Does your job help or hurt you lose weight?
 

Hi all,

While I have two part time jobs, my tutoring job is dying down and I have found that the more I waitress the more I wonder what it is doing to my body. I have always been under the impression that because I was surrounded by all of this tempting food (baked potatoes, bread, any cake you can imagine, all forms of ice cream) that it's hurting me on my journey to lose weight. But then I really got to thinking, I'm exhausted when I get home, much like when I get home from the gym. I walk for five hours non stop. Lift trays sometimes over 40-50 pounds over my head, not including the endless coffee pots I tote around. And I have already lost two pounds this week without working out (and eating right of course). So I was wondering, does anyone else's job hurt or maybe even help them lose weight? And should I count my waitressing shifts as a work out? Thanks all!

Aly

When I was younger I worked at Dairy Queen. It affected me TERRIBLY. I would eat hot dogs, fries, soft serve, regular ice cream....

I say yes, your job can indeed hurt our efforts no matter how much self control we have.

It depends on the job, but each and every one of my big weight increases happened with starting a new job. My biggest problem has been that I've almost always worked at universities and so would eat the cafeteria food for lunch and not make the best decisions and then sit at a desk most of the day. Recipe for disaster.

Hoping I avert that when I go back to work full time!

If you avoid eating all your meals at the restaurant, waitressing can definitely be good for weight loss. Being on you feet and busy for several hours at a time is decent exercise. I don't know that I'd count it as a workout, but it does contribute to a high background level of activity, which is helpful in weightloss and maintenance.

Having an active job can definitely help weight loss efforts, as long as you don't give yourself permission to eat off plan, which it doesn't sound like you're doing. Obviously your results are positive, so you must be doing something right!

I wouldn't necessarily count your job as a *workout*, per se, but if you don't work out on days when you work a long shift, I wouldn't feel bad about it either. You're certainly burning more calories than I do sitting at this desk all day, though some strength training will only help your job performance/calorie burn (and make lifting those trays easier.)

Thanks guys. I definitely don't eat at the restaurant unless I have missed a meal and absolutely have to, but we do have healthy options. It's just the bad ones that look so tempting! I am thinking of getting a pedometer to see how much I am really walking a day. :) I'm working 5-6 days a week waitressing, so we will see how this continues to work out.

I suppose my job helps, because I work from home so I can plan my meals and don't have to deal with out-of-the-blue temptations.

Freelance

My job doesn't help me at all. It's an office sit down job and I can work from home so I usually work from my BED! LOL VERY sendentary. That's why I work out every day, I need to be active! Try and pack your food before you go to work, that way you won't be "as" tempted.

My jobs hurt me (well my part-time not so much because I can actually be busy.) but my regular full time job I really just sit here for 8 hours and do nothing. (The morning I sign out access card, hand out washroom keys, and smile at people as they come through the door and help anyone who needs directions...which in most case is everyone.) Pretty boring and mind numbing which leaves time for lots of thinking, (too much time...seriously sometimes I just dont' want to be in my head...) and twittling my thumbs.

I used to work in an office and sit for 8 hours a day. Not helpful even though I went to the gym.

I'm a teacher now and on my feet a lot. I think it helps. I also avoid the faculty room because there are too many treats there. I have my own classroom and I brought in my own microwave so I can warm things up.

I work in an office where I bring my food & can heat it up at lunch or keep it cold in the fridge. So I'd say because of that it helps me, IF I plan my meals. Though if I'm bored, I definitely bring enough for days so I can overeat. I've been doing well lately though. And if I forget my lunch, there's a convenient store and two cafe's and one restaurant downstairs.

Well, I work from home - corporate America job, marketing department, high stress - but from home. In some ways, it helps, because I can make my own lunches, I have my tea kettle going all day, I can take walks at lunch, get to the Y after work quickly (it's really close to my house) and everything is right here.

BUT - sometimes it hurts because when I get stressed, I have a kitchen-full of stuff downstairs I can raid whenever I want - and 4 grocery stores (not to mention lots of restaurants) all in about a 4-mile radius of my house, so it's SO easy to run out for binge food when it strikes me (I'm a binger). Plus, I have a lot more flexibility than most - I don't have to just sit at my desk if I am not busy doing something - but when I am bored...that kitchen just calls my name!

In the end, I have no idea if it helps or hurts, lol. I have to travel more than most, probably, and that hurts, too. But I think in the end it all balances out.

I got my first waitressing job at age 14. Up until that point, I didn't care about food (it was fuel, not pleasure). At that job I discovered the joy of gravy fries. Ugh. Didn't affect me back then, but over time, my newfound love of food definitely had a bad impact on my waistline.

I'm a SAHM now, so my fridge is only a step away at any given time. Also not great for the weight. And I'm a writer, which means plenty of time on my rear at a desk. Not great, either.

So yeah, all of my jobs have been pretty lousy for losing weight. We work with what we got, though, I guess.

My Hubs is a medical professional. He spends all day on his feet and is often too busy seeing patients to eat lunch. I think this is one reason he stays slim even though he pretty much eats what he wants.

My job both helps and hurts. It's an office job, very sedentary, so that hurts. But a lot of my co-workers are also trying to lose weight, and we work out together at lunch, so that helps a lot. But some days everyone wants to go out for lunch and eat something really bad (aka delicious) and that can be really hard for me. Luckily, it's usually Fridays they want to go out, and since my weigh ins are on Saturdays, that gives me a little extra motivation to say no, or go and just have a salad.

I've worked as a waitress in a busy restaurant when I was much younger and I certainly wouldn't count it as a workout. It's what you do every day. You don't raise your heart beat to fat burning levels for prolonged periods of time and those coffee pots certainly don't equal weights.