Office jobs aren’t exactly the most active way to spend 40 hours a week, and we’ve all heard how having one makes you 60% more likely to die early, yada yada yada. But while the lack of movement being chained to your desk brings isn’t great for your overall health, it turns out our bodies do still expend energy when we’re sitting in front of a keyboard.
ShakeThatWeight decided to look into it in a little more detail to find out exactly how many calories the average person burns simply by sitting at their desk, and the answer might surprise you.
Based on the average weight of a 155-pound person (just over 11 stone), the research estimates you’ll burn approximately 102 calories for each hour you sit at your desk.
If you do a normal 9-5, excluding an hour for lunch when you might go for a little walk around, that means you can anticipate burning 714 calories per day just for sitting behind that desk of yours. Which doesn’t sound half bad.
In theory, the heavier you are the more calories you’ll burn, however this is very much dependent on how fast your metabolism is – and that varies from person to person.
ShakeThatWeight’s research also found the average person burns 382 calories by sleeping for seven hours, 62 calories by showering for 15 minutes, and around 93 calories cooking a relatively quick dinner.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you can ply your body with 714 calories worth of sugary snacks because you’re ‘burning it off anyway just by sitting down at your desk’ – calories from nutritious foods like vegetables will keep you fuller for longer, and your body needs to be fed a balanced diet.
So it’s not all fun and games, but at least next time you’re sat at your office job wondering why the eff you’re there, you can reassure yourself that at least you’re burning some of the cheese you ate at Christmas.
