This website is supported by its readers. If you click one of my links I may earn a commission. I am also a participant in the Amazon affiliates programme and I will also earn a commission from qualified purchases.
Overeating is one of those sad realities that almost all remote workers face when working from home. I know when I first started my remote working journey, my waistline definitely gained a few inches, heck believe it or not it wasn’t long until I had to buy new clothes!
So what are some tips to help you avoid overeating when you work from a home office? And how exactly can you go about getting more exercise when you work from home? I found the following steps useful to help get me back in shape.
(Just a heads up a lot of people reading my blog are in the process of designing their own home office. If you want to save some of the painstaking time I did in designing my office, you can find my non-chair recommended products here)
Work out first thing in the morning
Anyone who shares a bed with you will hate me saying this, but working out first thing in the morning can be one of the most effective ways to stop you from overeating in my opinion.
I found that working out as soon as I wake up, going for a bike ride or hitting the gym at 5 in the morning frees up your day and will start your day off right when working from home.
I mean think about it, if you have eaten crap all day and have to go to the gym in the evening, I know I’m much less likely to want to go in.
Getting your exercise first thing in the morning will keep you motivated to start the day off correctly and stick to a healthy lifestyle.
Don’t work in the kitchen
Now this is going to be a bit of a tough one for anyone living in a studio flat but working from home in your kitchen dinner can be a huge mistake.
The fridge can often prove to be a huge distraction when working from home and so avoid it all together and try to work from a home office if possible.
Doing so, will once again get you in the right mindset to work and before you know it you will forget about filling your face with junk food.
Speaking of which, did you know that delayed gratification can result in better achievements. The famous Stanford Marshmallow Experiment found that kids who were able to not snack right away but wait till later ended up performing better in school.
The same goes for us adults in the work environment, if we are able to delay any snacking we can get more done and potentially get along further in our careers.
Get enough quality sleep
So if you feel as though your diet and exercise are on point and yet somehow, you still find yourself overeating, a major culprit can be your lack of sleep.
According to studies People who sleep less than 8 hours are more likely to be overweight and have a higher BMI than remote workers who get a full 8 hours rest.
So how can you get better quality sleep? Luckily I’ve written a blog post talking all about how to stop feeling tired when you work remotely but a few quick takeaways you can do today are:
- Avoid looking at your phone, TV or any blue light an hour before bed
- Start reading books, not only will you gain knowledge, you will feel sleepy nearer bed time ( works for me every time)
- Take a warm shower or bath with chamomile bath salts to help you relax
- Invest in Blackout blinds that will stop any light getting through your bedroom Aim to sleep around the same time every day
Don’t try fad diets
One of the things us remote workers tend to do when we gain our initial “work from home weight” is go onto youtube and look for any diets to lose 30 pounds as soon as possible,
No matter what you read on the internet ( or what products dodgy looking websites may try to sell you) there is no quick fix to losing weight.
It’s more often than not, a case of calories in vs calories out.
All diets work this way whereby you eat less calories than you burn on a daily basis to lose weight.
A fun study that talked about this was the Twinkie experiment in which a college professor ate nothing but Twinkies, Oreos and other junk for two weeks and still managed to lose weight.
Now by no means am I telling you to lose weight by eating junk, all I am saying is that you need to be patient when it comes to weight loss, the pounds will drop, slow and steady wins the race!
Consider intermittent fasting
Right so a lot of you might be thinking hang on a second isn’t this a fad diet?
Truth be told, a lot of people use intermittent fasting as a way to sell products sbut the idea is something I think everyone can benefit from.
The general idea is you restrict eating food for only a certain amount of hours in the day, typically an 8 hours window of eating followed by a 16 hour period of not eating.
This will restrict you from eating and will hopefully mean you consume less calories than you would normally.
Do at least one hour of exercise per day
Similar to the first point I made, doing at least one hour of exercise per day can be super important when working from home.
Most remote workers are quite bad at managing their time meaning you might actually end up working out less than you would in a normal 9-5.
That being said, almost all of us have one spare hour per day that we can use.
Try to hit two birds with one stone by working out during a lunch break or make your workouts count by doing some HIIT training which is a lot more intense then standard jogging.
A good example of a Hiit workout can be found below:
Drink water on an empty stomach
A lot of the time, we often mistake thirst for hunger.
The next time feel slightly peckish down a cool glass of H20 and you might find yourself slightly less thirsty.
It might be a quick tip, but the amount of times doing this has helped me avoid the Mars bars in my pantry are more than I’d care to admit.
