STOP GAINING WEIGHT WHILE WORKING FROM HOME

“I was honestly fearful I was about to blind my new boss with a button if I fully exhaled. By the end of the meeting I’m sure I was a shade or two closer to beetroot due to holding my stomach in for a solid 45 minutes…”

This was the situation Dave had found himself in after returning to the office to meet the new company director in person

after 4 months of working from home, it was the first time Dave had needed to get into his office gear, and as soon as he’d slid his work shirt over his shoulders, he knew he was in trouble

“honestly the fact I managed to get all buttons done up was a feat of strength… and thinking about it was about the extent of my fitness regime since we got locked out of gyms in March!”

Whilst Dave’s imagery was admittedly more amusing than most would describe the predicament, it’s been an all too familiar scene since working from the kitchen has become the norm

The lockdown gut is real…

Our daily activity has taken a nose drive since most people’s commute became all of 30 seconds if they’re in a rush after hitting snooze one too many times, and our dietary habits have been turned on their head

And it’s causing us to

• add on extra weight in areas that are causing legitimate health risks…
• feel lethargic by mid-afternoon and having to mainline caffeine through any means necessary...
• lose all motivation we had to train or make out fitness a priority, calling this year a “write-off”...

Humans are meant to move, and the lack thereof is causing a societal shift away from health, and towards the higher risk category on all of the government's fancy charts.

What can we do about it?

All is, as you’d expect, not lost

In fact here at our personal training studio in Milton Keynes, through our community driven 1-2-1 and small group sessions, we’ve been helping our clients combat the new normal through both effective training sessions, daily movement drills, and simple to implement nutrition changes

You see it hasn’t just been our highly impactful 40 minute group coaching sessions that have meant our clients have managed to combat their lockdown weight gain

It’s the tactics they’ve implemented outside of their weekly sessions that you too could begin to use from today, to help reduce the risk of weight-gain related wardrobe malfunctions, and increase your energy, motivation and mood 

And you can find two of the most effective tactics we’ve seen help, right here

Tactic 1- Make a Daily Movement Plan

The amount of calories (energy) you burn throughout week, compared to the amount of calories you consume (food), dictates whether you lose weight, gain weight, or stay the same weight

​For example, if you drive to work 5 days a week, and fill your tank up on Friday on your commute home

and then one week, you only drive your car to work on a Thursday and Friday, and take the start of the week off to have a bit of a staycation with your partner

on the Friday commute home, if you attempted to fill your car up with the same amount of fuel that you normally would- you’d end up with petrol pouring down the side of your vehicle

Less movement for your car, less fuel is used

People are the same

if we normally go to work, walk up the stairs to our office, go out to the cafe mid-morning to grab a latte, and stroll around the building in order to go to meetings- we’re using fuel to do so

If we then instead, begin to have all of our meetings via zoom, and we walk all of 10 feet to get to the bathroom and back as our maximum amount of steps? We’ll use less fuel

Trying to fill ourselves with the same amount of energy as we always do? And we don’t end up with petrol down the side of us as our under-utilized car would… instead we store that excess energy for later use- in the form of body fat

Saying “ok cool, I’ll just move more” is a fruitless exercise

It’s like saying “ok cool, I’ll just go to the gym 3 times a week, drink more water, eat my veggies and get 8 hours of sleep a night”

We all know the things we should be doing. It’s the realistic and sustainable execution of said tasks that become the sticking point

​There needs to be a plan in place. When will you move more, what kind of movement, and how will you remain accountable?

You need to get specific

Here’s an example of what we’ve seen work for our Armoury Athletes…

• I will go for a 15 minute walk around my neighbourhood first thing in the morning after I make my coffee
• I will play basketball with my Son for 30 minutes when he gets home from school (before his homework)
• I will set an alarm on my phone for every single hour I’m awake and get up to do 5 minutes of simple stretches
• I will put on latin music and dance whilst I make my dinner in the evening (yes, really)
• I will go for a bike ride with my wife every Sunday after we have our brunch

If possible (spoiler alert, it is), try to stay accountable to your movement goals somehow. A lot of our clients use a google sheet tracker, or a print and tick calendar to monitor their weekly adherence.

​So, we’re taking steps to increase the energy out component that’ll help us avoid having to punch a new hole in our well-worn belt, now let’s look at the other side of the equation 

​Here at the Armoury, we don’t ban foods

Honestly, outside of a bad batch of meth, most things in moderation aren’t going to be overly detrimental when considered in the larger construct of your diet

what we are aware of however, is how much you’re getting out of the choices you make when they aren’t such nutritious options

Because yes, you can eat cake, crisps and chocolate bars and still get great results so long as it’s balanced throughout your week.

However these highly processed options are nutrient sparse, meaning they don’t have much in the way of protein, fibre or vitamins that help to satiate you and keep hunger at bay

Which is why you need to consider what you’re getting from their consumption. 

For example if every Sunday you make pancakes with your wife and kids, and your son always has the honour of decorating your final serving with whatever ridiculous combination of maple syrup, whipped cream, and fruits he can find (leaving you to “guess the animal” upon completion)

You’ll be getting social benefits from that experience that can far outweigh the caloric intake

If however, you’re stressed at work and reach for the chocolate bar, only to find an empty packet and sadly realise you must have eaten it whilst inputting data into a spreadsheet without thinking?

That’s bringing you very little in the way of joy, or nutrition.

We eat these foods, oftentimes, because we’re bored or stressed, and want that little hit of dopamine (a feel-good hormone). 

​So, how can we recognise and stop mindless snacking that brings no benefit (physical or emotional), and only makes it a harder process to get our top button done up on our old favourite pair of jeans?

Tactic 2- The Cravings Timer

Habits are initiated by triggers

Stressed at work, walk to the kitchen and grab your favourite biscuit (or 9), and casually eat them at your desk whilst continuing to work

We need to break that chain, and build awareness about the response to the stimulation (in this example, stress)

One method that we implemented with Dave, is the craving timer method. Dave placed an egg timer on top of the tin he kept his biscuits in. When he found himself in front of the tin, he set the timer for 3 minutes, went back to his desk, and allowed himself that 3 minutes of “relaxing” on the internet- he’s a big fan of “fail” videos on youtube

Once the timer was up, Dave would then decide whether he still wanted his jammy dodgers or not. Oftentimes the break between craving and response, and the dopamine hit he’d get from watching hilarious sporting mishaps meant that actually, he was fine without having it, and just getting back to work

And the time’s when he decided he did still want the biscuit? It was a conscious decision he’s made, rather than one he put not actual thought into. And if he went for it, there was no guilt associated, BUT he had to focus on the snack- so no screen in front of him, and ensuring he got actual enjoyment from the event

A combination of this method, scheduling in his walks and dancing in the kitchen (yes, that was his habit), meant Dave began seeing his lockdown gut shift, and regained confidence in his shirts staying in one piece in work meetings

If you’d like any help coming up with your own tactics to do the same?

Just click here to grab a free trial or phone consult, and I'd be happy to chat about the best option for you

and no, I won’t ask you to salsa whilst making your famous spaghetti bolognese