Deskercise

[Liefrich]

If you can't afford to pay £30 on a gym membership each month you must be on peanuts.

There is nothing you can do at your desk to lose weight, unless you fancy cracking up a bench and doing some free weights (probably not ideal ha)

Makunouchi is right, join a gym, take up running or a sport. If you dont have the will power you won't lose weight.

 

[MikeHunt79]

you could buy a cheap horrible bike for around £70, it will do the job, good test of willpower too now it's cold and rainy!

How far are you from work? If it's less then 15 miles then it can be cycled in under an hour.

 

[Helium_Junkie]

I'd love to cycle, but it I doubt I could afford a bike that could support my weight. ><

I've said a couple of times I'd be willing to look at non-desk related stuff, as it's already been explained that it's not possible.

Anyway this thread's only descending into "lol you're fat you suck" so thanks for the advice and all I'll do some research into other things and ask other questions at a later time on a better subject.

cheers.

 

[MikeHunt79]

I'd love to cycle, but it I doubt I could afford a bike that could support my weight.

Please, laugh at that too I personally find it hilarious.

I've said a couple of times I'd be willing to look at non-desk related stuff, as it's already been explained that it's not possible.

Anyway this thread's only descending into "lol you're fat you suck" so thanks for the advice and all I'll do some research into other things and ask other questions at a later time.

cheers.

Unless you're over 20 stone then a cheap mountain bike would be ok, they're a little less flimsy than road bikes!

I have a mate who's around 17stone because he eats too many doner kebabs, yet he cycles a lot and hasn't broke his bike unless he's crashed!

 

[platypus]

platypus......i inadvertently clicked the 'ieatpenguin' link in your sig....
sheeshh....you're a weird one aint ya!?

I most definitely am.

What makes you say that though ?

 

[platypus]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/sep/23/healthandwellbeing.features
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/so/guidance/stretch2
http://www.stop-smoking-stay-slim.com/exercise-fat-burning.html
http://www.fitandfitness.com/exercise-a-fitness/94-deskercise-exercise-at-your-desk.html

Loads more on ye olde searche engine.

 

[collisster]

buy a cheap bike and get pedaling in the evenings

 

[semi-pro waster]

I don't know what your works policy is but you might consider buying a Swiss Ball (giant inflatable rubber ball) and using that instead of a desk chair, shouldn't cost you more than £10 max and because it is a ball you'll constantly be using your core to stabilise yourself which ought to help your posture. It's probably not going to do a huge amount on its own but there are a great many exercises you can do with a Swiss Ball and a bit of ingenuity (or failing that look up some options).

//edit and do the obvious here, walk up the stairs rather than taking the lift if you work in an office that is above the ground floor etc.

 

[RimBlock]

Wow, some of the responses here are really pretty harsh. Pretty surprised as I always thought of this a a great supportive forum for people wishing to loose weight, and get fit amongst other things. Takes a fair bit of courage to announce in a public forum that you are seriously overweight even if you are behind an alias.

Anyway.......

Best way to loose weight at your desk is to check your diet, plan a healthy one and stick to it. Check your resting metabolic rate (have a google for calculators) and drop it by about 500 KCals and you should start to see a slow loss of weight. Around 1 lb / week but to put that in context, that is around 2Kg / month. If you are 20 Kg overweight then you are looking at the best part of a year using diet alone.

Now to make it worse, if you are not exercising then your body will not just be burning fat to make up the deficit of KCals but also protein in the from of muscle. So after a year you will be down to a good weight (based on the 20Kg overweight example and good diet) but will have no muscle (well significantly less).

To get round this and to aid a faster fat loss people exercise. Using the muscle promotes the body to hold on to it and having a good protein rich diet helps keep the muscle repaired. Weights / resistance exercises are what most do to keep the muscle mass and turn it in to more efficent muscle making you stronger with or without gaining size depending on goals, diet and training routine.

This sorts out loosing too much muscle but to really aid burning fat most people find doing some cardio work to be beneficial. This can be anything from walking to running to rowing and in fact anything at a basic stage that keeps your heart rate around the 70-80% mark (rough max heartrate is 220 - age). I am 36 at age of typing so my estimated maxHR is 184. 70% is 128 and 80% is 147bpm so around 130 -> 150bpm is the fat burn zone for me.

