Where to start with rebelling?

[Fjorrine]

Hi everyone,

 

I am posting here to see if anyone is/was in the same/similar situation as me, and how did he/she brake the cycle of  ugliness. 
My main problem is that I work more than 70 hours per week. I am a software engineer that travels a lot and has clients all over the world. That means sitting a lot, but there can be cases I "run" from office to office. 

While  I travel  I usually stay for some time with the client, and there you work day and night. Sometimes I can choose and eat healthy, sometimes not (because the client is in the middle of nowhere, and if you are given a sandwich, you eat it, since it will be your only meal up to dinner. Ex. I am in the middle of nowhere town where the first next city is 3 hours away). 

I love this job, mentally it is a challenge everyday, but physically, I see it is getting the best of me. I was always the stocky type of girl. More of muscle since I was raised to take role of a son in the house. But, I think now it is more fat than muscle. 

Any suggestions, how to manage to work out when you come to your hotel room at 10 pm after a 14 hour shift, with probably eaten shitty food(one meal on the end of the day I can influence is dinner, and usually fruit+vegetables+yoghurt), and need to wake up in 7 hours? No motivation, only seeking shower and bed. 

Also, I would like to mention few things : 
-for now I have physical checks every so often, and I am in perfect condition laboratory-wise. 
-always was easy to get weight, but even easier to get muscle (and not shedding fat so fast) - mistery of the world
-I cannot run for long with this weight, since I have diagnosed a juvenile form of arthritis from age 9. My knees fall out of place easily and are decomposing more faster than normal people. So I'm not eager to ruin them even more.
-I am not old, soon in my 30's 
-the exercise that I like most is kettlebell. Still like to use weight.

So... any wise people there. Or motivators? 

Love to hear some feedback, bcs I have no clue where to begin or fix anymore. 

 

I still haven't chosen a class also, maybe some suggestions with the post? 

 

 

[Lydiechan]

Hi Fjorrine!  You aren't alone in this struggle.  I'm getting pretty close to 40 and I've struggled with sedentary jobs for a while.  My brother works for himself out of his home and we talked about struggling with the same stuff, even though we have really different work environments.

 

Here's what we came up with:

 

Set an alarm for every 30-60 minutes and get up and do something.  I don't mean walking to the cooler to get water.  I mean do 20 second reps of HIIT exercises for one minute, then go back to work, making sure to reset your timer.

Here's what I do every hour:

 

Plank

20 seconds of cross jacks

20 seconds of squats

 

I might add onto that as I go, but that's what I'm starting with.  The weirdest part is that, in the week I've been doing this, I am also motivated to eat better and I have a lot more energy to get up on my next circuit.

 

It's frustrating looking at those photos of fitness models and seeing how they recommend 30-minute workouts when it's a struggle just to find 3 minutes.  This is a way to get started without having large chunks of time or energy to devote to it.

 

If you decide to try this out, let me know how it works.  I'm loving it so far!

 

Good luck and...may the Force be with you.

[Fjorrine]

Hi, seeing that I am not alone in the starting helps a bit. Most of the people that are starting, they seem already a few LVL's more than me. Intimidating to say the least.

 

Well that just seems manageable. Gonna look at some HIIT workouts, and find a place to do this, without being a weirdo. Usually if I work in a building with more floors I go to the last floor using the stairs and back - jogging tempo style. I have already a smart watch set up to "MOVE!!" every hour, so this will not be a problem to get up.  

 

For me is not a problem to look at the pictures of models (mostly annoying now since most of them are selling something), but more of my own pictures 10-ish yeas back, when I was in UNI and had time to do karate and all that jazz. Man, that hits hard to see better version of yourself, even more when you are trying a lot not to give up, but the results are more than opposite.

 

Well, Level 0,1 - engage broken warp speed! 

 

(you just reminded me - RIP princess  ) 

  

[ImACoolNerd]

Software Engineer? Oh... you're probably not going to like what I'm going to say...

