Working from home comes with perks and drawbacks. Avoid the work from home weight gain with these nine practical and realistic tips.

Working from home can be a serious blessing as well as a bit of a burden. 

Yes, you get to avoid the commute, can work in comfortable clothes, and do not have to adhere to a super strict office schedule. Though I will say that as a work from home mom, I adhere to a super strict three year old and toddler schedule.

I am not sure if I prefer the strict routines of a teacher schedule, or the strict routines of children’s schedules.

Working from home might make you feel a bit isolated, you have to be very self-regimented (no more Netflix after the kids go to bed), and many people who switch from an office job to a work at home job find themselves putting on weight. 

There is something about having constant access to the kitchen and all the food in it that makes the work from home weight gain really easy to put on. In addition, taking breaks from work often looks like heading into the kitchen to graze on a quick snack or bring something to munch on back to your desk. 

I have been known to have a handful of chocolate chips or some dry cereal by my side as I write blog posts and put together training plans.

Instead of falling into the work from home weight gain trap, try these strategies to avoid that weight gain all together and give yourself a healthier start to your working from home life that you have planned so hard to start. 

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Pack Your Lunch

The same way you would as if you were going to the office for the day, pack your lunch. Use these food storage containers and have them ready to go in the fridge for your work day. 

I used to pack my lunches for teaching for three days ahead. Then they were done and ready to go as I was heading out the door without extra stress and rush in the mornings.

You could even go so far as to put a mini fridge in your office space and store your lunch and snacks there. That way, you are not tempted to grab whatever you see in the kitchen once lunchtime rolls around.

Packing your lunch for the day will also make meal planning and grocery shopping so much easier as well since you will not run out of food if you just rely on dinner leftovers and you will not overbuy as you know what items are appointed for what meals. 

Take A Real Lunch Break

You need to take a real lunch break. This means you have to physically move away from your desk and go somewhere else to eat. 

Think about where you would have eaten lunch in the office. Would you be in the break room with friends? The staff lounge with other teachers? Or sitting outside?

Whatever you can do to recreate that environment, make it happen. Give yourself the same amount of time, whether it be 30 minutes or 60 minutes for your lunch, and then get back to work. I promise you will feel so much more refreshed and productive!

A few quick lunch ideas:

• Quinoa Lunch Bowl
• Lightened Up Chicken Salad
• Tortellini Tomato Salami Pasta Salad
• Lightened Up Cobb Salad
• Quicker Than Take Out Chicken Lo Mein

Give Yourself Short Breaks

Instead of just opting to graze in the kitchen during a work break, make it a real break. The same way you would do in the office, you would not just head for the office kitchen to eat. You could: 

• Go for a walk around the house 
• Move some laundry around 
• Take a quick shower
• Call a friend for a quick chat 
• Go outside for some fresh air 

Whatever you choose to do for your break, make it one that will count. I also recommend that you set a timer on your phone for how long you want your break to be so you do not get distracted and take up too much valuable work time.  

Similarly, set a timer to give yourself a break every 90 minutes so you have a focus point for getting up from your desk and moving.

When choosing what snacks to eat during these breaks, opt for ones high in protein and fiber to keep you fuller longer and to help you avoid those sugar spikes and crashes.

Here is a list of on the go snacks that would be easy to snag and take a break with.

Also be sure to check out Daily Harvest for those quick snack options. They deliver to your home and make it so incredibly easy to eat healthy with minimal time!

Eat Away From Your Desk

One of the biggest culprits of the work from home weight gain is the fact that so many of us want to eat at our desks while we continue to work. It makes us feel like we are getting more done without missing a beat in our to do list.

I cannot tell you the amount of salad dressing I have spilled on a pile of grading while I tried to multitask. 

Instead of having a snack, or lunch, at your desk, eat somewhere else. This will help you be more mindful of the food you are eating, how it actually tastes, and how much you eat. Without the distractions of your work in front of you, you can pay more attention to those fullness and hunger cues.

Eating at a table away from your desk will feel like a true break from work and bring you back refreshed.

Schedule Gym Time

With any office job, you are on a pretty tight schedule. You have to clock in early, have a short amount of time for lunch, and fight with traffic on your way home. Your workout time has to fit in at some point during those non-work times.

The only thing that changes when you work at home is you are more likely to be able to set your own hours. Schedule your workout time based on your hours and keep to them. 

Snag your six-week Full Body Tone Routine here so you can take all of the guesswork out of your gym time, get toned, and not waste time debating about what to do in the gym.

If you want to be at your desk in your home office for a few morning hours and then take a workout break, do it. If you want to get your fitness in first thing before work begins, then make it happen. 

Need some workout inspiration? Try these:

• Biceps and Back Blast Workout
• Busy Parent Workout: 40 Second Compounds
• Cardio Interval Repeats
• Counting Down Rounds Full Body Workout

However you decide to structure your day, be sure you adhere to the schedule and do not deviate. You would not be able to deviate from that schedule with an office job, so treat your work from home job in the same way.

Get Out of The House (If You Can)

Working from home can be very distracting (hello all the house chores staring at you!).

Rather than suffer through the stare down, opt to work from a coffee shop for a few hours as many of them offer free wifi. There are many Saturday mornings when Rob takes the kids for a few hours and I head out to grab a breakfast sandwich from Panera and a few hours of kid-free work time. It is heavenly!

To keep costs low, head to the library. There are silent study spaces and larger tables for you to spread out if needed. The library is one of my favorite places to knock out anything that has a tight deadline and needs some serious focus.

Another option would be to pay for some time in a co-working space where there are comfortable chairs, different styles of desks, and other work from home people to talk to. 

Only Buy Healthier Snacks

So many of my clients know their weakness foods, or foods they cannot keep in the house because they will just gravitate towards it. If you are trying to avoid the work from home weight gain, then having these snacks in the house would be extra difficult to stay away from.

Pay attention to what those foods are for you (for my husband, it is cookies, for me, it is any kind of ice cream bar) and do not buy them. Opt only for healthier snacks and keep the junk away. When you are feeling the need to graze, you will have more decent options to chose from. 

Some healthier snack options you can have on hand include: 

• Trail mix 
• Apple with string cheese
• Banana with nut butter
• Hummus with veggie sticks (carrots, cucumbers, peppers)
• Mini veggie wrap
• Small spinach salad with walnuts
• Cowboy caviar

Skip The Kids’ Snacks

If you are working from home while also caring for your children, it can be very difficult to avoid the kid snacks. Instead of snagging a handful of Goldfish, or finishing their lunch leftovers, make sure you plan and prepare snacks for yourself as well. 

Keep your snacks high protein, high fiber, and as much natural food as possible. You can do this for your kids’ snacks as well and then not worry about eating foods with less nutritional value.

Both my kids and I love Made in Nature Mangos, cheese sticks, and cherry tomatoes.

Close The Kitchen

After breakfast dishes are done, kids are off to school, and the house is quiet. Close up the kitchen. This could be as simple as doing the morning dishes and putting everything back in its place.

Having a clean kitchen space will allow you to have more brain space for your work and deter you from making more food because then you have to do more dishes (at least it definitely does for me). 

I am so excited for you as you begin this work from home path. I have been a work from home mom for the past eight months and have truly never looked back (except for those moments when the kids are throwing complete meltdowns at the same time). The time I get to set my own schedule, spend with my children, and be in the comfort of my home while building my dream career has been more than I hoped for during the full year it took me to make the leap. 

You can avoid the work from home weight gain and enjoy all the perks of working from home in a healthy way. 

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