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
Log in or Register to save this content for later.