Monday, May 30, 2011

How Can I Keep My Job from Making Me Fat?

I've been pondering today why healthy living is so much easier for me on weekends/vacations.  Seriously, I've been off work for three glorious days, and I've happily eaten normal portions of healthy foods (okay, a small amount of cake, but I swear, normal portions of cake, and only once per day).  I've also managed to do some form of exercise each day.  Maybe not a full on workout, but I push mowed the yard, went for a long walk, and did some yoga.

Do you think I'll be able to keep it up once tomorrow comes around?  I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath.

And this is my list of excuses reasons:
1.  Lack of sleep makes people fat.  It's been proven.  And I'm so not a morning person.  Work day means alarm clock day, and that means I didn't get enough sleep.
2.  Stress.  Work is stressful.  I eat more, and make less healthy food choices, when stressed.
3.  I travel a lot for work.  And I realized today, not only does this mean that I end up grabbing something at the quick store or a fast food option, but it also means I eat more in the morning, because I'm trying to keep myself from being hungry later.
4.  Working all day means I usually don't have time or energy for exercise.
5.  Stress.  I know I said that already, but I think it bears repeating.

So, what am I going to do about it?

1.  I don't know about the sleep thing.  I just don't do well when I have to get up early.  Left completely on my own, I'd go to bed about 1:00 a.m. and sleep until about 10:00 every morning.  My work schedule can be somewhat flexible sometimes, but I don't think an 11:00 to 7:00 schedule all the time would make my boss or my boyfriend very happy with me.  But maybe I could get away with it sometimes?

2.  I'm still pondering whether the amount of stress my job causes me means I need a new job.  Or whether I just don't do well working.  Or whether everyone's job is stressful, and that's just life?  But I suppose I can take some steps to lessen my stress.  Stop and take deep breaths more often.  Get up from the computer for a few minutes every hour.  Try not to expect people to be sane?

3.  On the eating on the road thing...I guess I should probably stop eating more in anticipation of maybe being hungry later.  That's kind of silly.  Plus, I could pack a little cooler with healthier snack and meal alternatives.

4.  Once upon a time I had a plan of doing little five minute bursts of exercise during my work day.  A few push ups here, dancing wildly to the radio there.  In my defense, my work duties changed so that I'm very rarely actually in my home office anymore.  But I'm hopeful that things will calm down soon, and then I can start this up again.  And I do get a 30 minute lunch break.  Now that the weather is nice, I could take a short walk during that time and still eat a sandwich.

5.  It just all comes back to the stress for me.  And I'm not doing so well handling it.  But hopefully it will get better.

What do you do to minimize the stress in your job?

3 comments:

Sisy said...

It seems like you are doing all the right things. Maybe just get a white noise machine. After I made a point to stop stressing I started losing weight....even at a creeping pace now...but if I get stressed about something I swear I gain 10 lbs right away. It's crazy.

Connie said...

I with I knew the answer to that.

I do worse on the weekend. We eat out more and drink more alcohol.

Weekends are my downfall.

Regina said...

I've been making a mix of nuts and fiber filled cereals. By making my own mix I can add only the stuff I like and ensure that the ratio of ingredients is good for me (both in preference and nutrtion).

I think it's easier to stay smart on the road during the warm months - in the winter, it's hard to pack a warm meal for the car.