Starting from no fitness level, this 'zone' will be easy to reach and in fact may be hard to stay within as the body will be trying to go outside the top level. Just ease the exercise down, stop if needed until your heartrate recovers but try to keep within the 'zone'. Damn, I am starting to sound American........ my old china, apples and pears, barra boys, barra boys, right dats betta......

As you progress with the exercise, you will find that you need to apply more effort to get up to this heartrate range and you can do this by more challenging routes / longer times / faster completion times.

Starter exercises;
Walking - Drive somewhere more pleasant and go for a walk.
Cycling - Drive somewhere and then cycle around.
Drive & walk to work (excellent idea someone else here suggested).
Climbing stairs, boring but good for strength as well.

Low fitness;
Jogging (see walking above) - faster than walking, alternate with walking if needed to start with.
Cycling (see cycling above) - more challenging routes, longer distances.
Swimming - I put this here as most people will feel a bit more confident after getting a very basic level of fitness before going to a public pool.
Hill walking - go to the countryside and find some hills to walk up and down. I dont know what there is around you but surely there is some gree hills somewhere within a car drive. Check out the ramblers association.

Medium..... ok lets get past low before going there.

Of course this is just a very small idea of thisngs to do. Plently more out there.

Take a picture now, shirt off, in just shorts and keep it handy. Each time you think about having that bad food then look at the picture, each time you think of giving in on your walk or run etc then take a look at the picture.

If you keep it all up for a month or two you should see a difference as inital loss is quite big, unfortunatly this slows down though. Once you have lost the inital fat then that photo will be even better motivation not to go back to what got you to where you are today.

Posting here usually helps as lots of people are willing to give good advice based on their experiences and research and more than that, they are also willing to help with motivation. Post pictures, sure it is embarrasing at first, and they will enable you to track via the forum your progress. People here are usually not this harsh so don't forsake the forums.

Oh and spw's idea with the swiss ball is also great. If not at work then how about at home. Use it instead of the sofa or computer chair. Every little helps but the diet is the most important.

RB

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Rimblock, you just ruined a good flamefest!

heh, actually mate, i'm joking good, for you for the advice you've given.
This forum is one of the bitchiest you'll ever be a member of....however, the OP did all but state his unwillingness to compromise. Then after quite a few negative posts, he started to reneague as well he should, he won't get anywhere if he doesn't try.
H_J; RimBlock's basic advice is about the best you could hope for really mate. Right now your primary goal is to motivate yourself, then follow RB's advice, its basic science and it works.
Good luck.

 

[RimBlock]

Hi k.jacko,

Yeah, see the fun with the flames but would have expected this kind of response in the GD forum. The guy has come for advice on what most would find a touchy embarassing subject then getting short down. I would have taken a softer approach in pointing out that there is not really any exercise that is going to have a big impact whilst sitting at the desk. But, hey, everyone is different.

This forum is one of the bitchiest you'll ever be a member of....

I have only ever seen great advice (for the most part ) and friendly responses from people in SA so was a bit taken aback. Mind you I don't read the football threads and of course with the GD forum all bets are off .

Anyway, hope HJ finds some usefull info in the previous post and can get the motivation going. 2-3 weeks in it becomes a lot easier with the inital to keep motivated as the inital effects are becoming visiable. The 2-3 month slowdown, now that is another matter .

Ok, think that is my hourly smilie quota exhausted .

Cheers
RB

 

[Helium_Junkie]

however, the OP did all but state his unwillingness to compromise.

No, I said I lack willpower and cant afford a gym. That's hardly a complete lack of willing! I'm here aren't I?
People just decided to vent their anger on me because, you know, I'm not a real person with real feelings - I'm a few pixels on a computer screen and you can say what you like to that

RimBlock, that's really useful, thank you for that And for those who've actually suggested things.

I did a lot of reading through this forum last night about dietary things, and have made a couple of immediate changes.

1) No more coke.
I regularly drink a litre of this :/ Not every day but a couple of times per week. I know it's not good but it tastes so great. I have bought in a 1.5litre bottle and filled it with water, will try and drink this over the course of the working day, then only drink water at home.

Question: I have some low sugar lemon/lime squash, the RDA on it is all very low - is it reasonable to mix some in or would that be very counterproductive? How about fruit juices, like copella and tropicana?


