Are You a Fat Writer?
When I was writing my books one of the biggest problems I faced when trying to control my weight and maintain the body I wanted was dealing with the harsh change of my activity level. I went from training people in person all day long to spending a large chunk of time stuck at a computer. Sure I was producing a masterpiece, but I was also producing an ass.
In a day we burn X amount of calories. Everyday it changes. If you have a day you lay in bed and do nothing, you burn very few calories. If you have a day where you shovel snow so that you can go to the store and shop for two hours and then return home to make food for another hour and then you try to get in that HIIT workout before bed, then you burn a lot of calories.
To put it simply, you move more, you burn more.
The drag is that if you move less, you burn less.
During that period of time as I was finishing up my books I went from a daily caloric burn of 2500-2800 calories on average to 1600-1900 on average (the days I was really caught up in writing).
That is a decrease of roughly 1000 calories. That is a huge difference, HUGE.
What if I would have been trying to lose fat?
Some days, even eating 1200 calories, I wouldn’t even land in a 500 deficit. That is a harsh truth to face. Recently I have had a lot of arguments come my way about the fact that the calories you take in don’t matter. Just don’t eat “x” amount of “these kinds” of foods and you will be fine. However, the majority of my clients that come to me come because even with doing those “things” right, even with restricting carbs, even with avoiding those “bad” foods like a plague, they still couldn’t budge the fat. They still could not obtain the bodies they wanted.
You can blame carbs or fats all you want but at the end of the day, a fat free salad can still cause you to be stuck in your fat loss efforts.
Quick Fact: If you weigh roughly 130-160 pounds, are a generally healthy person, then every hour you sit and write you burn the amount of 1 egg or less.
Try and wrap your head around that. The average large egg is roughly 70 calories. At that weight, you hardly burn an egg. The average writer/blogger/forum poster can spend hours at a time writing, ranting, and working up one heck of a cortisol filled appetite.
Have you ever noticed how when in the middle of a back and forth conflict you turn to food? Have you ever noticed that while in the midst of what should be your Pulitzer Prize winning smack down, that all you want to do is grab a ciggy or glazed doughnut? That is writers stress at its peak! The intensity and passion of your emotions in that given situation need to be fueled! But guess what, on average you barely deserve a hard boiled egg. Is what your grabbing even close to what you are burning?
Why do you lunge for the carbs?
The only thing that suppress that stress and feeds the angry rage or blissful muse is insulin spiking, sugar bearing, sweet carbohydrates. Your body is smart, it will grave what it needs, and if it is around, you are going to go for it. You either fix or you feed the stress, which will it be?
How do you fix the stress?
Getting up and moving in interval sets of time is a big help towards…
- Keep caloric burn up so that you can eat more
- Lower stress levels by reducing cortisol
- Upping serotonin levels so that you aren’t in such a bad mood and wont fight on the interwbz
Beyond that knowing that your nutrient intake is on point and that your calories are under control is the next. If you don’t know how to do those things then I suggest reading those books I gained an ass for.
If you can’t do that I am not going to leave you hanging. Here is the best tips to up your calories while still writing your master pieces and being able to stuff your face with hot pockets.
Tip #1-Timer Training
I did a study on 3 people just this past month who sit all day. The difference in caloric burn in timing training was an average of 340 calories a day per person. That is huge and with little effort. Timer training is very simple, all you do is set out specific intervals of time where you can fit in as much aggressive movement as possible in the shortest amount of time. I recommend every hour doing 5 min rounds of the following…
1 Min Jumping Jacks
1 Min Speed Crunches
1 Min Burpees
1 Min Fast Body Weight Squats (Advance to Pistols if need)
1 Min Planks
If you hit at that every hour for 8 hours that is a 30 mins workout that will lead you to getting ripped in no time.
EDIT: For the Skirt Ladies (or men cause you know, equal fat loss rights here). Kick off heels though okay ladies/gents.
1 min Jog in Place
1 min Push Ups (if bent knee throw a proposal under there;) )
2 Min Plank Variations (Standard, One Arm Switch, One Leg Switch, Side)
1 Static Lunges
Enjoy!
Tip #2- Pace Yourself
Every time you take a call you stand up and start pacing. Pacing during a phone call can increase your caloric burn 200% over sitting. Meaning in 20 mins instead of burning 20 calories you can burn 60.