 

In university I watched my computer science friends go on internships with all sorts of *big name* tech companies. They all had a similar culture. For example - at Google my friend worked - essentially - 24 hours a day for them. He would literally sleep under his desk - wake up - and start typing again. While he was not required to do this - it was definitely low key expected of him. Over the first 2 months his health started to deteriorate and he mentioned some weird symptoms that really scared him. For example - after a few hours of programming non stop he said he felt like he was "floating". After a while he decided he could only do the 9 to 5 thing and left at 5pm - all the other interns stayed the night. Every night. But he felt a lot better - and normal - physically after he decided not to work 24/7.

 

My point is - is there any way that you can change your work lifestyle? I know that is a difficult ask. But maybe if you keep this idea in the back of your mind - maybe there are some things you CAN change? Your health and well being are #1!

 

It is not clear to me if you work for yourself? Or employed by someone else? If you are self-employed maybe the best thing you could do is say "no" sometimes? Try to come up with some more efficient ways of doing things? Is there anything that you could do differently?

I know... this is not what you wanted to hear...

 

But on the flip side - if you're working 14 hour days are you still doing your best work after the 10th hour?

 

Just remember that you and your health are what is most important. You can make money working so much - but in the end if you are not healthy enough to enjoy it - what was the point? I watched my neighbor do that. So I guess that explains my point of view and where I am coming from. I tried so hard to tell her that she was working too hard - to the detriment of her own health. But she wouldn't listen to "some kid" trying to tell her what to do. She got really sick and passed away. Her house was abandoned by her family and foreclosed on - the pipes burst over the winter last year and destroyed everything in her house. It is so strange to see everything she worked so hard to keep - just gone.

 

 

[Phoenix - AKA "TinkerBot"]

On 27/01/2017 at 10:55 PM, Fjorrine said:

While  I travel  I usually stay for some time with the client, and there you work day and night. Sometimes I can choose and eat healthy, sometimes not (because the client is in the middle of nowhere, and if you are given a sandwich, you eat it, since it will be your only meal up to dinner. Ex. I am in the middle of nowhere town where the first next city is 3 hours away). 

...

Any suggestions, how to manage to work out when you come to your hotel room at 10 pm after a 14 hour shift, with probably eaten shitty food (one meal on the end of the day I can influence is dinner, and usually fruit+vegetables+yoghurt), and need to wake up in 7 hours? No motivation, only seeking shower and bed. 

 

What does your morning routine look like? Do you have one that can follow you from job to job? If not, that's probably a better place to start than the night-time end when you're already exhausted.

 

How do you get to your clients? If you drive, you could always bring some of your own food with you to eat while you're working. That way you know you'll have something healthy you can snack on. Nuts, little tins of tuna or salmon, some fruit all travel well. If you're able to ask ahead of time about fridge space, you can add anything from cheese sticks or boiled eggs all the way up to fully-prepped meals. And if you have to catch flights, well, I've never met a "middle of nowhere" town yet that doesn't have at least a basic grocer's. Or a road that you take to get there that goes past one.

 

Something else that may or may not be relevant, depending on the exact nature of your employment - generally the better you are at your job or the higher up the ladder you are, the more you can set your own rules. There's nothing wrong with setting expectations with the client before you show up, if possible. Even something simple like "I know the culture in this industry is to work til we drop, but I take an hour break at some point every day because I've found it makes me a better engineer than working straight through." (The catch, then, is to live up to that expectation and be awesome at your job... but it sounds like that's something you're already on top of.) Given the way productivity tends to drop off after a certain amount of hours on the job, it's not exactly a stretch. Then you can use your new break to do whatever would work best for you. (I'm a fan of eating lunch far away from anything involving work, followed by a 20 minute nap, myself.)

 

On 27/01/2017 at 10:55 PM, Fjorrine said:

-the exercise that I like most is kettlebell. Still like to use weight.