2) No crisps.
Kinda speaks for itself. But I'm looking for a replacement mid-meal snack. I've been brought up by a mum who loved to feed me lots, and well, I eat a lot. I am trying to reduce this but I think I need to attack from both angles. Cut down how much, but also change the food to something that it doesn't matter quite so much if I eat a lot of it.

I read that rice cakes were a reasonable idea?


3) No sarnies.
This could kill me, but I read that bread is bad. I normaly take a sarnie or two to work for lunch, but plan to replace this entirely with salad (which I enjoy).

Salady goodness (please point out any bads): Yellow pepper, cucumber, spring onion, carrot, lettuce.
I already eat a fair amount of fruit: pears apples satsumas melon and grapes.

Just need to find a healthy dip or dressing for when the salad gets a bit dull. I hear oil+vinegar dressings are good for you in terms of heart health, but not for the weight?

Do any of these changes make no sense?


Regarding exercise: I have some weights that I pilfered some time ago, but I guess that is just building the muscles in my arms? Keeping the exercise indoors for the moment - is there any cheap equipment I could get that would help with the "Weights / resistance exercises" you suggest for the whole body? Or what else could I do inside the home?
The swiss ball idea sounds fun for sitting at my desk, will look into that.

I guess I should buy a heart rate monitor too

I appreciate any further help and advice.

 

[Makunouchi]

Rimblock, you just ruined a good flamefest!
This forum is one of the bitchiest you'll ever be a member of

Sorry but I'm not having this. The OP came in fully announcing he was willing to make absolutely no effort at all, apart from what he could do while sitting on his backside, in my opinion this sort of person doesn't deserve help because they are unlikely to take it on board and do anything with it.

However in this particular case as the thread went on he seemed more open to actually doing some exercise after work (which he originally said he wouldn't), and therefore he started to get more advice.

I don't think SA is bitchy at all, Motors on the other hand...

 

[Helium_Junkie]

The OP came in fully announcing he was willing to make absolutely no effort at all.

I said I had a willpower problem and I don't believe that I'm the only person in that boat... I think half the country suffers that. The fact that I'm asking for help should show that I want to change, that I'm WILLING to change. All I asked for was help finding a method I could use while at work, which some people have provided.

Clearly what I wrote came across not how I meant it to and opened the door to people who only wanted to make me feel worse about my physical state.

That doesn't make it right to do so.

So lets stop the "bash the fatty!" routine by not posting if you're only going to post about how much I suck

Thanks,

 

[RimBlock]

RimBlock, that's really useful, thank you for that

np.

1) No more coke.
I regularly drink a litre of this :/ Not every day but a couple of times per week. I know it's not good but it tastes so great. I have bought in a 1.5litre bottle and filled it with water, will try and drink this over the course of the working day, then only drink water at home.

Good. Coke is a big source of sugar as are a lot of soft drinks. I was surprised to find that Oasis was even worse though so don't be fooled by the 'totally natural' labels....... sugar is natural .

Question: I have some low sugar lemon/lime squash, the RDA on it is all very low - is it reasonable to mix some in or would that be very counterproductive? How about fruit juices, like copella and tropicana?

I personally drink plain water and the odd cup of tea at work. At home I add a small amount of orange squash for just a hint of flavour as I find plain water really boring. I mix around 25ml squash to 550 ml of water and believe it should be pretty negligable. I only drink 2 - 3 550ml water bottles worht at home though. Fruit juices are good for vitamins etc but can be quite calorific as well. Check the labels and keep a record of daily calorie / carb / fat / protein intakes. Over a month it will give you an idea of what you can eat to hit your required daily intake with deficit. This will also get you looking at the food labels.

2) No crisps.
Kinda speaks for itself. But I'm looking for a replacement mid-meal snack. I've been brought up by a mum who loved to feed me lots, and well, I eat a lot. I am trying to reduce this but I think I need to attack from both angles. Cut down how much, but also change the food to something that it doesn't matter quite so much if I eat a lot of it.

Cool, off to a flying start.

Snack foods, veg / salad stuff is usually pretty good. Nuts for good fats as you still need fats, just not the bad ones and not too much.

I read that rice cakes were a reasonable idea?

Pretty empty I believe so should be ok but check the labels. Oatcakes are also good as they are a low GI food and so the carbs they contain are complex and will sustain over a longer period of time rather than sugar which is a high GI food and will only last for a short time before being used or stored (re: fat).