Tip #3- The Unstable Air Chair
I did another study around 5-6 months ago know with 4 people and monitored their burn while sitting on a Swiss exercise ball while working. Posture and caloric burn improved on average of a little over 100 calories. Please note that some did experience hemorrhoid increase, so get the H if need.
Overall if you combine just these three things you can increase your daily burn, without going to the gym, and without losing writing time on large levels, by upwards to 500-600 calories a day. You can still write your award winning piece, and looking hot doing it.
How many hours a day do you normally sit? Should you just be eating eggs every hour on the hour?
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Missy
Ha! I was just talking to the Lab manager today about bringing my Swiss ball to work to sit on while I screen slides at the microscope! How funny! I try to make conscious efforts to get up and go the the restroom on the fifth floor or walk to cafeteria to get water instead of the lounge in order to get more movement. Leigh, would doing isometric type excercises (like tightening ab muscles or glutes) help do anything as I sit screening at the scope? Sometimes I have to sit for extended periods while screening a difficult case and just wondered if I could be bouncing my legs or contracting/releasing muscles constantly as I sit there. Just wondered if it would help any or if you have any tips of what I could do to help! I just wish I had a place to run and do planks and burpees – maybe at the top of the stairs but I will definitely have to take a towel!!
October 9th, 2008 at 10:25 pmI turn to food whether it is stress or not – I am so pathetic! Great article and very sobering on the calorie burn. Depressing, but we need the truth!!!
Susan
Yes!! I am fat writer too! I spend all day sitting on my fat ass, counting the minutes to my paltry little lunch, which does not consist of 3 eggs but usually something equally small and unappealing. I think my staff would freak out if I started doing jumping jacks in the hallway. Maybe more careful thought should be given to caloric burn when selecting a career/college major.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:48 amLex
Can’t really do jumping jacks, crunches, burpess and lunges in an office in a skirt suit. I guess I can walk the stairs or take a walk around the block, though.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:42 amSinead
I love the tips, especially the 5 min exercise breaks. I think that’s great! A couple of years ago I had a chair that was an exercise ball on wheels. Then my kiddo thought it would be a fun toy and popped the ball. I should get another one of those, though–it rocked!
Another tip–if you’ve got a kid who has attention deficit issues, you can put him on one of those chairs, too (or they make a dyna disk which is flat on one side)–the hyper part of his brain focuses on balance and lets the rest of his head focus on his work. It totally helps!
October 10th, 2008 at 8:45 amSinead
Here’s what I had (it was way cheaper than that, though!): http://www.amazon.com/Gaiam-Balance-Ball-Chair-Black/dp/B0007VB4NE
October 10th, 2008 at 8:47 amCraig
More great practical information. Thanks!
October 10th, 2008 at 9:51 amAnd if it helps any- I just bought your book, and I’m very curious to learn the how and why of fat loss.
I can’t think of a stability ball as a desk chair (which I’ll try) without thinking of this video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5jcWt0vH-M
Leigh Peele
Missy-Over doing isometric holds can actually decrease core stability at times. Firing of the muscle should happen when they need to happen, otherwise we get compensation issues that form. It would be better to simply just get up and go through a 2 min stretch routine that is non aggressive and awakens your muscles. Take it to a next point and bring a tennis ball to work and massage your tight areas when you get a chance.
Susan-I sometimes will just run down a quiet hallway and yell “WEEE.” It totally wakes people up
October 10th, 2008 at 11:31 amLeigh Peele
Lex-I made a “For Skirts” addition for you.
Sinead-Ha great tip, I am sure outside of exercise that will help a lot of parents!
Craig-Love, LOVE that clip. It is too what I think of whenever I bring up core balls at work.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:33 amRoland
My tip, for those that can do it, is a standup desk. Doesn’t even have to be a desk. It can be a countertop with your laptop there, rather than on your lap. I’ve also used a dresser with a ream of paper underneath to bring it to the right height (I’m 6′1″).
At home, my height makes it easy, since the kitchen bar top is perfect height, a dresser is close enough, and when I work at customer locations, service counters, etc. are pretty good for me.