 

Kettlebells are awesome and super easy to work into a morning routine, especially if you can travel with one. For my money the swing is the king - it's one of the most efficient exercises you can do in terms of results. In my own personal history I've seen results from doing as little as 20 two-arm swings, in sets of 10, a day.

 

Before I had to stop using them for a while (moved house + knee problem + gestating a new human got in the way) my morning would look something like this:

• Get up, stumble to bathroom, pee
• Pick up kettlebell, do 10 swings
• Drink half a litre of water (I dehydrate easily overnight, I live in an arid climate)
• Pick up kettlebell, do 10 swings
• Go put kettle on and prep tea strainer
• Pick up kettlebell, do 10 swings while water boils
• Start tea steeping, get breakfast started
• Pick up kettlebell, do 10 swings
• Etc.

I'd usually manage five or six sets by the time breakfast was ready to eat. Each set took me 30-45 seconds to complete, between walking over to the bell and parking it at the end. So that's max 4-1/2 minutes added to my morning, I'd gotten my strength/cardio training in for the day, eaten breakfast, and was ready for a quick wash, clothing, and heading out the door.

[Fjorrine]

Well first off, let me explain some things you both asked, then on to the main point: 

 

23 hours ago, ImACoolNerd said:

Software Engineer? Oh... you're probably not going to like what I'm going to say...

 

Well, actually I agree with everything you wrote after that. All this is the main braking point that made me look back at myself and my lifestyle. To see all the people around me getting sick (physically and mentally). When you witness a "kid" having a near hart attack symptoms, and help him go to the ambulance, it gets you. (most of us are still kids year wise, but this guy is younger than me and I was at that point 26).

 

23 hours ago, ImACoolNerd said:

My point is - is there any way that you can change your work lifestyle? I know that is a difficult ask. But maybe if you keep this idea in the back of your mind - maybe there are some things you CAN change? Your health and well being are #1!

 

It is not clear to me if you work for yourself? Or employed by someone else? If you are self-employed maybe the best thing you could do is say "no" sometimes? Try to come up with some more efficient ways of doing things? Is there anything that you could do differently?
 

 

 

You both asked what is the nature of my work in a similar way if I can change it . In the start I did not want to write the detail, because it is a niche so small that probably someone will recognize me. For some reason I thought this was a bad thing, but now when I think about it, maybe the better. Maybe there is a lost soul like me in this job.

 

OK, so this is a "shorter" version. I work in production industry. I program the software that supervises the production in factories.

 

The nature of my job is something like this:

 

- I am employed by a small company which specializes in this kind of programming. This is also one of the factors. The smallness of our company makes us work even more than some (as we thrive to live on the market) and also we are known as "the ones doing the job no-one wants". So thats why the working hours (later will be added more reasons). I agree that after some time you are not fully functional . I think the best and optimal working day is 6 hours code crunching and other additional stuff, beyond that is butchering. Also same as  ImACoolNerd mentioned in the post - 

 

23 hours ago, ImACoolNerd said:

While he was not required to do this - it was definitely low key expected of him

 

- We work from office few months that we prepare this SW. There we have mostly flexible hours and work 9-5 mostly. It's usually "manage your time" work. So when I'm home I do not have the issues with organization. 

 

- Ah now the fun begins - when the SW is done, or we are needed as a help on some factory, we go to the client and work there. Then we go to the  before mentioned "middle of nowhere". 

 

21 hours ago, Phoenix - AKA "TinkerBot" said:

I've never met a "middle of nowhere" town yet that doesn't have at least a basic grocer's.

 

Oh, then you haven't gotten too far in the abyss Joke aside, my current position is in middle of Siberian part of Russia, where you do have some grocery shops, but it works up to 6 PM. We usually work up to 7 PM (if no emergency arises). So, yesterday on my only day off, I went to the store, and stocked up on fruit, cottage cheese and fish (here you have abundance of salmon and other river fishes, as fresh you can get - very good thing). What do you think? For me this kind of foods are OK. I should mention, that I know that nuts are good, but I hate them. I feel bad after eating them. But, I eat them from time to time, just because I have to.  Usually I am not a picky eater. The only thing I will refuse fully are intestine. 

