WFH will cause more obesity

[BalloonCityBaseline]

I can't see how it wouldn't. Stuck at home, alone, mostly based a desk. Not even a walk from a tube station or up a few flights of stairs. Access to more food. Usually I just bring what I know I should eat and then I don't buy more or use the vending machine, but at home I'm eating much much more.
What does everyone think? I'm sure there's some counter views.

But many people probably didn't make the link between their jeans being tighter than before - or perhaps wore sweatpants rather than jeans so didn't discover it - for a few months.

We're so conditioned to see exercise as something you do in lycra in a gym, that many folk won't have realised that actually sprinting for the bus, walking a few streets to the office and using the stairs rather than the lift are all pretty effective forms of functional fitness that your body misses quickly once they're gone.

Sure you can replace them with conscious exercise but that does need to be planned in and thought about.

I guess it all depends on routine. Definitely for the first lockdown I felt the same, much less natural movement, especially when the kids were off school. They just did not want to go for a long walk every single day even though they are good little walkers. Now they are back at school I am easily walking 10-20km a day. But it’s not enough for me, I need the gyms open so I can lift weights. I am terrible at working out at home. Also if I was near, say, a Pret I would be buying a salad every day. At home I just eat what’s there and often don’t have salad ingredients. I am trying to get back into 16:8 as that works for me. I would like to use about 3-5 kilos before the summer. My kids definitely put on weight during the school closures.

Closed schools and nurseries plus WFH really wrecked my weight and fitness. No walking to/from the train station, school and nursery pickup, and no time to fit in exercise any other time either.

But even now the kids are back it’s hard. My work’s expectations have really expanded to take up all that commuting time, and I have to really fight for my 30-minute lunch break.

I never really had a lot of daily time for exercise before anyway with job + children but I did fine building it into my normal day - did 12000+ steps daily just getting to/from work, walked up the stairs at work multiple times a day. Now I am at my desk in my house.

Personally I find I'm more likely to gain weight being in the office.

I don't really exercise either way but I was constantly eating in the office, buying brownies from the cafe downstairs,big lunches etc. I don't have that now.

Also my stress levels are better at home so that helps

I've lost weight since working from home, I think mainly because when I'm home if I'm not very hungry I might just have a few crackers with cheese for lunch. When in the office, I'd either have something brought from home and would always eat it all irrespective of how hungry I was, or if buying something out it's often so much better value to buy a meal deal than just a sandwich.

I agree that we need to take personal responsibility to stay fit and eat healthily and that, for a lot of people, wfh means more time to do exercise.

But for me, I find it hard to motivate myself to go for a run etc whereas my previous commute involved vast amounts of walking.

I think wfh increases the need for motivation and self-discipline and I think many would admit to lacking this. I’m so impressed with those on this thread who have instigated new exercise regimes but I do think they’re in the minority.

Commuting was an unavoidable form of exercise for me - I prefer it when I don’t have to make an active choice to exercise!

I think working from home generally is totally different from working at home during a pandemic - I think lots of people have struggled with stress/ boredom eating but that’s lockdown specific.

People might eat healthier lunches if they wfh as they aren't buying shop bought food that is generally higher in calories than home made.

People who walk to the station etc may exercise less but lots of people drive to work and sit at their desk for much of the day.

Well, ultimately not shovelling food in one's mouth prevents obesity. I see what you're saying, but people will have to adapt... or just get fat...

I'm in the better health at home camp. I drove to the office, took sensible food with me but often fell foul of team lunches, cakes to celebrate a birthday, and I kid you not, biscuit Wednesday. And relatively little opportunity to walk at lunchtime from office.

At home I am running several days a week at lunchtime, cooking better meals because I'm able to start earlier, etc.

One downside is I am drinking more, but I can fix that quite easily, by just, you know not.

People may drink less shop bought coffee too. An instant at home is much less than a latte with flavoured syrups.

