I've worked in customer service as long as I can remember. I absolutely hate it. However, I do my job well and my bosses and co-workers all think I love my job. The stress of hating my job so much is eating at me. I try to focus on the positive's though, to keep me sane: good pay, full medical/dental benefits, paid vacation (amazing things, yes I am grateful) and best of all: I think my job is good for my insulin sensitivity, because it is standing and moving around the office all day.
Recently, I've been offered a promotion to a position that would be in the back-of-house: ZERO customer service (yay!) all computer work and stuff I love to do. I am so miserable at my current job that the stress is making me depressed. It's really, really bad.
I want to accept because it will make me so much happier to not deal with customers, but I'm so nervous about the sitting all day! I don't mind sitting, I'm just worried it will ruin my insulin sensitivity or make me gain weight!
Can anyone tell me if they have made a switch like that and how it affected their diabetes control or if it even made a big difference or if you have any suggestions on how I could counteract it?
For info: I don't work out with any type of consistency... I hike occasionally on wknds and that's about it... I have a gym pass, but go sporadically... I could definitely make working out a priority if I wasn't so depressed when I got home from all the annoying customers...
I feel your pain. I too work in customer service and hate it with a passion. It is hard not to get depressed when you have to do something you loathe everyday.
A few years back I went from an active customer service job to a desk job. It did have an impact on my blood-sugar levels at first but I quickly learned to get up and move around as often as possible. I would just stand up at my desk and march in place for a bit to get the blood flowing. I took walks during my breaks and lunch. Sometimes, when no one was around, I would even dance a little! This was good for my emotional outlook as well! Also, I made sure to workout at home several days a week. I also changed my diet to suit my new, less active, lifestyle. I was only in this job for a year, so I don't know how it would have worked out health wise in the long run.
Good luck to you! My suggestion is to follow your "heart". Health aside for the moment, What would make you happier? Taking the job or staying where you are? You can always find ways to stay healthy, but happiness can be more difficult.
Most "sitting jobs" don't require actually sitting all day. In fact, some workers have converted their sitting desk to a standing desk. Telephone and computer work do not require that the worker sit. I'm sure you can think of some ways to make your new job a bit more active. Good luck with this new challenge!
By the way, most offices contain stairs, a great concentrated built-in workout venue.
I find a desk job is better for me as far as my diabetes goes . I don't mind gaining a little weight though and my insulin sensitivity doesn't seem to suffer with minimal activity as much as a retail job makes it suffer (likely a combo of walking all of the time, not eating as well, and being stressed) . Desk jobs keep me nice and stable without any swings and I like that. Your diabetes may vary though
I think you should take the job for sure. You can probably get up and walk around a bit too, that should be a requirement for everyone because sitting for too long is bad for you.
Instead, make sure that you start regular exercise before or after work, at least 2 miles a day walking or something else. This should help the insulin sensitivity. It has so many other health benefits too including lower stress which should also help.
You can easily work activity into your job - under ADA they have to "accomodate" your issues, such as a walk every hour. I worked in a library and dealt with public all day and I would have killed for a desk job! I would just make sure I spend at least 5 minutes every hour to do some stretching or walking around.
Havarti, I personally would take the desk job if you think you'll enjoy it more. It makes such a big difference to your quality of life when you don't dread going into work every day. If you are happier at work, everything else will feel that much better and you'll feel more capable of taking care of your health. You can always find ways to get up and move around, even if you don't want to be obvious about it... get up and walk to the printer, go talk to someone instead of emailing, take the stairs to your floor instead of the elevator, go for a walk at lunch, etc. Or just add more activity into your non-work hours. Good luck!
There was a great article in kiplingers recently about the trend o employers encouraging their employees to be physically active, as studies etc have shown that active and fit employees are more productive. They highlighted a lot of products like stand-up desks and even desks built around treadmills so workers could walk in place while they do paperwork, make phone calls etc… Not sure if your workplace is into that kind of forward thinking but maybe something along those lines is a good idea— adapting the job or workspace itself to allow more physical activity while doing it
