How to Lose Weight Working From Home

How to Lose Weight Working From Home

Due to the COVID pandemic, many of us gained what was dubbed “quarantine weight”-- this is caused by several factors, including stress and being stuck at home with no outlet for physical activity.

For those who work from home, gaining weight is also an issue because they are finding it harder to lose the weight again. After all, without any sort of commute, the employees are finding that they are sitting stagnant at their homes, without much opportunity during the day to get up and move their bodies.

However, it is not impossible for those who are working from home to lose the weight! There are several lifestyle changes a person can make to help them along the path to their weight loss goals. 

Tips for Losing Weight While Working From Home

When working from home, it may seem that it is more difficult to lose weight, especially because you are not as active as you were when you were going into the office every day.

There are some key behaviours that you can change or adjust in order to lose weight at home and stay happy and healthy. Take a look at the following tips, and work on integrating these into your work from home life– they will certainly have a positive effect on you.

Meal Prep for Your Week

Nutrition can have a huge effect on weight loss, as well as on your general health and wellbeing. Obviously, if you are eating a nutritionally diverse and balanced diet, you will be able to lose more weight, and keep up a healthy weight as well. We usually see weight gain when we are not eating healthy, nutritious food– for example, if we are eating a lot of fast food, we will very likely pack on a few pounds. 

The Wrinkle and Crease Weekly Planner

To help with meal planning Wrinkle and Crease has a weekly planner that you can post on your fridge. 

It is a 50 Page Desk Pad, but is easily posted on your fridge with a magnet. This notepad is the perfect desk top addition to help you plan your week day by day, to list out your top priorities, activities or schedule. Smaller in size so it doesn't take up a ton of space, but keeps you focused on the important things.

A great way to ensure that you are keeping up with a healthy diet is to meal prep. Meal prepping is when you plan out and prepare your meals in advance for the week. You can even meal prep several weeks out and store the meals in the freezer, and then just defrost them when it is time to eat! You can shop and prep on the weekends so that you have snacks and meals ready when work starts on Monday morning.

Be sure to portion out your snacks, too, into containers for the week, so that you are not mindlessly taking from the original container while you work, which can make it difficult to be conscious of how much you are eating.

Often, if you eat while you work, portion control can be a challenge– however, meal prepping fixes that!

Stay Hydrated 

Nutrition, a healthy diet, and hydration are some of the most important parts of living a healthy life, and are important on your weight loss journey. Drinking water does more than promote weight loss– if you drink water consistently through the day, it prevents fatigue and dehydration headaches. Water also cleanses your system and fills you up, so it prevents you from unnecessary snacking. This is, of course, directly linked to weight– the less unhealthy and unnecessary snacking you do, the less weight you may gain, and the more you may lose!

There are different guidelines for men and women on how much water you should have daily. For the average man, experts recommend about 15.5 cups of water per day. The guidelines for women are a little lower, at a suggested 11.5 cups per day.

Set Timers for Fitness Breaks

One of the key parts of incorporating fitness into your daily life is sticking to it, and making sure to set aside the time to do your workout frequently enough to stay healthy and meet your fitness goals. Being disciplined about this will help you to stick to your weight loss plan. Many people find it helpful to set timers throughout their day to get them up and moving. 

You can do this in a few different ways. For example, you can set timers at certain intervals during the day to remind yourself to stretch your legs or take a break, in order to get your body moving. You can also set a timer for a specific time during the day so that you can stop what you are doing and go to the gym to do your workout, for example. This makes sure that you do not become too wrapped up in work or distracted to complete your routine.

Get the Right Amount of Sleep

Sleep is also crucial to your happiness, mental health, and– yes, you guessed it!-- weight loss. It is important that you are getting the correct amount of quality sleep. You don’t want to only get the right amount of sleep, you want to be sure that you are getting good sleep, too.

It can be tricky to get enough sleep when your home is also your workspace, as it can make it difficult to shut off at the end of the day. Many employees who work from home say that they have trouble setting boundaries between work and home life, and can find themselves working longer hours into the night to finish tasks or projects.

Try to set boundaries for yourself so that you can get a good night’s sleep. Pick a time when you will turn off your e-mails or company phone after work– ideally, as close to the end of the workday as you can– and be sure to actually stick to this boundary.

If you make allowances, you will not end up adhering to this self-imposed rule in the future. By doing this, it will help you wind down. You can also dim the lights in your home, light candles, or read a book, rather than watching tv and spending more time in front of the screen. Another great tip is to download a meditation app to help you relax before bed and slip off to sleep faster and easier.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is working from home making me fat?

Working from home can lead to weight gain for a few different reasons. You are not leaving your house to get to work, so you are not burning any calories on the commute by walking from the train to the office, for example.

The ready access to food can also be a factor. When working from home, you are in charge of your own break times, and may break more frequently for snacks or stress eat more because you have your entire kitchen of food at your disposal. 

How can I lose weight sitting at my desk all day?

If you have a desk job, you may find that your lack of movement is leading to weight gain, or at the very least, preventing weight loss. Some of the ways that you can try to lose weight are by turning your meetings or calls into active meetings.

Do you have to take conference calls? Try taking some of them outside, while on a walk.

You should also stand frequently and take breaks to move your body and stretch– you could try investing in a standing desk for your workspace as well. Another option is to take advantage of your lunch break and take that time to go outside, whether for a walk with your pet or for some yoga in the backyard. Drinking lots of water also helps to flush out your system and promotes weight loss. 

How do I keep from gaining weight when I can’t exercise?

If getting out and exercising isn’t quite as easy– or as possible– as you would hope, there are still some things that you can do to try and lose weight. Eat plenty of fiber and protein, as well as being mindful of portion control– after all, if you are eating healthy, but eating way too much, that will still not help you shed the pounds.

You can also drink lots of water and slow down while you eat to prevent overeating or over snacking. Of course, the most effective way to lose weight is still a combination of exercise, a healthy amount of quality sleep, and a nutritious diet.

If you want to lose more weight and do so faster, this will always be the best way to do so.

How long does it take to start to lose weight?

While you may see that you weigh less when you step onto the scale, it may not be visually apparent yet that you are beginning to lose weight. Often, when cutting down your weight or becoming more fit, it can take a different amount of time for others to notice, depending on the individual who is losing weight.

For example, your starting size and your eating plan can make a big difference when it comes to how noticeable these changes are– if you are larger, results will become more apparent quicker.

Typically, though, a person can expect to start seeing weight loss results in one to two weeks, provided, of course, that they stick to their plan!

Additional Tips

• Maintain a healthy calorie range.  Trackers will help with this.  
• Healthy snacks.  We all snack so plan ahead and get good ones.  you want your protein to carb ration to be as close to 1:1 as possible.  
• Don't lose track, setting and achieving written goals is the key.
• Healthy food, try to eat clean and green.  
• If you gain weight, don't give up. Gained weight can also be a sign of healthy eating and muscle gain. 
• Bodyweight exercises can be great for people that don't have weights, or need low impact movements for their joints.  
• Living space and exercise equipment - if you don't have the space you will need to get minimal equipment to work out.  Think compression bands, skipping ropes and chin up bars.  They take up less room and still provide good resistance.