WFH/lockdown has done the opposite for me.

I am a real social eater and so not being able to go out for meals,meet someone for coffee and cake, biscuits in the office has really helped me, plus I’m less tired/frazzled and not eating on the run and can guarantee having time to walk most days now I’m not commuting.

I’ve lost three stone, but equally I know I’m in the minority amongst my friends and colleagues, most of whom have gained, so maybe you’re right overall. There’s no judgement- it’s all about the factors that help or hinder each of us, isn’t it. It happens to have swung my way this time but that’s just luck really.

Apologies for not RTFT but for me personally and quite a few others I know, I disagree.

I don't have to commute so have more time and energy to exercise, I make a point of doing 10k steps at the very least every day, plus have some weights so I can do some sets of exercises throughout the day here and there.

I used to be too tired and rushed to remember to make lunch (i know that is my organisational skills at fault but unfortunately it is how it was, despite trying) so it would be a meal deal or something tempting from one of the local cafes. I wander around a lot more in the day and never snack.

I feel less stressed so find it easier to stick to my diet. I'm now down to a (generous) size 12 from an 18 at the beginning of 2020.

Obese friend has become more obese since compulsory WFH. She sometimes goes 5-6 days without leaving the house.

She's very sociable, so maybe her activity levels will improve a lot when we can freely mingle again. But the active travel routine is seemingly gone. She admits she can't make herself exercise (walk, cycle etc) alone.

Clearly, there are major differences between the home and work environments and people will adopt different habits in both.

I’m a teacher and my lockdown was 50/50 days working at home at a desk and days in with key worker kids.

I can’t snack when I’m in front of the kids and can only eat the (usually healthy) lunch I take with me. There are very few options for take out lunch around my school. I also cycle to work and climb hundred of stairs, chase children around the playground, etc. There used to always be tempting shared food in the staff room but that’s been banned because of COVID. It’s probably easier to keep good habits when in that routine.

At home, I can eat what I like and when I like, but I do make healthy choices for the most part. I like being able to make fresh cooked food for lunch. I don’t get anywhere near the same amount of steps, even with a lunchtime walk. I did have more time to hammer my indoor bike though, so found it easy to burn calories in a different way. I had more time to exercise, but I suppose I had to motivate myself to do it. I could quite easily go all day without walking more than a few hundred steps if I chose to.

Oh, I like to bake and can’t take it to work anymore to share. Sundays are boring at the minute so I tend to bake even more than I used to. That’s a bit of an issue.

It really depends on the person. I've gained a stone since lockdown but I'm very lazy and did a half hour walk at best, while WFH. My workplace is huge so I walked a lot 5 days a week. I have friends who did long commutes and have used the extra time to do exercise they enjoy but they're the busy on the go types and are in better Health now.

I've never done so much exercise since WFH. I'm less tired, less stressed and have 10 hours a week back now I'm not commuting. Part of last year I was snacking more but I've stopped buying those things and now eat a much better diet than I was in the office. I'm 9lbs down so far this year which isn't masses but I have an underactive thyroid and struggle to lose weight. So for me WFH is definitely having the opposite effect.

I have more energy now I'm wfh because I'm able to get more sleep, which has lead to me being much more active when I am awake before and after work.

I've more time to cook food properly rather than eat for convenience too and I just feel better overall.

@BalloonCityBaseline

I can't see how it wouldn't. Stuck at home, alone, mostly based a desk. Not even a walk from a tube station or up a few flights of stairs. Access to more food. Usually I just bring what I know I should eat and then I don't buy more or use the vending machine, but at home I'm eating much much more. What does everyone think? I'm sure there's some counter views.

Doesn't matter because it's not Covid

@RedGoldAndGreene

People may drink less shop bought coffee too. An instant at home is much less than a latte with flavoured syrups.

Due to lockdown boredom, I invested in quite a fancy home espresso machine with a milk wand.

