exercise junkies

Recently I gain alot of weight, and trying to lose it. I going to school and hopefully after I finish it, I can get a job. But before I start school I going try to lose how much pounds as I can. The question is how can I stay fit and have a desk job? I don't want to be one of those overweight IT people (no offense to all the overweight people) For all the IT professional who been in the field, do most company allow one of those desk where you can stand?

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dontstop

Personally I found that the more I exercised the more I ate. It wasn't until I cleaned up my diet and drastically reduced my sugar intake did my weight get under control.

This opened my eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

JoJoCal19

Do you have a gym near you? If so, you can get in a workout in 30-45 minutes easy. I take my lunch break (I work at home) and go to the gym. But you can go before or even right after school/work. I recommend a whole body workout (1 exercise each for back, bi's, chest, tri's, legs and shoulders) 2-3 days a week. I knock it out in about 30-40 minutes. Also as dontstop mentioned, get your diet in check. Get the LoseIt app and track your intake. Since starting to workout and tracking using that app (cutting out my sugar and carb intake) I've dropped 12lbs in a month and a half.

Ryan9764

I started to go to the gym around 2 months ago. I already lost around 25 pounds. My problem is that once I get a desk job, I might go back eating junk food in which I don't want. I guess I can run during lunch, and than eat some snacks during work or eat a big dinner once I get home. I doing good on my diet and I don't want to fall back in my old habits like drinking soda, eating junk food.

Pseudonym

Diet's way more important than exercise. Drastically reduce your sugar intake. Start eating more fat and protein. You'll drop weight steadily over the course of a few months.

I also exercise 6 days a week too.. so

Queue

As mentioned above it's 80% diet 20% exercise. The standing desk isn't going to make a lot of difference for you. Luckily we have a employer sponsored health club here. I go during "lunch" M-W-F and lift heavy like mentioned above full body compound workout. I do squats, bench, deadlifts, pullups, overhead press, and dumbbell rows. Look it up. Then on T-TH I go run 4 miles during "lunch" with a run group.

I supplement this with hobbies you don't realize are heavy exercise mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, etc.

I eat old fashioned oats with almond milk and black coffee for breakfast, lunch is for energy and never fried or high sugar/fat, and top it off with a normal portion dinner. You have to find something you are able to live with as this is make it or break it with the diet. I'd start tracking your consumption. Once you do alright and start reading labels you will not even touch some things you may now love.

Unfortunately if like you said you want to be an in shape IT worker, this is what it will take for your whole career. We are not manual laborers who may burn 4,000+ extra calories working a day. Good luck start today!

shochan

I am in the same boat...I need to slim down about 40lbs...About a year ago I would use my exercise bike 20 mins in the am & 20 mins in pm, AND use the Nutribullet (carrots, spinach, kale, flax seed, almonds, broccoli, banana, avocado type smoothie)...ALSO no beer!

Have you seen this documentary? It will work, IF you can stick to it. https://youtu.be/X3GbnOyhgR4?list=PLZXVeM-aR2-BAB-Nt5IytLrL63MZ7NeGB

Anyways, I brought my mtn bike to work today & plan on biking the trails at a local park after work today.

CHEERS & HI5!

NetworkNewb

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Do you have a gym near you? If so, you can get in a workout in 30-45 minutes easy. I take my lunch break (I work at home) and go to the gym. But you can go before or even right after school/work. I recommend a whole body workout (1 exercise each for back, bi's, chest, tri's, legs and shoulders) 2-3 days a week.

I recommend the whole body workout a few times a week as well. Like others said diet is more important than exercise for losing weight. I'm lucky and have a fast metabolism, but if I don't workout for awhile I will usually end up back problems. I'm 32 and have thrown my back out like 3 times, to the point I literally can't even stand up to walk and have to crawl around for a few days. Happens usually from pushing myself too hard doing exercises after I haven't been doing anything for awhile. First time, squats (yea, was probably bad form. Wasn't even a heavy set). Second time, golfing. During the second shot in to the very first hole. BAM out goes my back. Third time, tried to get back into working out. Was just carrying over some 60 lbs dumbbells to do some incline presses...

I've heard of ALOT of other people in IT with back problems as well. Lesson: be careful

MAC_Addy

Honestly, the best thing that has ever helped me was the programs from Beachbody. Over the past 2 years I have lost over 50lbs by just working out at home with minimal equipment. If you are interested, my wife is a Beachbody coach.

