You’ve probably already set your weight loss goals. Check. Purchased an endless supply of new workout clothes to get you through every type of weather condition. Check. Stocked your fridge full with lean meat, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and everything else as recommended by nutritionists. Check. And subsequently a filled your trash can with candy, soda, ice cream, potato chips and my personal nemesis, sour patch kids. Check. You’ve taken the first step by laying down the foundation needed for you to finally break your bad habits and get healthy, but now for the hard part, actually following through and achieving your weight loss goals.
Generally speaking, the most common reasons people don’t follow through on weight loss goals are because of the following:
- Overeating (yes you can overeat healthy foods too)
- Lack of sleep
- Dining out too often
- Negativity
- Lack of a solid support group
- Creating vague or unrealistic goals
- Lack of consistency
- Procrastination
- LACK OF TIME
Of course this list could go on and on, but instead of focusing on all the ways that can bring about failure, lets focus on what you can do to ensure success.
The easiest way to get healthy is by making it fun and easy and by integrating workplace weight loss into your already existing daily schedule. A great way to do this is by replacing sitting at your desk with weight loss walking at a treadmill desk or bike desk.
Walking 10,000 Steps a Day
A great way to ease your way into fitness is by weight loss walking with a short walk each day. Ideally, you’ll want to get 10,000 steps in a day as recommended by the American Heart Association. If you can get even more steps in, even better. If not, start by adding an addition 1,000 steps each week to your current daily total until you work your way up to 10,000 a day. If walking on a treadmill desk, you'll want to start out at slower speeds and slowly work you way up as you get more comfortable with walking and working. Remember to be patient with reaching your step count goal. You’ll get there. I promise.
Walking is the best possible exercise.
- Thomas Jefferson
Benefits of a Walking Treadmill Desk
Besides providing a calorie burn, there are a lot of additional benefits of walking and working at a treadmill desk:
- Prevents/manages obesity related health conditions
- Helps maintain strong bones
- Promotes creativity
- Increases productivity
- Improves mood
- Reduces stress
- Reduces anxiety and depression
- Low-impact exercise
Keeping Track of Your Steps
Now that you are putting in the work you’ll want to keep track of all your efforts. No not with a scale, with an activity tracker or pedometer. There are even apps available for your smartphone that will keep track of your steps as well as help keep you motivated to get healthy. Or, if your walking on a treadmill desk the desk will automatically keep track of all your steps and syncs them with your computer or Android phone via Bluetooth.
Now Walk It Out
Now is the perfect time to get out there and start getting healthy! No more excuses.
Obesity-Related Statistics
Obesity-Related Spending [2013]
- Obesity-related job absenteeism costs $6.4 billion annually.
- Obesity-related medical treatment costs roughly $190 billion a year, or nearly 21% of all annual medical spending.
- Obese Americans pay an increased amount of 105% on prescription drugs over those who aren’t obese.
- Cars are burning around 938 million gallons of gasoline per year more than they would if Americans weighed what they did in 1960.
- U.S. airlines are consuming an extra 350 million gallons of fuel per year due to overweight passengers.
Health Effects of Obesity
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Sleep apnea
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High blood pressure
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Type 2 diabetes
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Metabolic syndrome
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Liver and gallbladder disease
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Cancer
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Heart disease
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Respiratory problems
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Reproduction problems
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Osteoarthritis
Obesity by the Numbers
- 35% of women are obese
- 31% of men are obese
- Over ⅓ (72+ million) of U.S. adults are considered obese and 17% of U.S. children are obese.
Sources
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/in-depth/walking/art-20046261
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-10-fattest-countries-on-earth-2014-12
https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/healthy-living/obesity.html