3) No sarnies.
This could kill me, but I read that bread is bad. I normaly take a sarnie or two to work for lunch, but plan to replace this entirely with salad (which I enjoy).

Now lets not overdo it . Seriously stay away from any bread that is not wholemeal and even then take sparingly. Same for pasta and rice. Wholemeal (brown for rice) now and then is fine.

Salady goodness (please point out any bads): Yellow pepper, cucumber, spring onion, carrot, lettuce.

Salads are good. You could look at adding some seeds like sunflower seeds etc for some extra boost. Most veg should be good apart from potatoes which are high carb.

Just need to find a healthy dip or dressing for when the salad gets a bit dull. I hear oil+vinegar dressings are good for you in terms of heart health, but not for the weight?

Vinegar or olive oil based dressings are good. Olive oil is great for a healthy fat. Fish, especially oily fish like smoked salmon is also great for oils. You could add some lean meat to the salad like chicken / fish or turkey.

Regarding exercise: I have some weights that I pilfered some time ago, but I guess that is just building the muscles in my arms? Keeping the exercise indoors for the moment - is there any cheap equipment I could get that would help with the "Weights / resistance exercises" you suggest for the whole body? Or what else could I do inside the home?

Depends of available room. Bench press bench maybe. A power cage would be very good if you have the space but then you are looking GBP300+ from what people have reported here. Depends what weights you have really. Let us know and someone will offer advice on a routine you could try using big compound exercises to help strengthen the muscles. It would also be helpful to know your age, weight and height.

Have a search for Rippetoes strength training in google for a good starting routine with very few exercises per session (only 3). I have just started it and it is making me ache again .

I guess I should buy a heart rate monitor too

Usually expensive and not so much use. The ones with a chest band seem to be the more reliable but even those can be troublesome from what I have read.

Cheers
RB

 

[WantoN]

I have done a couple of searches but nothing came up

There's a reason for that

I've missed something obvious.

Only that you'll need to put more effort in if you really want to see results

I'd love to help you with nutritional tips, exercises ideas and cheap/free ways to lose weight, feel great and be healthier. But at the risk of sounder uber-cheese; "you gotta want it"

Ant

 

[Helium_Junkie]

There's a reason for that



Only that you'll need to put more effort in if you really want to see results

I'd love to help you with nutritional tips, exercises ideas and cheap/free ways to lose weight, feel great and be healthier. But at the risk of sounder uber-cheese; "you gotta want it"

Ant

Thanks for reading anything past the op
I'm going to delete the op, it's just making me feel like crap now and I've had enough.

 

[Makunouchi]

Clearly what I wrote came across not how I meant it to and opened the door to people who only wanted to make me feel worse about my physical state.

That doesn't make it right to do so.

So lets stop the "bash the fatty!" routine by not posting if you're only going to post about how much I suck

Well that wasn't my intention, I apologise for making you feel bad. I didn't think I was having a go at your physical state but if that's how it came off then I apologise for that as well. However it did manage to get you from a point of wanting to do very little to accepting that some serious effort might be required, so maybe it wasn't all bad in a 'shock' sort of way.

Anyway, changing your diet can have great benefits and it looks like you're getting some good advice now.

Goodluck.


edit: also, don't spend money on a heart rate monitor, you will definitely be able to tell when your heart is pumping more than usual And you don't need to know anymore than that.

 

[Helium_Junkie]

Usually expensive and not so much use. The ones with a chest band seem to be the more reliable but even those can be troublesome from what I have read.

Cheers
RB

Should I check if I'm at the right rate by manually counting? Or how else can I keep tabs on it while exercising.
Or is the actual rate itself not worth monitoring

 

[Helium_Junkie]

Now lets not overdo it . Seriously stay away from any bread that is not wholemeal and even then take sparingly. Same for pasta and rice. Wholemeal (brown for rice) now and then is fine.

I think the real sandwich problem is that since I became lactose intolerant I replaced butter for mayo. I can't imagine mayo is good for me! But no butter and no mayo = dry sandwich and I'm not good with dry foods.

But regarding rice and pasta, these pretty much make up my staple evening diet. What can these be replaced with?

Vinegar or olive oil based dressings are good. Olive oil is great for a healthy fat. Fish, especially oily fish like smoked salmon is also great for oils. You could add some lean meat to the salad like chicken / fish or turkey.

So a virgin olive oil + vinegar dressing is ok? Even regularly?