I have always been quite active, up until my first son was born. I took a year off and gained a lot of weight. Feeling guilty, I wanted to show him (even though he won't remember) that if you challenge yourself, great things can happen.

mzx380

I've been working out for years and always yo-yo in weight. However, for the last 2 years I've been training in crossfit and have a relatively clean "man-diet" and I am please with my results so far. Give it a try for a month and see for yourself, I highly recommend

Pseudonym

NetworkNewb wrote: »

I recommend the whole body workout a few times a week as well. Like others said diet is more important than exercise for losing weight. I'm lucky and have a fast metabolism, but if I don't workout for awhile I will usually end up back problems. I'm 32 and have thrown my back out like 3 times, to the point I literally can't even stand up to walk and have to crawl around for a few days. Happens usually from pushing myself too hard doing exercises after I haven't been doing anything for awhile. First time, squats (yea, was probably bad form. Wasn't even a heavy set). Second time, golfing. During the second shot in to the very first hole. BAM out goes my back. Third time, tried to get back into working out. Was just carrying over some 60 lbs dumbbells to do some incline presses...

I've heard of ALOT of other people in IT with back problems as well. Lesson: be careful

Back issues are almost always caused by bad posture. Even slipped discs can be caused by the accumulation of years of bad posture. Be aware of your posture, and biomechanics at all times. Have a look at the book 'Becoming a supple leopard' if you can. Really helped me deal with a long standing ankle issue by becoming more aware of this stuff.

Verities

dontstop wrote: »

Personally I found that the more I exercised the more I ate. It wasn't until I cleaned up my diet and drastically reduced my sugar intake did my weight get under control.

This opened my eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

This is a good video on understanding nutrition and how it affects your weight....but the speaker's hand gestures are so distracting. He flicks his hand every couple of seconds like he has involuntary control over it.

JoJoCal19

NetworkNewb wrote: »

I recommend the whole body workout a few times a week as well. Like others said diet is more important than exercise for losing weight. I'm lucky and have a fast metabolism, but if I don't workout for awhile I will usually end up back problems. I'm 32 and have thrown my back out like 3 times, to the point I literally can't even stand up to walk and have to crawl around for a few days. Happens usually from pushing myself too hard doing exercises after I haven't been doing anything for awhile. First time, squats (yea, was probably bad form. Wasn't even a heavy set). Second time, golfing. During the second shot in to the very first hole. BAM out goes my back. Third time, tried to get back into working out. Was just carrying over some 60 lbs dumbbells to do some incline presses...

I've heard of ALOT of other people in IT with back problems as well. Lesson: be careful

Yup, I used to do split routines back in the day when I was younger and worked out a ton and results seem to come so much slower for me than doing whole body now. Also yes, improper form during squats or deadlift can put someone in a bad way. Before I went back to doing them after years off I actually practiced my form at home for a while.

MAC_Addy wrote: »

Honestly, the best thing that has ever helped me was the programs from Beachbody. Over the past 2 years I have lost over 50lbs by just working out at home with minimal equipment. If you are interested, my wife is a Beachbody coach.

I have always been quite active, up until my first son was born. I took a year off and gained a lot of weight. Feeling guilty, I wanted to show him (even though he won't remember) that if you challenge yourself, great things can happen.

The wife and I both wanted P90X to work to save us the monthly gym expense and having to find time to go, but it just wasn't working for us midway through the 2nd phase. Since joining the gym we've both seen greater results in 6 weeks there than we did midway through P90X. For me actually moving iron seems to work better. But I've seen ridiculous results from others with P90X and it seems like a great program. I am using the Ab Ripper X for my ab workouts tho.

mzx380 wrote: »

I've been working out for years and always yo-yo in weight. However, for the last 2 years I've been training in crossfit and have a relatively clean "man-diet" and I am please with my results so far. Give it a try for a month and see for yourself, I highly recommend

I think crossfit is awesome. There's one next door to my daughters dance class so I usually wander by and wish I could be in there. Stuff is $$$$ tho. It's basically a car payment every month. At least where I'm at it is, and theres boxes all over the place too. I'm probably going to join later this summer or early fall anyways.

