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Comment by leidenfrost | Hacker News Reader

Another (unrelated) problem with Remote work is how harder is to lose weight when you stop moving throughout the day.

Before the pandemic, I usually got up to make coffee, to ask for help or to make consensus with my fellow coworkers (other devs or even UX people, a few stairs away). I usually walked from work from time to time to clear up my mind. Now I barely move. I live in a small apartment. The fridge is 3 meters away from me.

Back then, I could somehow manage my weight by applying some casual restrictions, like eating fewer carbs and eat mostly lean cuts of meat. Now I need to apply some zen monk level of self control if I want to not gain more weight. And losing it is terribly hard.

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Opposite for me, wfh means healthier lunches, more time and flexibility to be active . The short walk to transit (of not driving) doesn’t come close

It’s not for everyone, but people who don’t already have an entire life outside of work struggle to start one when the majority of your day is spent alone staring at a screen. The idea that socializing at work is a bad thing I think isolated a huge number of people who used to thrive on work relations and didn’t need a huge number of close friends outside of work to be happy.

My company is 90% remote in practice even though almost everyone lives is in the greater Boston area. It has a Monday meeting over Zoom that starts with socializing, typically discussing personal events from the weekend. This kind of conversation might help people (particularly junior employees) realize that it is possible to have a life outside of work and give some ideas about how to start it (e.g., organized bike rides).

I don’t think socializing at work is bad, but depending on it I think can be: you may not get along with your coworkers or have any common interests, and the ones you do might leave/depart anytime. you shouldn't expect or need them to reciprocate

Having a strong social life outside of work insulates you form this

For me it’s the opposite. I don’t have any junk food at home but when I was in the office I was constantly surrounded by pretzels, ice cream and candy bars. I also often do some work in the backyard while I am thinking about a problem.

Maybe for you.

Working from home means I make healthy lunches for me. It's a lot easier to eat right when you have a full kitchen and pantry at your disposal.

I made my lunch the day before and carried it on a small tupperware (how are these called?)

Wasn't as great as fresh food but at least I made sure it was healthy.

I've actually gained weight since having to go into an office a few days a week, was much easier to exercise when working from home imo.

This is just a description of your lack of discipline. Since the pandemic, I lost a significant amount of weight and increased my fitness across all other parameters as well. This is because remote work facilitated that. If you need to work in an office in order to get up to make a coffee or to ask for help or to "make consensus" then that's a you problem.

A lot of people don't know how to cook. Maybe the company offered access to a gym too. The "you problem" could be doing a lot of lifting here.

I can cook but I appreciated not having to think about it, and the food was great.

If you don’t like remote work, it’s always “your problem” somehow. Everybody has to like remote work, I guess. And if they don’t it means they are flawed somehow.

It’s kinda nuts the lengths people to go put down those who simply hate working at home 40 hours a week.

Nobody is putting down people who don't like remote work. People are putting down the people who are telling other people why remote work is bad. Those people are trying to take it away. Go work in an office or find a place that is onsite if you think this way.

For me it's the other way. I used to drive to work. Now I walk before and after work.

I struggle with this too. My usual exercise routine is to run alternate days. With WFH, I go on 1 hour evening walks on days I am not running. This makes up for the lack of walking at home.

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