Nothing But a Chair: A Workout for the Office

I'm gonna be really honest with you here. Before I started Kennebec Valley Coaching, I had absolutely no idea how hard it can be for people to stay fit when they work behind a desk. A desk job is far and away the number one answer I hear when I ask people why they started to fall out of shape, or when their weight initially became a problem for them.

This is due to two different factors: lack of planning with food choices, and a good old fashioned shortage of moving around.

I've worked a desk job for about 4 years, and so far, I've been lucky enough to have stayed pretty fit. But believe you me, I can see how it happens.

I try hard to do two things to keep me on track. First I bring enough healthy food to keep me going without an everyday candy bar trip to the gas station:

Pear, Apple, Greek Yogurt, Carrots, Pistachios, Tuna, and Dark Chocolate

About 800 calories, with good fat and lots of protein.

And second, I do little exercises in my office all day long. Which, you'll be lucky enough to watch me do on my webcam. 

Who wants to watch me try to do one-legged squats in a pair of jeans that are way too damn tight? 

You do? Well okay!

I like to do walking lunges to the bathroom, too.

What do you do in your office? We're talking exercise here people, not facebook.

Lunchtime Tweaks

I usually don't eat out for lunch. Not because I don't love to eat out, but because it gets expensive. I work close enough to home that I usually blitz out and eat some leftovers while I catch an episode of The Duggars on Netflix Instant.

I love my life.

But today my schedule's all over the place, so I ended up grabbing lunch at a deli.

When I walked through the door of the deli, I wanted a Turkey Rachel. It's only the most amazing sandwich on the face of the planet....turkey with thousand island dressing, swiss cheese, and a heap of coleslaw, on buttered rye bread, grilled. Holy crap, it's hands down the best food item ever invented. But the butter alone makes it more of a treat sandwich and less of a normal-old-Thursday sandwich.

So I moved on and opted for this:

Yes, I'm a trainer who eats potato chips.

There are a few 'keys' to this lunch:

1) I ordered half of a sandwich. Yes, it has a little bit of mayo and swiss cheese, but only half as much as a regular sandwich.

2) I wanted the corn chowder--because HELLO????!!!! it's the soup of the gods--but again, it's heavy on the butter. And the cream. And all other manners of goodness. So I opted for the chicken and barley soup instead.

3) And the chips? It's a tiny bag that has 80 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. Much better choice than the potato salad and seriously, who doesn't love a chip?

Staying lean isn't about making extreme choices or eating strange foods. It's about making decent choices consistently. Sure I made a few little sacrifices, but that was a stinkin' good lunch. Plus, no blech feeling and zero regrets.

People, you can have your Turkey Rachel and eat it, too.......but save it for date night.