PC509

It's difficult for me at times. I sit a lot during the day. But, I got a FitBit and it shows me how much I really sat and didn't move. Now, I'm walking a mile at lunch and right before I go home. Each hour, I make it a point to get up and walk a bit. That's just for walking.

We have a new athletic center opening up in my small town, so I'm going to go there every other night. Weights, wall climbing, swimming. I'm going to have to force myself to go for a few weeks before it's habit.

I'm also eating a lot better, which helps. No energy drinks (that was very difficult to do) anymore.

It's something you have to force yourself to do at first. It'll take a while to become habit, but it does get a lot easier after a while.

OctalDump

If you want real weight loss tips that work, join one of those pro-anorexia forums. Apparently, diet coke is good since the gas fills you and the caffeine suppresses appetite (old school diet pills are basically stimulants like caffeine and dexamphetamine).

Standing desks are still a good idea. Any way to increase incidental exercise is good (walking further, using the stairs instead etc), so that can include how you get to work.

dontstop

I've lost a fair amount of weight purely from reducing my sugar intake to only incidental sugar (fruits/carbs) and cleaning up my diet as a byproduct. Also when it comes to drinks, I only drink water or milk, nothing else.

I found this curbed my appetite to the point where I thought there was something wrong with me, I would usually after eating a big meal rarely be satisfied continuously hunted for food.

Today i rarely eat food that I haven't made myself and generally I only eat fresh wholesome foods. It's a pain in the arse to be frank, but that's only because our society makes everything else so easy to access (Fast-food/processed food) and the prices on fresh food are high. With very little exercise I lost in the order of ~100 lbs over the course of 12 months.

For me sugar was my brains drug of choice, I don't drink nor do I smoke or do drugs. So eating myself silly was a big problem. But in today's society it's not hard when every meal we eat would be classified as dessert in the 1960's.

On previous attempts to lose weight I've hit the gym and cardio very hard only to find that by not addressing my root problem of a very bad relationship to sugar and food, it would only cause me to snap right back to bad eating habits or being excessively hungry.

A thing that always struck me as odd is if my body stores fat for fuel reserves, why would I be hungry after exercise? Why if I sit at my desk all day and do practically nothing am I hungry?

This is how I ended up discovering sugar/bad quality food was my issue.

Pro tip: you cannot out-run, out-ride or out-lift a bad diet.

I follow this religously: http://www.chewfo.com/diets/fat-chance-by-robert-h-lustig-md-2012-what-to-eat-and-foods-to-avoid-food-list/

If your relationship with food is similar to what mine was, I'd recommend checking out the Dr. Lustig video.

tedjames

I work in an 11-floor building, and I always take the stairs. And when I have time, I take a break and walk the stairs just for the exercise. I also avoid the sugary snacks and high carbohydrate snacks (chips, etc.). During the day, I munch on nuts, cheese, jerky, and other foods with higher protein content. Sometimes a boiled egg. Trying to quit soda. Not as easy as it sounds. Sweets, chips, and sodas are high in carbohydrates, and they just make you hungrier. Soda dehydrates you.

I exercise every day, some days harder than others. My appetite is way up. Again, I try to compensate by eating more protein and avoid the junk food.

Dontstop asked why he/she is hungry after just sitting all day. Your body burns calories all the time. You may not be as hungry as when you do a full workout, but you're still burning.

Regarding the idea of burning fat reserves, your body has to hit a certain level during diet/exercise in order to make it burn fat. It's not just going to happen just because you exercise. There are tons of articles online regarding how to burn fat instead of muscle.

As has been stated many times in this thread and many other places, a bad diet will sabotage your weight. Great abs start in the kitchen.

ande0255

@ NetworkNoob - I have actually thrown my back out as well, most recently in December just standing up to get coffee, as I work at home and don't leave the house much at all. I'm glad I'm not the only one in IT that has this issue, as none of my coworkers seem particularly out of shape.

I am trying to get more exercise in, but my problem is probably in the sugars category, as I can't drink coffee hardly in the morning as it gives me stomach issues so I will drink a can of Pepsi to kind of open my eyes.

That and I love to eat like right before bed. I snack during the work day, then a quick bite to eat before studying (and maybe an outdoor activity for awhile), and before I know it its 10pm and I haven't eaten any real full meal that day (or sometimes for days). So I get that meal in right when my metabolism slows down *facepalm*.

