Working from home may seem like a dream to most, and the truth is working from home definitely beats the alternative in many ways. The commute from your bedroom to your home office is a lot less time consuming and stressful than being stuck in morning traffic, and getting dressed in a pantsuit is swapped for comfy jammies.
There are tons of perks when working from home! You save money on gas because you don’t need to travel outside of your house to get your work done. Did you know that in the U.S. the average person’s commute time to work is 25.4 minutes? That’s nearly an hour of driving a day. Another obvious benefit of working from home is not having to deal with your boss breathing down your neck, or your nosy, and sometimes unpleasant coworkers. You sort of feel like your own boss. Besides, you have an unlimited coffee supply at your fingertips! But you have an unlimited supply of something else too…food.
Working from home can present challenges when it comes to your physical health. According to experts, individuals who work from home are at a higher risk of becoming obese and developing diabetes. The idea is the incidental exercise you receive when you’re out of the house five days a week really makes a difference in your weight. If you’ve started working from home and noticed that since then you’ve put on some pounds don’t worry! We’ve got 10 easy ways to prevent gaining weight when working from home.
1. Eat A Healthy Breakfast.
When you’re working from home, sometimes you have the option of creating your own hours, which is awesome! Being in charge of your hours can often lead to sleeping in or staying up late. We’ll get to why regular hours are smart while working from home later, but waking up later and not having a set schedule on when you eat can lead to skipping breakfast. When you skip breakfast you set yourself up for excessive hunger during lunchtime, and miss out on important nutrients.
Instead of skipping breakfast, wake up at an appropriate time and drink a cold glass of water. This boosts your metabolism, and starts your day off right. Next make yourself a black coffee with no added sweeteners or creamers because coffee will give you an added metabolic boost while working as an appetite suppressant. Of course the most important thing you need to do is eat a healthy, balanced breakfast in the morning. Whether it’s a healthy meal, or a meal replacement shake like one of these breakfast is crucial to weight loss so don’t skip it!
2. Pack Yourself A Lunch.
Pack yourself a healthy lunch just like you would if you were still working outside of the house. The same way a packed lunch prevents you from going out and grabbing junk food when you work outside of the home, a prepared lunch will keep you from raiding the fridge. So now when lunch time rolls around, instead of grabbing random junk and stuffing your face, you have a yummy healthy packed lunch waiting for you.
3. Don’t Eat At Your Desk.
It’s that simple! If you don’t designate a specific time to eat throughout your day, you’ll be snacking non stop and that’s a huge problem. Appoint breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner times and stick to that schedule. It’s also important to keep an organized and clean work space to maintain productivity. Crumbs and spills don’t help with that.
4. If You Can’t Resist It, Don’t Buy It.
Now I know for myself that if my favorite white chocolate strawberry cheesecake is staring me right in the face all day, I’ll likely devour the whole thing before dinner. If you can’t keep your grubby little fingers off unhealthy foods, don’t buy them! You can’t grab something naughty to eat if it ain’t there. Keep your fridge loaded with healthy foods like vegetables and fruits, healthy fats, leafy greens and whole wheat options. If you avoid unhealthy choices you’ll be setting yourself up for success in your weight loss goals.
5. Schedule A Time To Exercise.
The day can pass pretty quickly when you’re in front of your laptop. Don’t forget to work in a designated time to exercise. Research proves that regular exercise decreases your chance of developing diabetes, heart disease, and decreases your risk of stroke. It really only takes 30 minutes out of your 1,440 minute day to get a proper workout in. Schedule a time to exercise, and stick to it!
6. Take Stretch Breaks.
Aside from your appointed exercise time, take breaks every hour you sit to stretch or do a quick workout. Research suggests that sitting has been linked to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and depression. Stand up from your desk every hour and do a light stretch. Keep a yoga mat and a set of weights in your home office in an organized fashion where you can whip them out easily and get a quick workout in.
7. Work Regular Hours.
When you work from home it’s easy to let yourself sleep in or stay up later than you should. But maintaining a regular work schedule with regular hours can actually aid in losing weight. Sleep has an effect on hunger hormones, and when you’re not sleeping adequately you’re prone to gaining more weight. This is because your appetite actually increases the less sleep you get. And when you’re sleepy and groggy, you’re much more likely to reach for something unhealthy rather than make yourself a balanced breakfast.
Working regular hours from home not only helps you get proper sleep, but it can help you keep up with a regular exercise routine too. When you plan your day properly and get just the right amount of sleep, food, and exercise, you’ll have a fool proof way of losing weight.
8. Get Out Of The House.
Now that you’re spending more of your time at home, you’re not getting the same social interaction you used to get while working out of the house. You used to be able to chat with a coworker about your weekend, meet with clients, or even have a quick conversation with the cashier during your lunch break. When you’re alone it’s easy to forget self care.
Working from home gives you the ability to ditch the morning hair and makeup routine and work in your jammies. And when nobody really sees you, you kind of forget about how you look. It’s still important to get out of the house and get some social interaction, because you don’t want to get stuck in a rut. Get out of the house! Go for a walk or a jog, grocery shop at the store instead of online, meet up for lunch or a coffee break with some friends, or take the kids out to the park or a library. All these things will motivate you to continue to care for yourself even though you’re working from home now.
9. Use Break Time For Activities Other Than Snacking.
At the office you’d get up to use the printer, ask a coworker for a favor, take a walk around the building during break time, or call your spouse for a quick chat. Don’t let your break times at home become excuses for snacking! Do something else instead. The possibilities truly are endless. Take care of some errands, stretch, do some yard work, anything other than mindless snacking because mindless snacking can pack on a lot of sneaky pounds.
10. Remind Yourself Why.
Finally, never forget why you started this weight loss journey. Remind yourself why you must get fit and identify the reason or reasons. Maybe you have a big event coming up and you want to look your best, or you feel like you’re stuck in a rut with your appearance. Perhaps it’s a reason much less vain such as declining health due to your obesity. If you have kids or grandkids keep a picture of them at your desk and remind yourself that you want to be healthy, run and play with them, and live long enough to watch them grow. Obesity is the leading cause of preventable diseases. Whatever the reason is for your weight loss goal, identify it. Write it down, post up photos, do whatever you need to do to remind yourself why you want to achieve your goal and never give up!