Any Other Telecommuters?

[iMike]

I am very shortly changing jobs in November.  My new position is a telecommute position so I'l be working from home with the new company.  I've never had long commutes, and live less than a mile from downtown Minneapolis, but there's a certain appeal to not braving frigid Minnesota winters.

My fear is the number of steps I take.  It's very easy for me to hit 10K+ steps per day because my main mode of transportation is my feet, followed by public transit.  My apartment complex does have a fully renovated gym so I have access to working out even without leaving the property, but I don't want to become a hermit.  I can always head out to do my daily food shopping after work I suppose.

I'd like to hear from other telecommuters.  When you work from home, how do you get your steps in?  If I properly log any exercise I do in the gym, it will take away from my step count.

[Julia_G]

Hi, @iMike , I work from home too, and my home is a boat, so I really don't get many steps unless I deliberately go out and get them...  I don't know your situation, but my work world means I am totally flexible -- there are no definite hours.  That means for me, in the winter months when it is dark early, I stop at 1:30 or 2 and go out and walk, taking advantage of the best part of the day.  If there is more work to be done I can always get back to it after dark...  My other tip is I always walk with a back pack to get my food, never take my car.  That means I grocery shop most days, but it keeps me active, and I always have an incentive to go out, because otherwise, no dinner!  BTW I never manually log exercises if I am wearing my Fitbit.  I just press the button and let it do its job, then when I get home I sync and rename the "workout" so I know what I was up to.  Good luck with the new work pattern!

[iMike]

Thanks @Julia_G!  I'm not the kind of person who grocery shops in bulk.  So unless I change that, I'll have to go out at least once every other day.  I will have a set schedule but it will be 7am-3:30pm, so I'll be able to go out in the daylight . 

[lusry · Accepted solution]

I currently work from home and have a set schedule that is generally 8-5 with an hour lunch break. I try and take breaks and just walk around my neighborhood or walk my dog and at lunch I go for a jog/walk in the park by my house. I also go for a jog/walk after work. If I jog or walk at lunch I just eat once I get back home while I'm working. If the weather is bad out, I just walk around my house which is not very big. It seems silly to just walk back and forth in all of the rooms of the house, but it helps. It's good that you have a gym in your complex, you could walk or run on the treadmill instead of walking outside. I'm in the south so our winters aren't too bad. I have a flex and I take my phone with me and track my exercise in the app as I'm doing it instead of logging it manually later.

[glitterlizzy]

I work from home and have for about ten years.  The reason I bought fitbit was to help me get out and walk more due to the sedentary nature of working from home.  I go to the gym every morning before I work and walk for an hour, and do my weight training.  It's a good way to start the morning and to actually see humans.  Working from home has a lot of advantages, but the worst one is feeling secluded from the world.  

[SunsetRunner]

Like the other folks who reply, I have to be very intentional about gettng my steps in!  I walk the dog at lunch and during calls I get up and walk around.  It's a challenge to get to 10,000 every day, but the flexibility of working from home allows me to get my steps in when I choose.  I am in Omaha (cold months ahead just like for you) and I am worried a bit about how I will get all my steps in on wintery days!   My walk is usally 6000 steps, and I go to boot camp in the afternoon which is about 1000-2000.  They don't have treadmills available so I will need to get creative! 

PS

My bigger challenge working from home is not having office mates to chat with throughout the day 🙂 

Penny

[pdowse]

I have been working from home for the last 8 years and it's very easy to fall into a sedintary trap. Here's a few things I try and do to get my step count up.

• I walk up and down the house when on the phone.
• I walk up and down the house when waiting for water to boil when making coffee
• I try and go for a walk every morning
• I walk around the house at night when I would otherwise be sitting on my arse
• I park in the fartherest carpark and walk

If you start getting creative it's amazing where you can put walking into your life!

[CassieM]

I too work from home just got my Fitbit Charge HR in September (love it).  I make it a point to start my work day early usually at 6am and get 5000  steps in prior to starting work by either dancing , walking/jogging in place (use hand weights), walking  on the treadmill, sometimes an interval of all 3. Whatever it takes.  I sometimes walk for about 15 mins or so at lunch either outside or in place, only if I do not have errands to run.  Then in the evening after dinner and dishes are done what ever remainder I have left I walk in place  while watching TV, or talking on the phone.  Usually at the end of the day I have 7,000 plus and only have around 2,000 - to 2,500 more steps to go to complete my goal of 10,000 steps. However by the time I am preparing for bed at night I've gotten over 10,000, sometimes maybe 12,000. 