I know the things I need to do to get slimmer and healthier, but its so hard to get myself to do them, especially since I began studying for ROUTE as I can study that material for hours and hours and just completely lose track of time.

the_Grinch

I agree it is definitely 80% diet and 20% exercise. With my new job I knew it was time to get back into shape (about 3 years ago I was in great shape). Especially since I am hoping to go to the academy either in July or January. The first thing I did was purchase My Fitness Pal so I could track what I am eating. I also chose to follow the macro diet, where you eat whatever you'd like, but only if it fits within your macros (Fat, Protein, Carbs). I then purchased the Couch to 5k app. Three years ago I was running between 6 and 8 miles everyday (bad idea because I destroyed my feet). Finally I grabbed the free apps for working up to 100 pushups and 200 situps. Thus here what my week consists of:

Monday - Up at 4 AM - push-ups, sit-ups, and run (3.5 miles)
Tuesday - no exercise
Wednesday - Up at 4 AM - push-ups, sit-ups, and run (3.5 miles)
Thursday - no exercise and weigh day
Friday - Up at 4 AM - push-ups, sit-ups, and run (3.5 miles)
Saturday - sleep in
Sunday - sleep in

To date I'm down 19 pounds and working up to a 10k three days a week. I have to get up early because I have a 1.5 hour commute one way so getting home and doing any exercise will not be in the cards. Plus it seems much easier to exercise in the morning.

Good luck!

NetworkingStudent

If you're trying to lose weight, then I suggest cutting out regular soda and switching to diet.

Also, find something you like to do bike, walk, run, lift weights ect.

I was trying to lose weight ,but stopped. I like my fast food.

I used an app called my fitness pal and I lost 5 pounds in the first week, but most of the weight is water weight.

As the others have said, you can exercise everyday, but you won't lose any weight if you don't reduce the amount of calories you intake.

As far as exercising at work, well I would suggest start by parking as far as you can from the entrance.

Do things in baby steps

I would switch from regular soda to diet soda as a start.

Getting baked chips instead of fried

At some point have only vegetables in the house as a snack.

scaredoftests

Get a Pelaton bike, worth the money. Believe me.

sillymcnasty

Put bicycle pedals under your desk

dontstop

tedjames wrote: »

Dontstop asked why he/she is hungry after just sitting all day. Your body burns calories all the time. You may not be as hungry as when you do a full workout, but you're still burning.

Regarding the idea of burning fat reserves, your body has to hit a certain level during diet/exercise in order to make it burn fat. It's not just going to happen just because you exercise. There are tons of articles online regarding how to burn fat instead of muscle.

tedjames: I have a solid awareness of both BMI and the idea that you need to reach a certain threshold of caloric deficit to start burning fat during exercise. I used to be a competitive road cyclist in my early 20's and found that even after a race I would snap back and eat way more calories than I consumed. The point of my previous comment was to highlight that if I had burnt say 1,000 cal (this would be a gross understatement for a 40-80km race) I'd have to for some reason replace that with way more than 1,000.

My binge eating didn't make sense with regards to the input and outputs of my body.

UnixGuy

Progressive weight lifting (Bodybuilding) is king in my opinion!

Pick a program (I recommend "Fierce 5"), and stick to it. It will change your life. 3 x days a week is more than enough

Take the garbage out of your diet (sodas, candy bards, fast food), and try and cook your meals.

TeKniques

Losing weight is actually easier than it seems. Others have mentioned it, but your diet is the #1 thing you can do to improve your weight. It's more important than exercising.

Eliminate as much sugar as possible from your diet (it's in everything). Start reading food labels and pay attention to the top 3 ingredients; stay away from food products with chemicals in them (high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils). Replace starchy foods with whole grains and add more fruits/vegetables to your meals. If you do this, you won't have to count calories or even exercise.

In December, I weighed 184 lbs with a BMI of 26. By doing the above I now weigh 163 lbs and my BMI is 23. I never counted any calories, but I do exercise 5 times a week (cardio and strength training).

JoJoCal19

tedjames wrote: »

Regarding the idea of burning fat reserves, your body has to hit a certain level during diet/exercise in order to make it burn fat. It's not just going to happen just because you exercise. There are tons of articles online regarding how to burn fat instead of muscle.

From years of research it appears there's two ways to burn fat, exercise where you're in the target heart rate zone, and with diet, by doing a Keto diet. I myself am moving towards a Keto diet.

