I know for many leaders and managers, it can be difficult to put your health first when you’re constantly looking after others.
Long hours of sitting often lead to reduced physical activity, which can contribute to weight gain, muscle stiffness, and other health issues like poor posture and back pain.
The demands of a busy schedule make it challenging to find time for exercise or to prepare nutritious meals, leading to reliance on unhealthy snacks or convenience foods.
Workplace stress also plays a big role, as tight deadlines and long hours can cause emotional eating and poor sleep.
Many offices lack healthy food options, making it harder to stay on track, and social pressures—like coffee breaks with sugary treats or after work drinks—add to the difficulty.
To address these challenges, I spoke to Claire Greenhouse, a Nutrition Coach and Personal Trainer who specialises in helping women over 40 lose weight, about how you can stay healthy and achieve your weight loss goals, even with a sedentary job.
Who Is Claire Greenhouse?
Claire is a qualified Nutrition Coach and Personal Trainer focusing on fat loss for women over 40.
She helps clients achieve sustainable weight loss without resorting to restrictive “fad” diets they may have tried before.
Her approach empowers women to reach their goals while maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
Why Weight Loss at Work Is Possible
Shedding pounds while working at a desk job can be challenging, but it’s far from impossible.
With some strategic planning and lifestyle adjustments, you can achieve your weight loss goals even if you’re desk bound for most of the day.
Most of the women I coach have sedentary jobs and busy family lives so if they can do it, so can you.
Before we dive into the strategies, let’s address a common concern:
How to Lose Belly Fat While Sitting at a Desk
This is a frequently asked question, and the answer is straightforward but not as easy as it sounds.
Weight loss, including belly fat reduction, is primarily controlled by what you eat and your overall movement throughout the day.
Unfortunately, spot reduction of fat in specific areas (such as belly fat) isn’t possible overnight.
It’s a stubborn area to reduce, but it can be done with consistency in maintaining a calorie deficit and increasing your daily movement.
Now, let’s explore five proven methods to help you lose weight (including belly fat) and stay healthy at work:
Nutrition is the key driver for weight loss
While exercise is fantastic for overall health and offers countless benefits, it isn’t the main factor controlling weight loss—nutrition plays the largest role.
This is empowering because it means that your body burns more energy through daily activities like walking, standing, and even fidgeting, known as NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), than it does in a typical workout session.
Even if you’re not exercising, your body still burns calories just by performing basic functions, like keeping your heart beating and your lungs working.
However, to accelerate weight loss, it’s important to incorporate more movement throughout the day.
For health benefits, aim to get between 6,000 to 8,000 steps daily (roughly equivalent to an hour of walking).
1. Understand Your Energy Needs
The foundation of effective weight loss is understanding how many calories your body needs.
Understanding how to calculate your energy needs is key to achieving sustainable weight loss.
Many people make the mistake of cutting calories too drastically, which can be unsustainable and harmful in the long run.
While I typically calculate this for my clients, you can easily do it yourself using the following method.
Here’s a simple step by step guide to help you determine how many calories you need each day:
- Calculate Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is the number of calories your body needs at rest to maintain basic functions. You can use the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation:
- For women: BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) – 5 × age (years) + 5
- For men: BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) – 5 × age (years) – 161
- Factor in Activity Level: Multiply your BMR by an activity factor to find your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE):
- Sedentary (little or no exercise): BMR × 1.2
- Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days a week): BMR × 1.375
- Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days a week): BMR × 1.55
- Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): BMR × 1.725
- Super active (very hard exercise/sports & a physical job): BMR × 1.9
Let’s go through an example using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for a woman:
Weight: 70 kg
Height: 165 cm
Age: 35 years old
- Calculate Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
Using the formula:
BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) – 5 × age (years) + 5
Let’s put in the values: BMR = 10 × 70 + 6.25 × 165 – 5 × 35 + 5
BMR = 700 + 1031.25 – 175 + 5
BMR = 1561.25 calories/day
This means that at rest, her body needs approximately 1,561 calories per day to maintain basic functions.
- Factor in Activity Level
Now, let’s calculate her Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) based on different activity levels:
- Sedentary (little or no exercise):
- TDEE = BMR × 1.2 = 1561.25 × 1.2 = 1,873 calories/day
- Lightly active (light exercise 1-3 days a week):
- TDEE = BMR × 1.375 = 1561.25 × 1.375 = 2,147 calories/day
2. Set Weight Loss Goals
For weight loss, she would aim for a calorie deficit, generally reducing her intake by about 500 calories per day:
If she is lightly active (TDEE = 2,147 calories/day), she could aim for a daily intake of around 1,647 calories/day to lose approximately 1-2 pounds per week.