I used to buy a latte on my way to work a few times a week and maybe another one or two at the weekend if out and about. I just drank instant once I was at work.

I’m back in the work place, but I now drink a latte EVERY day before I leave for work and then I make another one ‘for the road’. Whilst stuck at home at the weekends with NOWHERE TO GO, I like to pretend I’m in a coffee shop by sitting at the table next to a window with a coffee and homemade cake.

Oh well.

I found myself slipping in to bad daily habits. I run but only every other day, on the alternate days my steps sometimes didn’t reach 5,000.
Now I walk first thing in the morning, get up at the crack of dawn and get my 10,000 steps in before breakfast. That way anything else I manage to do that day is a bonus.

I'm fascinated by the changes covid has made to people's view of wfh. I wonder how it'll be in 3 or so years time.....

What about these companies who would never let a single employee work from home, not even for one day a week, for the last 15 years. Look at them now! What a change, eh!

Or alternatively stingy companies who can't wait cost wise, to close their London offices. Fine for those who like to WFH, but what about those people who actually like going into the office and socialising and getting work done?

I don't blame anyone but myself for my covid weight gain. I've never exercised anyway. And I've never had more than a 20 minute driving commute. I can't blame any of this for me putting on 1/2 a stone!

Covid has been fine for me because I have two part time jobs - one where I work 2 days at home and the other job I have gone into the office for the last 10 years and I have continued going into the office since Covid started in March 20 and have never stopped. This means Throughout Covid I have had the perfect work-life balance, and work-office balance, which most people haven't had.

Some people love wfh. I couldn't do it full time. I'd hate it.

It's ok if you've got a reasonable size house and a decent computer set up. for a lot of young people in small flats with a laptop on their bed, never seeing anyone for weeks on end - that is not an existence that I would wish any young person to have.

Pros and cons. I'm wondering how this will play out long term?

I've managed to lose weight while WFH, for the first time since a hypothyroidism diagnosis, as it's given me back nearly two hours a day in which to exercise, get better sleep and meal plan effectively.

My incidental movement is admittedly no different to what it was in the office as I drove door to door (rural, cycling or public transport would be impossible) and the car park, kitchen and loo were no more than 20 steps from my desk. Attending a meeting meant swivelling on your chair to face the middle of the room.

Now however I can run or work out in the morning and/or in my lunch break and still be at my desk early, showered and with a fresh pot of coffee on.

Depends on your circs.

For me yes because I like to have exercise built into the day rather than have to do it as a thing.

I used to get 8k+ including a steep hill and with a heavy backpack for most of it. Now, zilch.

This situation has fucked my MH as well.

For me the worst part is having the children around. I can't go anywhere if they're in the house except if I'm very motivated to get out alone late in the evening. (Which I'm not, when it's cold and dark.) DH is at work by 7am so it's on me to get them and dressed and breakfasted and bags packed and out to school, and I'm usually checking work emails to plan my day at the same time.

I don't feel I ever really had the extra time back from the commute. Work has never been so busy - I got a promotion about three weeks into lockdown but it means a lot of EU-facing work, which would be busy enough due to Brexit but is insane when I'm trying to homeschool for part of the day then jump onto my other work. I used to stop work in London at 5pm and run for the train so I could be at childcare for 6pm. Now I go pick up the kids at 3:20, give them a snack and their screens and go back to work. I feel like I'm always downing tools to make lunch/dinner/school trips, then I need to work later to make up for it, so there's less time available to me to go and move.

I gained a stone and a half. When things were normal enough in September I lost half that by dropping them in breakfast club and going to the gym for an hour before work, but the effects of Christmas, lockdown 3, depression and workload have all sucked me dry of any motivation since December and I put it all back. When the gym opens up again I'm hoping it will help.

It is diet related but for me, the exercise mentality plays a big part in that too - if I'm getting up early to go to the gym, I'm not having a glass of wine and looking for snacks late in the evening of the night before.