.

After weight loss surgery, you’ll have to incorporate healthy changes into your lifestyle in any way you can. This might mean bringing a few of your new healthy habits to work with you. Packing a healthy lunch, drinking plenty of water and avoiding break room snacks are all great habits to incorporate into your workday, but it doesn’t stop here. Whatever you do for a living, there are ways that you can add a bit more activity into your workday. This even goes for the 80 percent of American full-time jobs that are done at a desk.

Getting Active at Work

You don’t need to change your career to become more active at work. There are simple changes you can make during the course of your day to burn a few more calories here and there.

Here are a few ways to start burning calories at the office:

Sit on an exercise ball

Exercise or “stability balls” are about the same height of an average desk chair, making them great for sitting on right at your desk. Sitting on one of these will force you to engage your core all day, which will help you burn calories. You could always keep it under your desk and just roll it out to sit on for an hour or two as you get used to it, too.

Stand up and stretch

Make a habit of getting up and stretching once every hour at work. You can take this opportunity to refill your water glass, have a brief look out the window or do a few quick exercises in your cubicle. You could even work in a two-minute exercise routine with simple activities like:

• Side lunges: Standing with your feet together, take one step to the right and bend your knees. Bring your left foot to the right. Repeat to the left side by taking a large step and bending your knees again. Alternate legs for 10 steps.
• Knee lifts: With your feet together, lift your right knee to your chest. You can either hold onto a desk for balance or involve your arms in the process by pulling your elbows to meet your knees with every repetition.

Wear a pedometer

How many steps do you take in a day? The average recommended number of steps to aim for day after day is 10,000. The problem is that most people get about a third of that. Wear a pedometer to find out how many steps you are taking and challenge yourself to do more. This might mean using a bathroom on a different floor or taking a brief walk at lunch.

Talk to your co-workers about your desire to become more active and see if you can organize a lunch time walk with a few friends, or maybe you can get together for a trip to a local gym once a week after work. Whatever you do, make sure you are bringing more activity into your daily routine after weight loss surgery. The more you move, the more easily you’ll reach your weight loss goal.