Be mindful that as you lose weight, your energy needs will decrease, so you may need to adjust your intake over time.
Calculating your energy needs can give you a clearer idea of how much to eat and how to adjust your physical activity, helping you achieve your weight loss goals more effectively.3.
3. Take Walking Breaks Throughout the Day
Movement is one of the most powerful ways to burn calories, and it significantly impacts your overall health.
Regular walking, even in short bursts, can boost energy levels, improve mental clarity, and contribute to weight loss.
Walking can reduce the risk of early death, check out my blog post here.
Incorporating small strategies throughout your day can make a big difference.
Here are some simple ways to add movement during work hours:
- Leave something essential in your car so you have to walk back to get it.
- Park farther away from the office to add extra steps to your day.
- Take the stairs instead of the lift. If climbing the stairs is too challenging, start by walking down them.
- Swap traditional sit-down meetings for walking meetings—it’s a great way to combine work and exercise.
- Use the toilets located on a different floor or at the far end of the building to increase your walking time.
- Take phone calls standing up, and if possible, walk around the room during conversations.
- Avoid eating lunch at your desk. Use your break to go for a walk—fresh air and sunlight will also boost productivity.
- Set reminders to move for 5-10 minutes every hour. Drinking water regularly will keep you hydrated and naturally encourage you to get up and move when you need to use the toilet.
Consider using a standing desk. Studies have shown this can increase your calorie burn and reduce the strain on your neck, back, and shoulders. Standing for parts of your workday also boosts energy levels and improves focus.
Tracking your steps or setting movement reminders can help you stay active throughout the day.
Even small movements add up, helping to burn extra calories and reduce the negative effects of sitting.
4. Plan Your Meals – How to Eat Healthy At Work
Planning your meals in advance is one of the most effective ways to stay in control of your calories and make healthier choices.
By prepping your food ahead of time, you avoid the temptation of reaching for convenient but unhealthy options like fast food, snacks, or sugary treats from the office vending machine.
Many workplaces have a culture of bringing in sweets, cakes, and snacks for everyone to share.
While it’s fine to indulge occasionally, constantly dipping into the treat drawer can quickly derail your healthy eating efforts.
However, with the right strategies in place, you can stay on track with your nutrition goals, feel energised throughout the day, and avoid those unhealthy impulse decisions.
This doesn’t need to take a lot of time either, here are some examples:
- Overnight oats can be prepared the night before, you can add seeds and fruit and yogurt.
- Cook once, eat twice is my mantra – if you’re spending time cooking why not make larger portions so you can have leftover’s for work.
- Having a meal deal? Go for a sandwich or wrap that includes meat or fish. It’s all about reading the food labels and understand the best choices which are going to help you reach your goal.
- You could also think about keeping non-perishable food items like baby bels, jerky and some protein or nut bars.
5. Incorporate High Protein Foods into Your Diet
One of the best ways to stay resilent and reduce the likely hood of snacking is by elevating your protein levels.
Eating high protein foods is crucial for weight loss, especially when you’re sedentary at work.
Protein helps suppress appetite, promotes fullness, and boosts metabolism.
Here are some excellent high protein options to consider:
- Lean meats: Chicken breast and turkey are versatile sources that are low in fat.
- Fish: Salmon and tuna are rich in protein and omega-3 fatty acids, which support heart health.
- Dairy: Low fat options like cottage cheese, yogurts can be great snacks or meal additions.
- Legumes: Chickpeas and black beans provide protein and fibre, keeping you full longer.
- Plant-based options: Tempeh and edamame are excellent sources of complete protein for vegetarian
- Protein shakes: these are a really convenient and easy way to help bump up your protein levels
If you want to find out more about high protein grab and go options, I’ve created a 14 day Protein Challenge.
This will educate you on calorie breakdown along with protein amount of different foods.
You’ll also receive coaching videos from me and recipe ideas. If you want to know more click here ⬇️
You can also follow Claire on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/clairenutritioncoach/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-greenhouse-8128751a5/
https://www.facebook.com/ClairegNutritionCoach
