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How To Burn More Calories at Work

Sitting at your desk all day can hurt your health and your sanity, so learn how to burn more calories at work without jogging during lunch.

By Ossiana TepfenhartPublished 7 years ago 6 min read
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Good dieters will often work on trying to fit in an extra round of weight training at the gym, or look up how to make healthy food substitutions. These tactics can and do work when it comes to helping people shed the pounds.

But, if you want to lose weight fast - or lose a lot of weight, you will need to stop seeing things as a diet plan. Rather, you need to see it as a lifestyle shift. Diet alone will not give you the perfect body you see on models. Exercise alone will not make you drop pounds.

If you want to lose weight and get fit, you need to look at the way you live your life. Considering that the average person will spend around eight hours a day at work, it makes sense to learn how to burn more calories at work.

These quick tips won't seem like much, but they will make a huge impact in how your scale tips. This is because these small changes will allow you a bigger calorie burn day after day. Those numbers add up, pretty quickly.

Park further away, or start walking to work.

Sometimes, the best way to burn more calories at work is to try to squeeze in more exercise around before and after you enter the office. The best way to do this is to get a longer walk in before you sit down in your chair.

There are several ways to do this. You can park your car further away from the office, start walking to work (if you live in a major metro), or choose to take the longer route to your particular office room.

If you squeeze in a brief 30-minute walk to and from your car, you can burn quite a bit of calories every day. According to VeryWell, a 180-pound person burns as much as 144 calories in a half-hour of walking.

Take frequent trips to the water cooler and bathroom.

Much like that one Tears for Fears song, we're going to tell you that "everything counts in large amounts." Taking a single minute walk to the office kitchen and back will mean you burn more calories that day.

That being said, getting up to stretch your legs is actually really important for your health. Studies revealed that people who sit for eight hours straight tend to develop heart problems sooner than those who walk throughout the day.

If anything, just taking a brisk walk while thinking how to burn more calories at work as you head to the bathroom is enough to help prevent some problems.

On a similar note, many guide on how to burn more calories at work also suggest getting rid of your personal trash can for the same reason. If you don't have a place to keep garbage, you're basically forced to walk somewhere else.

Invest in an office fitness ball.

Bringing a fitness ball to the office may seem like a bad idea, but it's really not. You can use it as a chair substitute in order to tone your core and burn more calories while sitting. You can also use it to do a number of exercises during break times, such as crunches.

That being said, bringing in an office fitness ball as your new chair might not always be a good idea. Some studies showed that sitting on a fitness ball all day can make spines sore. This means that you might just want to use it during breaks.

Take fitness breaks instead of smoke breaks.

Most offices seem to be okay with smoke breaks for employees, so why not say that you're taking a fitness break? You might be surprised how many employers will react well to hearing that you've read up on how to burn more calories at work - and how many managers will greenlight fitness breaks for you.

The reason why is because most managers care about their employees' health. If you look like you're about to die, productivity and morale will both suffer.

During fitness breaks, doing simple things like having a brisk walk, doing pushups, or even taking the time to do some light stretches can make a huge difference. Better still, fitness breaks have been shown to improve productivity, too!

Do work while standing.

This old trick is found in every guide on how to burn more calories at work, primarily because it's almost effortless. In fact, some offices even caught on and made a point to offer standing desks for employees.

If you can, find opportunities to stand up to do your work. You burn less calories sitting than you do when you're standing. In fact, standing will burn as much as 50 calories more per hour than sitting will.

One study even showed that people who stood throughout their workday can burn as much fat as a person who runs 10 marathons a year. Who said burning calories needed to mean you'd break a sweat?

Plan meetings on the run.

"Walk and talk" meeting arrangements may seem busy and inappropriate in some industries, but they end up on calorie burning lists for a reason. Most managers who research how to burn more calories at work end up picking up this habit because it works.

Simply put, walking and talking allows you to be productive while you burn more calories. A little bit of aerobic exercise never hurt anyone - except for the fat cells you're getting rid of.

Team up with other coworkers.

There are probably six or seven people in your office who have read up on how to burn more calories at work, too. They probably wish they had someone who they could walk with, or someone who will help hold them accountable when they skip out on a gym trip.

Right now, you could make a serious lifestyle change by asking them to be walking partners with you. In fact, just asking them to join you as you walk to the local salad joint can be a huge boost in your overall fun levels at work.

Meanwhile, they are helping you stay fit - and you're also branching out to others. It's a win-win, and allows you to boost your calories burned every day.

Invest in a desk stepper.

Yes, you can climb the stairs without moving from your desk. The key to sneaking this calorie busting exercise is to invest in a desk stair stepper. Shove this contraption underneath your desk, and you have a new way to exercise while you're typing.

The hardest part of this calorie busting method is to find a desk stepper that will fit your desk. After all, you can't keep it under your desk if it's larger than your desk's area.

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About the Creator

Ossiana Tepfenhart

Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer based out of New Jersey. This is her work account. She loves gifts and tips, so if you like something, tip her!

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