Unfortunately, my office is cube-ville, and when I stand up, I see over the top of the cubes, so it’s a little awkward for me (and them). But, keep in mind that most cubicle worktops can be adjusted up and down with a little effort. People think you’re a tool, but at least you’re a ript tool. Joke’s on them.
I think people don’t do this because it’s still an all or nothing mentality. If you can’t work standing up all the time, you don’t do it at all. I do it when possible. Every hour of standing vs sitting is another egg, right?
“I did another study around 5-6 months ago know with 4 people and monitored their burn while sitting on a Swiss exercise ball while working. Posture and caloric burn improved on average of a little over 100 calories. Please note that some did experience hemorrhoid increase, so get the H if need.”
Not knowing their before and after diets, but one possibility is that their dietary changes caused the ‘roids” but they blame the ball. It seems like a link, but maybe more of a coincidence.
No one wants to admit to ‘roids, especially when they still feeling guilty for not eating enough fiber, so those people (who aren’t on the balls) just stay silent on the subject. But, the ball sitters have a less embarrassing scapegoat for their issue; it’s not them, it’s the ball!
This is just me, but I think it’s too much pushing, not the sitting or bouncing, that’s the cause of the problem. But, once you have the problem, I can certainly see that all that bouncing would be a constant and painful reminder. One that’s likely to be brought up to the cruel trainer who suggested the test.
Bye.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:36 amMissy
Thanks Leigh! And if all else fails, I’ll just throw the tennis ball and then go chase it!! I do rotate weeks where one is sitting a good bit but the other week I am up and about much more, so maybe it evens out! Thanks for the tips!!!
October 10th, 2008 at 11:49 amChristopher
I am a blogger, and a graphic designer, basically i sit in a chair for 13 hours at a clip staring at a computer at times. However I train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai, on a regular basis. It’s easy to fall into the trap of “ah i’ll get some activity tomorrow”
I find it’s extremely important to eat small meals spaced out 2-3 hours daily. Approx 5 – 6 meals, keeps my energy pretty consistent and helps ramp up the metabolism quite a bit. Which actually burns calories more so than 3 meals (breakfast lunch dinner).
First time on your blog. Awesome work!
October 11th, 2008 at 2:30 amJamie Hale
Good read.
I would be interested to see how many general fitness enthusiasts can do 1min of Burpees. That is one minute of burpees jumping in the air with complete sprawl at bottom.
I think many people will benefit from this article.
Christopher,
Nice to see you here. I have a question. Can you provide a reference (valid scientific) indicating that 5-6 meals are superior to one regarding metabolism boost?
Where are you from and where do you train Muay Thai and BJJ?
October 11th, 2008 at 3:54 pmChristopher
I was born and raised in Brooklyn NYC, recently we moved to southern NJ. I train at 2 schools, 1 is http://www.advancedbjj.com in North Brunswick, and another is closer to me named Elite Martial Arts in Manalapan NJ.
A reference, well I can surely say I myself can be a testament to how 5-6 meals a day work. Most of my life I have trained and experimented between status quo and unconventional methods. 5-6 meals a day work, most pro athletes eat this way. you can do a search on google and find thousands of sites proclaiming this.
However what I failed to mention is not all 6 meals would be actual whole food, one can substitute protein shakes for 2 of those, (protein has little chance to be stored as fat) the other meal being a snack meal, an apple and peanut butter for example.
There is a war that rages on about frequency of meals. If at minimum it doesn’t stoke your metabolism, it does keep your insulin levels much more even through out the day, this will give you more throughput in your activities as opposed to 3 meals a day. So in the end direct or indirect, it def works. I know because I have been doing it for 6 years on and off. went from 200 to 185 and have stayed that way with this diet and regimen.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:11 pmLaura
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October 11th, 2008 at 11:23 pmLaurak6hrpwr@gmail.com
Missy
Leigh,
October 12th, 2008 at 5:19 pmI did not know where to post this, but I still can’t get the latest podcast.
Thanks!!!
tIGGY
What. The. Hell. I feel like you’re talking to me. I already do the exerball thing at by desk and pace while I work out dialogue…so much so that my neighbors must think I’m schitzo. And I make sure to eat less when I’m bedridden with angst and/or hungover
Nah, just kidding. GREAT article. Someday soon I’m gonna be a hot Hollywood writer famous for looking like a hot Hollywood actress.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:03 am