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HR Made Me FAT! 

On this point I will not negotiate. I was a lovely young maiden back in the day. I married, had two children and managed to keep my girlish figure. Then one day I moved into a position requiring me to perform many human resources related duties. Boom! I started to gain weight and lost that girlish figure. Oh yeah, I also had my third and final child. The baby girl. 🙂

HR or Baby Weight?
I get it. I can see how you might be drawn in by the fact I had another baby during this time. But, rest assured, I am certain it was HR. How do I know? Let’s examine the facts.

  • I always wore sizes 3-8 at any given time.
  • I never had a weight problem until I started working in HR.

What else could it be? I know. You’re still dwelling on the fact that I had a baby. So, maybe I had a baby about the same time I moved into a job where I didn’t move from my desk as much as I had in the past. Maybe I now had 3 kiddos and became a single mother soon after baby #3. (I left that part out earlier.) Maybe I was over-worked, under-paid and always worried about everything in my life. I think you may be on to something here! It’s hard to admit. But, you have a point.

Allow Me to Plead My Case
Life is stressful enough without the added stress of constantly changing employment laws. The HR//Payroll Party of One department is not an easy place to live for 10-12 hours each day. Yep, you read this right. I worked long hours. I slept on occasion and ate just about any high carb munchie I could find to sustain me, as I almost never took a lunch break. But, it was Texas (no lunch breaks) and I was salaried-exempt. So, go figure why my figure was the only well-rounded part of my life! I just bet that if I had been a letter carrier or supermodel I would have been in much better shape. Do you now see why I am absolutely convinced HR Made Me Fat?!

The Struggle
I guess you could say I’m a glutton. No! Stop that… a glutton for punishment. No one chained me to the desk and made me be the HR lady. I went willingly. After all, it was a challenging and rewarding career choice. I loved being around for the evolution of various laws like I-9 verification and FMLA. I watched as lawsuits against employers became the trend that would grow 500% over these 20 years. I may have lost 10 pounds the week I was notified I would be questioned by an investigator! But, after all was said and done, HR saw to it I regained that lost weight immediately. So, now I am the Chief Content Officer for BeAuditSecure.com. I podcast, blog and video all about the wonderful world of Human Resources. I love it. But, I am still in the fight to lose weight.

My Solution
I have resolved NOT to let HR get the best of me. I went to the Dr. and told him I need to lose weight. He agreed, but doesn’t share my HR-blaming attitude. So, here I sit. I am working away and am 10 weeks into my plan to beat the HR gremlins that have sabotaged beach life for me. I am proud to report that I am Winning! I am down 18 pounds and feeling great. I only have ___ more to go and I will be back to my old self. Yep, I left that number blank for a reason. I will tell you the final number when I slay the HR Fat Dragon and bury him for good!

Doctor Doctor
Over the last 2 years, my doctor and I have worked very hard and tried many options to slim me down. I have finally found a way to eat chocolate, ice cream, stay in HR and lose weight! How you ask? Stay tuned. I will walk you through my journey and tell you how I finally found what will work for me. If you struggle with HR-related weight gain, maybe this series of posts will help you keep the faith!

Until Next Time, Be Audit-Secure!
(and don’t let HR get the best of you!)

Lisa Smith

About LISA SMITH

Lisa Smith is CEO of Andere Seminars, LLC and Chief Content Developer at BeAuditSecure.com. Follow her on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn, listen to her Small Business Spoonfuls Podcast, and find more from her in Audit-Secure Authority at BeAuditSecure.com.

 

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