Drinking water can definitely be a challenge but if your interested in learning more about how to drink more water when working remotely check out this blog post or check out my recommended bottle here
Invest in a standing desk
A surefire way to get more exercise in and avoid overeating when working from home is to invest in a standing desk.
Doing so keeps you on your feet all day and will definitely help you burn more calories than you would if you were sitting on a standard chair.
So what standing desk should you invest in? Good news is that I’ve written all about my favorite standing desks here.
Now bare in mind standing desks can be a little bit of the pricey side so some good alternatives would be Standing desk converters which you can tread up a little more about here.
Use MyFitnessPal to keep track of your calories
So we discussed that calorie counting is one of the most effective ways of watching what you eat and avoiding overeating when you work from home.
So you’re probably thinking “oh great, I’ve got to read food labels and carry around food diaries for the rest of my life”
Here’s the surprising truth, it’s not 1994 any more and tracking your calories has never been easier.
Not only does this give you a breakdown of calories in vs calories out, You can also adjust the amount of protein, carbs and fats you have on a particular day.
Meal prep for the week ahead
I don’t know about you, but I tend to binge eat the most when I have nothing in the house prepared. Why make a dish when the golden arches are just around the corner!
The sad fact though is not only is food from outside overpriced, it’s also unhealthy for you.
A homemade sandwich is likely to be a lot less calorie dense than a sandwich from outside.
Instead, make a meal plan every week, your wallet and waistline will thank you.
Mark down the days you eat out
So often when people eat out, the first thing on their mind is does this mean I can never go to a restaurant again.
Absolutely not,
You just have to be a little bit smarter with your choices.
The best diet is the one you can stick to and the same goes for avoiding overeating at home.
Saving your eat out days for a day or two per week ( nothing like a weekend mixed grill) means you will be able to adhere to your diet 80% of the time.
Eat more fruits and vegetables
Another major reason people overeat when working from home is because of the lack of fruit and vegetables in their diet.
One area in which people really forget about when trying to lose weight is micro nutrients.
These little guys are super important when it comes to you getting all the vitamins you need on a daily basis.
Aim to have at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Now fruit and veggies also have another major benefit which is that they keep you satiated whilst not having too many calroeis.
Doing this will make you want to avoid eating anything else – and keep you fuller for longer.
Fruit and vegetables can fill you up while only having a fraction of the calories as normal foods
Consume more fibre
One of the reasons why fruit fills you up so much is because it is full of fibre.
Fibre is one of the micro nutrients that keep you fuller for longer so definitely aim to eat between 20 and 30 grams of it per day.
So what are some foods that are full of fibre?
- Nuts and seeds (my personal favorite are chia seeds)
- Beans and pulses
- Wholegrain cereals
- Potato skins
Eat your protein
Whilst high protein diets are usually a staple for bodybuilders and those looking to build themselves into a tank, having a high protein diet can be also be beneficial to keep you full
Protein is the most satiating macro nutrient meaning out of fat and carbohydrates, protein will keep you fuller for longer.
Don’t keep junk food in the house
Sooner or later you will crack and look for something to eat around the house, this is fine and natural but try to avoid keeping junk food in your house.
Me, I’ve got a sweet tooth so one of the things I like to do is replace chocolate with chocolate substitutes like dates or homemade oat bars which fulfill your craving whilst not demolishing all the hard work you have been doing.
You’ll be shocked at home doing something as simple as not keeping your junk food in the house will change up your ability to stay healthy when working from home.
Don’t drink your calories
Another trick I learned was not to drink your calories.
I was actually pretty shocked when I found out home many calories were in fizzy drinks like coke or pepsi, instead create your own natural smoothies or aim to stick to good old H20.
Oh and while we are on the subject of liquids for the love of God if you see anyone trying to sell you herbal tea that will help you lose weight run for the hills.
Schedule your day
Finally, one of the major reasons in which I and many people like me would overeat when in my home office is just boredom and free time.
Often at times we snack when we are not even hungry and want something to do.
The best way to overcome this is by keeping yourself busy, schedule out your day to keep you busy and you will find that you have less time to eat around the house.
How to avoid overeating in a home office
So hopefully the point above will help you like they did me when it comes to curbing overeating when working from home.
I’ve written quite a few posts on this site on like minded topics so feel free to check them out below:
Finally a lot of people reading my blog want to know what products I recommend for a home office/remote working. You can find out my recommendations here and learn how I make money whilst working remotely on the side here.
The content on this on this site has been written by Fehed Nicass who has over a decades worth of experience in sales and has worked remotely for the past 2 years.