 

For the travel part I usually try to skip on the breded stuff and eat some fruit salads and a meal that involves meat and vegetables. Bread makes me all Jigglypuffy. Also, with the low intolerance to bread, I only eat is when I do not have a choice, or I choose to eat it in maximum 2 or 3 meals per week when I'm home. Just so my body does not forget the sensation. If the body forgets, then I have unbearable inflammation of sinuses with blood from my nose, so I try to balance this by food. PMS excluded, the I can eat a whale in junk food, but that is only one day, so let's call it cheat day?

 

Then for more of your questions, I usually go to the job by arranged car or minibus. Once when you are in the factory, you cannot get out until finishing hours. (In some cases we can go out for lunch, but that is a rare one)

 

21 hours ago, Phoenix - AKA "TinkerBot" said:

Something else that may or may not be relevant, depending on the exact nature of your employment - generally the better you are at your job or the higher up the ladder you are, the more you can set your own rules.

 

I agree on this one. While I am a starter in my career (length wise approximately 5 years, so that is still a newbie as far as SW industry goes), now after some time I have managed to arrange some things to better for my self. (ex. like the stocked up fridge I mentioned - I have asked for a fridge in my room). Also the higher you are, the less you go to "middle of nowheres".  

 

On 29/01/2017 at 10:20 AM, ImACoolNerd said:

You can make money working so much - but in the end if you are not healthy enough to enjoy it - what was the point?

 

As far as the employment goes, I come from a country where finding a job is not so easy. When you get one, you stick to it and stock up on money, until a new opportunity arises. Right now I am on the point of being the sole provider in the our union (me + my fiancée who is currently going trough additional education. We expected that he could work with the lectures, but they made last changes in the program, so he is in school at the same time as all uni-freshmen - all day), and stocking up on resources to go further. I agree with ImACoolNerd. I think as far as I am aware of this, in the main run I will be okay. I think. 

 

 

Lastly, you asked what my morning routine is : 

 - At home - ketlebell exercises similar like ThinkerBot mentioned. 0-10-20-30 minutes length depends on the day (I put zero , because there are some days I miss the alarm clock and just put some clothes to run to the office).  Then food time and shower time, then travel to work. 

-  Away from home - there is none.  The stretches and little yoga movements - like the Salutation to the sun - I do not count as much as the upper scenario. Then run to breakfast and on to the bus. I wake up 45 minutes before bus, because lack of sleep does not help me in any aspect. Usually there is a 6,7 hour sleep and on free day I sleep most of the day, prepare for the next week and take long walks in nature. 

 

What  I also noticed, If I manage to make a morning routine away from home, I usually loose fat faster and bulk up faster than at home. Is this a connection to less sleep, less eat, more coffee + stress? Because when I get home, I return what ever I lost + more, and get flabbier.  I am still trying to figure out my body, because since I was a kid, my parents forced me on all kind diets ("It is unbearable to have a fat kid. Even more if it is a girl" kind of thinking), and this probably fucked up my whole metabolism in the start. What I noticed also that in genetic wise I am a complete copy of my grandfather - small, stocky/fatty but with high muscle strength, while my parents are sporty slinky people.

Also, I have a good doctor, who every time when visit her, she is generally concerned with my weight, but is also looking at other factors , and manages all my data from body checkups. So at least I am monitoring what is happening inside. Good eh?  Stress wise (which I think is also a big factor), at first I was a very twitchy person, but a good colleague helped me to manage this, and now while working, I ignore most of the channeling stress and focus on the job. Why am I saying all this? I don't know, maybe to show that I am aware that the sitting nature of the job is getting the best of me, but also when I do something I get discouraged easily, simply because the progress is slow, and mostly yo-yo kind. 

 

Long response but I think it should help to see more of my situation.