Chances are, if you are an American adult, you are overweight. Per the National Institute of Health, 70% of all American men and women were overweight, and many of that number were obese, according to a 2015–2016 study. But we weren’t born with a craving for unhealthy foods that fill us with calories our bodies don’t need. Also, in our country’s short 244-year history, our collective expansive waistline is a recent event. In 1960 we were, on average, 25 pounds lighter.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that Americans work more hours per year than workers in Japan, Canada, or the United Kingdom. That figure led me to discover something else: the average life expectancy of Americans has gone down for three consecutive years, and the age group responsible for the downturn is middle-aged adults, due to factors which include obesity. But, wait — though our problem with excess weight relates to the hours we spend at work, it’s not in the way that you probably think.
Again, the average American is now living to about age 78, behind a dozen other comparable countries. Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom are among those that rank above America on the life-expectancy list, which may lead us to believe that spending less time at work is key to good health. But Americans’ lengthy working hours are not to blame for the likelihood that we are out of shape. It’s what we do during our long days at work that is the issue.
Americans who intend to succeed in their careers, but also want to be fit, must contend with an intractable math problem. Here’s my version:
On January 1, 2019, twin sisters Sally and Jane started new jobs. Both had long commutes to and from their jobs. Sally took public transit and walked to work, burning about 200 extra calories per workday or 1,000 calories per week. Jane drove her car to work, exercised two to three times a week at the gym, and burned an extra 780 calories per week. Both ate at least one fast food meal per day, adding about 1,500 extra calories to their diets, per week, for one year. If one pound of fat equals 3,500 calories, on January 1, 2020, how many more pounds did Jane gain than Sally?
Here’s how I calculated my answer to the problem:
Sally: 1,500 extra calories per week – 1,000 extra calories burned = 500 excess calories per week
3,500 calories / 500 calories = 7, or every 7 weeks Sally gained 1 pound
52 weeks per year / 7 pounds = 7–8 pounds gained in a year for Sally
Jane: 1,500 extra calories per week – 780 extra calories burned = 720 excess calories per week
3,500 calories / 720 calories = 4.9, or every 5 weeks Jane gained 1 pound
52 weeks per year / 5 = 10 pounds gained in a year for Jane
Put simply, the number of extra calories that you consume adds up, and when that number exceeds the number of calories that you burn, you gain weight. What’s more, the data from studies show that we are bad at estimating how many calories are in the foods or meals that we eat, and often have little idea of how many calories we should eat.
Now, let’s pause for a moment and talk about body shape. Your best hope is to be the healthiest you, and we come in all different shapes, and each one is beautiful — no matter what our culture tells us. We want to be a healthy weight, and strong, so that we can ice-skate when we’re 51. We want to be able to say yes to a long trail hike to a deserted beach on a tropical island, on a whim, when we’re 62. We want to be able to approach the task of lifting something heavy with confidence, and not fear for the safety of our lower backs, at 73. Finally, in our “golden years”, we want to maintain our independence for as long as possible.
But often our lifestyles pose a direct challenge to these healthy ideals. Here’s a typical work day for me and my co-workers: in the morning on our rush to work, we stop by a coffee shop for flavored coffee and a pastry. On our arrival at work, someone has shared leftover cupcakes, or a box of chocolates, or homemade banana bread, by leaving the goods on a table in the kitchen. At noon, we head out of the office to find a convenient lunch — usually something fried, breaded, and/or covered in sauce. We scarf that down in the brief time that we take for our lunch break.
Then, it’s back to sitting at our desks until late afternoon, when we feel like a snack. Our kitchen offers snack bars, chips, nuts, pretzels, some fruit, and features an entire fridge dedicated to bottled and canned drinks. We grab what we’re craving — either something salty or sweet, often both — and head back to our desks. When it’s time to go home, we get back in our cars for a long commute through thick traffic.
Sometimes we have enough energy and time to go to the gym on our way home. Often, we’re in a hurry to get back to our families, fix a satisfying dinner, and then sit and watch TV to unwind before we crawl into bed. The next day follows the same pattern, unless it is a catered-lunch day, when our employer offers us an all-you-can-eat buffet, and ice cream cake or pie for dessert.
Given what we’re now up against — a plethora of convenient, cheap, over-salted and super-sweetened food and beverages — it’s time to elevate our struggle against excess calories at work from temporary resolutions to a hero’s quest. First, a hero needs a reason to depart from what is familiar, and to take the unknown road. “I want to lose weight,” is not a good enough reason. That is a thought, and not a belief. A hero believes in his or her purpose with their whole heart. Find the reason that will curb your cravings when your willpower gallops off without you, like “I intend to know my grandchildren,” or “I will inspire others, by example, to live a healthy life.”
You’ll need a guide. I don’t mean a fitness guru. Find someone you can relate to, someone who offers a balanced, accessible approach to gaining and maintaining good health. In addition, gather friends and allies. Willpower loves company. Reach out to your co-workers and organize a group walk at lunchtime, or an in-office exercise session in the late afternoon. Organize a “BYOL” (Bring Your Own Lunch) Club, eat together, and trade healthy recipes. Keep each other accountable.
Be resourceful, and aim to move more. Find stairs in or near your building, and take them at least once a day. Can you stand and do your work, rather than sitting? Can you sit on an exercise ball for brief interludes during the day?
Know your enemy. What is it that makes us overeat? Is it stress? Loneliness? What is bad about the foods we eat? What are those mystery ingredients listed on the nutrition label of our favorite food, and how do they affect us?
Expect to fail, but don’t expect the failure to last. A hero’s journey is full of ups and downs. What matters most is how often the heroine picks herself up after falling off her horse.
Expect to succeed, in the long run. The reason why fitness efforts work in the short term, but not always over time is because short-term efforts often feature regimens that are not part of our routine. Instead, search for ways that you can add healthy habits to your normal routine. For example, while you watch TV, can you sit on an exercise ball? For the length of your favorite show, can you stand and stretch, do yoga poses or lift hand-weights?
Finally, when you succeed, share what you’ve learned. If we are going to regain and maintain our health, we’re going to do it together. We didn’t build this country as individuals. We don’t succeed in our careers without the support of our colleagues. Fitness gurus and business leaders, bless them, may inspire us but they aren’t the ones in our shoes. We must do the math, find our reason, and nurture ourselves in our quest.
Time is on our side, if we reframe our workdays as full of opportunities to move more and make healthy choices. Put another way, we have 40 hours a week to “work” on our fitness. What’s more, each country in our world is full of hardworking people who intend to do their best for themselves and their families. The world’s workers are more alike than we know, in many positive ways. However, worldwide obesity rates have doubled since 1980. So, we’d better get going on our hero’s quest against unhealthy habits. We have the necessary tools — what we need is each other, in our workplaces, and on both a national and global scale.