Why your job is making you fat

Many of us blame our workplace for our double chins and muffin tops but there are ways to make pounds without piling them on. Sitting behind a desk all day can prove to be a very hungry place and when Tina’s treat tin is right in front of you, bulging with hobnobs and macaroons, it can be impossible to resist temptation.

Your nine-to-five office job has been the death of your new year’s resolution and you break the diet each morning as Jim offers round his wife’s freshly baked cupcakes. I’ll start tomorrow, you tell yourself, once all the cakes are gone…into my mouth…

Your diet begins again at the start of a new week, but when your colleagues are stuffing their faces with McDonalds and crunching their teeth down on crisps, it can make your salad look rather bland and unappealing.

You’re not the only one that finds it impossible to chow down on your leaves like a rabbit, more than 75% of highly stressed workers feel they are overweight and their desk job is to blame.

Chief of human resources officer for CareerBuilder, Rosemary Haefner said that workers are becoming more conscious of their weight, but due to increasing stress-levels, are less motivated to do something about it.

She said: “Due to higher stress-levels, longer work days and constant multitasking, it is more difficult to find the time to act on wellness goals.”

Female employees are the most prone to packing on the extra pounds, with research showing that 49% of women have gained weight in their present job. Research has revealed that certain jobs are worse than others for weight gain, including the transportation industry, health care, sales, retail and IT.

As an individual you can take steps to avoid putting your order in with Steve as he nips out to the local fast-food restaurant by taking your lunch to work every day.

Prepare a meal that you can look forward to and that will keep you going throughout the day without needing to snack. Sometimes you mistake your rumbling tummy for hunger, but all you really need is a pint of water and some fruit.

There will always be feeders in the workplace who think they’re doing you a favour by offering up sweet treats. For this reason, the possession of self-restraint will be your biggest challenge but it is also a necessity if you are to shed some pounds.

Businesses will need to take action to slim down the levels of obesity in the workplace as well.

Ms. Haefner said: “To make wellness at work a priority, companies should emphasize its importance from top leadership on down and focus on engagement, motivation, support and strategy when implementing new programs.”

If your business has wellness benefits in place, promote and encourage employees to take advantage of those.

Only 17% of workers say they have actually dropped a size since employment. How? These employees steer clear of takeout food, avoid snacking at their desks, exercise three or more times a week and take advantage of all wellness benefits their company has to offer.