[mlaccs]

Like many others I also work from home most of the time.  It is 12:41 and I am at 6,800 steps.  To get to that I walk around on almost every phone call.  Going to wear out hte carpet but it is a good trade.  I also walk up and down the stairs as much as possible often times getting in 25-60 flights a day.  FitBit keeps me moving when otherwise I would be wasting time on FaceBook or chats.  🙂

[Inga]

I live in Seattle so like you I don't have pleasant walks outside to look forward to. I also don't have room for a treadmill but I do have room for a rebounder and since no one mentioned one I figured I would. Amazon has really fancy ones but I got mine at my Fred Meyer/Kroger store for about 39.99 and I've had it 8 years so far. It is small enough that I can hang it on a wall in the hallway or leave it on the floor of my "office" and kick off my slippers and walk during a conference call. Then I can put on my running shoes and do an interval program with youtube at lunch or on another day just dance to one of my Groove Music playlists. Some days I can get 10,000 by just walking 5 or 10 minutes at a time every time I come back into the room from the kitchen. It is easy on the knees and works the hip flexors better than road-walking does. The only downside is having to kick a dog off of it now and then because they like to nap on it during the day. 

[mlaccs]

I was reading an article in Outside Magazine (I think) and they had done studies showing that running on an unpaved trail was no harder on our bodies than asphalt.  The reasoning is that our bodies adjust to the impacts of the surfaces.  The shoes could matter but the actual surfaces did not.  As a hiker I am not sure i buy the theory but I also have not done studies and the 500 or so sidewalk miles since I got my fitbit have helped a LOT more than hurt me.

[Cath2907]

I have worked from home since 2009.  My days can be very sedentary and if I am not careful sometimes I get through an entire week without leaving the house.  Have got my fitbit and membership to a local gym to try to encourage myself to move more.

[Maura-CA]

I have telecommuted for the past 18 months and my steps improved a great deal.  I decided to walk every morning before I began work - using the time that I used to take to get showered and ready for work.  I got up, put on my workout clothes and walked 2-3 miles before I started my day. 

Then at lunch time, I would choose a healthy meal since I was at home and I would again walk 2-3 miles just around the neighborhood/golf course and then I walked again after my work day concluded.  I easily walked 8-9 miles a day without even realizing it, because the exercise was broken into smaller sessions. 

Wishing you luck!  Telecommuting is the best!

[iMike]

Thank you to all who have shared your stories/experiences with me!  I've been spending the last two weeks getting into a new routine that I can build around my work-from-home schedule.  Unfortunately the headset I received for my job is not wireless (grrr!!! arggh!!) so I can't make laps around my apartment while I'm on the phone, but with an updated gym on site and being less than a mile from the downtown core of Minneapolis I should have no difficulties remaining active.  I'm also trying to land a part-time retail job for the holidays to do on weekends and a couple evenings. 

[tamado]

I'll reply from the other side.  I used to work from home and did not take it seriously like you are.  I simply sat in my office and worked.  I would take my kid to the park and play and such but was no where near active enough and that is when I hit my heavist - 285.  I did not fully understand the implications of an extrovert being in a basement office eight hours a day and it got to me.  

Take your mental and physical health seriously.  It is a lot easier to stay physically healthy when you are mentally healthy.  Get out and see other people.  Do everything the others here are saying - go to the gym, walk for groceries and talk to people along the way.  Working at home can be an amazing way to acheive work/life balance if you are conscioius of the rest of your life.

Good luck and keep moving!

[Cath2907]

I cannot agree too much with tamado.  Working from home can be utterly miserable, isolating and depressing.  When I first started (once the novelty had worn off) I really struggled with it.  However a consious effort on my part to interact socially with colleagues (call for a chat) now and then and to get out of the house as often as possible improved things.  The biggest change came for me when I moved the desk downstairs in front of the window.  Now I can see the world pass me by and I really feel part of it. 

[DrinkMixer35]

Hi @iMike.  I telecommute 2 days/week.  Granted, I have been off FitBit for some time and have recently gotten back on the hourse.  I know you have already received so many great ideas and suggestions from the folks in the FitBit Community, but I figured I would throw my 2 cents in.

When working from home, I tend to do the following: 

- At least once every 90 min's or so, I will walk around my condo complex (nothing major, just a quick 5-10 min brisk walk).  If the weather does not cooporate, I will walk up and down my stairs a few times (I live on the 2nd floor).

- I try to stay on the same food schedule at home as I do at work.  Whenever I am hungry outside of my eating schedule, I will either drink water, or walk, or both. 

This has really been helping me as of late and I hope it does the same for you.  Good luck, and you are never short of support with the FitBit community!