Bengaluru man gains 24 kg in 2 years with 16-hour work day: How fast can you gain weight with a long desk job

Indian Express

15-05-2025

A Bengaluru professional's recent Reddit post on gaining 24 kg in two years since 2022 because of his 'corporate slave' routine of 14-16 hour workdays has revived conversations of work culture affecting our health. Just like him, Dr Venugopal Pareek, bariatric surgeon and obesity specialist at Hyderabad's CARE Hospitals, sees many young professionals who sleep by 2 am and report for work by 9 am, cramming the rest of their lives in between. 'All of them complain of gaining weight uncontrollably because of their sedentary lifestyles, zero exercise and what I call a lift-to-lift routine (walk out of a lift and get into another),' he says.
How fast can you gain weight?
Anybody with a sedentary lifestyle and a fast food diet can gain up to 2 kg a month. 'Consuming an additional 500 calories per day might result in a 6 to 8 kg weight gain in six months. Of course, each body has its own setpoint, which slows down weight gain by reducing appetite and boosting metabolism. But without exercise, your muscles give way to fat,' says Dr Pareek. Given the way we snack at work, we end up overloading ourselves by anything between 350 and 500 calories. 'A pastry yields a neat 500 calories, a frappuccino contains 20 gm of sugar and yields 600 calories, two cookies and an Irani chai can yield 300 calories, a Coke can contains 24 gm sugar and can yield 140 calories while one rasgulla yields 106 calories,' he adds.
This is just snacking. Now be it young men, women or couples, none of them have home food. 'A young couple once told me that their LPG cylinder ran almost a year because they mostly made tea and coffee. Since they had to be at work by 9 am, they had kachori samosa from a kiosk near their office as breakfast. For lunch, they would order in, mostly rich biryani or pulao, then have pastry and Coke late afternoon and burgers for dinner. Their walk to and from the elevator and car cannot even burn a fraction of this load. They do no activity on weekends when they prefer to sleep and rest,' says Dr Pareek.
Why long desk hours make you hungry
That's because the body is under stress and releases cortisol to deal with it. 'Cortisol stimulates appetite, especially for high-fat and sugary foods, leading to increased calorie intake. High cortisol can slow down your metabolism, making it harder to burn calories and leading to weight gain. It tends to decrease the muscle-building hormone testosterone, which can lead to muscle breakdown, allowing for fat build-up. Cortisol can cause the body to store more fat, particularly around the abdomen, even if caloric intake is controlled. It can lead to insulin resistance, making it harder for the body to regulate blood sugar and weight,' says Dr Satish N, senior consultant, bariatric surgery, Manipal Hospitals, Bengaluru.
Limited sleeping hours increase the hunger hormone ghrelin and reduce the satiety hormone leptin, intensifying food cravings.
The extra weight is usually deposited in the upper arms, shoulder, face and abdomen. 'Men have higher testosterone levels to protect their muscle mass, women have nothing to shield them against weight gain,' says Dr Pareek.
How to plan diet with exercise on weekends
Even if as a salad or home-made sandwich, carry any food you can rustle up at home that's rich in fibre, legumes, wholegrains and protein sources. 'Give up salad dressings, all processed and packaged food. Keep heat-free meal packs ready the night before,' urges Dr Pareek.
Taking an exercise snack, like doing wall squats on the hour, though sounding good, may not be feasible. 'Walk while answering calls, take a 20-minute brisk walk break in your campus without smoking or taking food. It burns up to 350 calories. Another hour in the morning or at night can help the body burn calories even at rest,' adds Dr Pareek.