TeKniques wrote: »

Losing weight is actually easier than it seems. Others have mentioned it, but your diet is the #1 thing you can do to improve your weight. It's more important than exercising. Eliminate as much sugar as possible from your diet (it's in everything). Start reading food labels and pay attention to the top 3 ingredients; stay away from food products with chemicals in them (high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils). Replace starchy foods with whole grains and add more fruits/vegetables to your meals. If you do this, you won't have to count calories or even exercise.In December, I weighed 184 lbs with a BMI of 26. By doing the above I now weigh 163 lbs and my BMI is 23. I never counted any calories, but I do exercise 5 times a week (cardio and strength training).

Yup, agreed. Same situation here. Thankfully (mostly) anyone can lose weight. A person just has to want to do it. Just using the LoseIt app to stay under my target calorie deficit goal, and getting back in the gym and I'm down 15lbs in a month and a half (206>191). And I haven't even started Keto yet or moved from 2 workout days to 3 yet and I've done ZERO cardio either. Starting the third gym day this week as well as cardio on the non-gym days so I'm hoping to accelerate that and see those abs pop.

lloris_20

I was underweight when I joined gym and I am trying to bulk and gain some with every alternate day workout. Its going well so far.

Remedymp

I use this workout on my lunch break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0gDqsSUtWo&t=2s

Kinet1c

Just another post to say that it's all about diet. I do ~10 hours of cycling a week but if I don't look after my diet, the weight can still creep up.

Russ5813

Relying on the Pareto Principle as a measure of fitness really downplays the benefits of exercise. Nutrition and exercise are equally important in maximizing your quality of life. Standing desks are nice, but you'll need to implement a wellness plan if you want to remain healthy. My recommendations for someone looking to dip their toes into the world of fitness:

Don't worry so much about adhering to one specific diet plan--just cut out the processed foods/sugars and you'll notice your energy, weight, and well-being improve over time. I recommend exercising 4 days a week, with a mix of cardio and weightlifting. Squats, deadlifts, and the clean-and-press are the most effective full-body workouts, but I don't recommend doing these without an experienced trainer, as they carry a higher risk of injury than typical isolation exercises (and be wary of crossfit--most crossfitters I see have terrible form). You don't have to go heavy on the weight to see results; in fact, you may be better off with a low weight, higher intensity workout, which carries the benefit of combining weight-bearing and cardio exercises.

Once you've developed a wellness plan, be sure to stick to it. It will eventually become routine; if you fall off the wagon, try to get back on quickly-- the longer you stay off the harder it is to get back on. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

OfWolfAndMan

Simple solution:

-Do a mix of cardio and weights.
-If you don't like running, get on the cycle, go to spin class
-Institute some walking in there. Cardio shouldn't all be moderate/high-end stuff.
-As everyone said, diet is big. Very big. You can try fad diets, but the best thing to start with for sustainable progress is eliminating small things. Soda, sweets, fried foods, etc. Make additional changes from there.
-If you think diet soda makes you gain weight, there is no absolute material proof it does. Many of the studies they show it does uses a very specific set of subjects, or cherry picks their information. There are studies showing negative long-term effects of aspartame consumption (Used in many diet sodas), but not sucralose, and not general diet sodas. The claims it does is mere pseudoscience.
-If you think low-carb works, it does for some. Some it does not. Experiment, attempt, refine. Try different number of meals. Try varying your macronutrients. Find your sweet spot. Protein should be your number one priority.
-As I said before, eliminate fried foods. There are multiple studies displaying unnatural weight gain consuming this synthetic material. The word "hydrogenated" on the back of a ingredient list should be avoided. It also has been linked to things such as metabolic disorder. Here is a study for you:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28360100
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28254384
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28106762
-Get a social group of like minded people wanting to better themselves in the same manner you do. Seriously, social support helps.
-BMI is a waste of measurement. Weigh yourself (Should be the least of your worries), take pictures, measure bodyfat comp, and measure your waste changes. THAT is change you can see. Keep a journal.
-Consume vitamins. A multivitamin and fish oil are the only requirements you really should need, unless you have vitamin deficiencies elsewhere.
-If wanting to use appetite suppressants, be aware complete dependence upon them is a waste of your money. Institute good eating and exercise habit, and it will be more helpful than without it.

Hopefully my advice has helped you out with a bit.