As long as I've known of him, Kevin James has always been that typical funny fat guy. But he wasn't always this way -- well, what I mean is he hasn't always been large. He's probably always been funny. Anyway, James recently admitted that his weight is a result of his job. Yeah, most of us have been there too, huh?

But unlike the rest of us who blame our weight on our sedentary office job, James says his stand-up career is the culprit. "I wasn't always a big guy. Stand-up ruined it for me. I would be sitting at dinner at 2 in the morning after a show, and I wouldn't wake up until 3 o'clock the next afternoon. That set a pattern that wasn't great for my metabolism," he recently told the New York Post.

Yeah, that'll do it. The key is finding a healthy routine that works with your schedule, however wonky it may be.

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The office never seems as bleak as it does during the first week back at work after the holidays, huh? If that statement sums up how you feel today, you're really going to hate me when I tell you this: Working your nose to the grindstone is good for your health.

According to this article from The Daily Mail, "Those who are industrious and ambitious are likely to live up to four more years than the impulsive and free-spirited among us ... They succumb less to the temptations of drink, drugs or risk-taking - which helps guarantee their health."

The long and short of it? The more you work, the more healthy your lifestyle. Which means, of course, that you're more likely to be fit and slim. So what are you waiting for? Get back to work!

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In the wise words of Dolly Parton, "Working nine to five ... it's enough to drive you crazy if you let it." If you want to avoid the driving-you-crazy part and be more productive and less stressed, the answer is simple: Exercise.

University of Bristol researchers found that people who exercised on work days -- either before work or during lunch -- experienced less stress and were better able to handle the challenges of their workdays.

It's not surprising, really. Exercise can do wonders for your mood. And if you have a crabby co-worker, a demanding boss or unreasonable deadlines to deal with, you can certainly use a little boost in the mood department. And physical activity can increase your energy which, in turn, will make you a more productive employee. So get moving! You never know ... maybe your boss will notice your great performance and you'll get that raise you sorely deserve.

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You know that getting active when you're away from your desk is good for your health, but did you know that your after-work workout can also reduce your risk of repetitive strain injuries?

It's true! The theory is that getting physical outside of work "may promote mechanical and metabolic processes in the musculoskeletal system that counters the repetitive or sedentary effects of many jobs." And, most of us definitely suffer from those effects -- from desk jobs to physical labor, repetitive motions and a sedentary nature are all too common.

This isn't just important for your comfort (although, that is pretty important) -- health problems stemming from work-related strains and injuries cost companies big bucks, and cost you moolah, too. Moral of the story -- you have lots of reasons to hit the gym, and this just piled a couple more on.

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Tomorrow is the deadline for my book, The Everything Flat Belly Cookbook. I'm thrilled with Adams Media for hiring me to write it but on occasion, my body has been very angry at them for giving me such a tight deadline. This uber short deadline has caused little Miss Fitzness Trainer to sit for 12 hours at a time with my head buried in my laptop quite often. My brain is thrilled, but my back has been bummed.

The only reason I've survived is because I'm already really good at taking care of my body. I've never had to sit down for such long periods of time as a requirement of my job, but when the side effects of doing so set in ... I knew how to respond.

I imagine a lot of you are stuck at a desk for hours on a daily basis. I feel for you. I also have some ideas to help you survive it without all of the stiff, achy and strained body parts.

Women who are overweight face many health risks, such as heart disease and type II diabetes. And Martha recently told us how overweight women tend to be more impulsive. But overweight women face some risks you might not expect:

• Being fired. Could it be because people who are overweight have a higher rate of absenteeism? Or is it because of a prejudice? It's hard to pinpoint the reasons why, but medical research shows that overweight women run a higher risk of losing their jobs.
• Being the victim of a crime. Overweight women run a greater risk of being victims of crimes. They're also more likely to become criminals.
• Financial woes. Overweight women are more likely to find themselves broke.

It's a chicken and the egg situation, really. Is a woman's weight causing these negative life events or are the negative events causing stress that leads to overeating and obesity?

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Compared to a job like deep-sea welding, working in an office behind a desk seems like a pretty safe career move. You might think that there's little chance for injury, but don't forget that there are still are a few dangers: Weight gain from inactivity, depleted eyesight, poor posture, and let's not forget probability of severe mid-afternoon fatigue.

Divine Caroline has some excellent rules for avoiding some of the dangers of the desk job:

• The 20/20 Rule - Save your eyesight by looking away from your computer every 20 minutes for 20 seconds at something three feet away.
• The Floating Mouse Rule - When moving your mouse, move your whole arm instead of just your wrist.
• The Mini-break Rule - take a 30 to 60 second break every 30 minutes -- use this time to take a short walk or do some stretches.

They have even more excellent tips to share ... click here for more info.

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Wellness programs are gaining popularity with employers (about 1/3 of companies in the U.S. now offer them) and for many, it's a real blessing, after all who wouldn't want a free gym membership sitting out there that they can use or not, or free health screenings and flu shots available right on the job site?

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Do you have a soda habit? I went through a period when I used to work in an office and I would drink cup after cup of loaded coffee all morning and bottle after bottle of Diet Coke all afternoon -- talk about sugar and caffeine overload! I have since pretty much cut out soda (and am still working on cutting down on so much coffee) but it wasn't an easy transition. For me the habit-breaking point came when I moved into a home office that (thankfully!) didn't come stocked with a Diet Coke vending machine calling my name from across the room.

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The energy you burn in your everyday life contributes to greater calorie expenditure than your daily trip to the gym; that is, assuming you don't sit around all day while you work. Oh wait, that's exactly what you do? Then if you're looking to burn some serious calories, you may want to think about changing jobs.

Let's pretend for a second that the economy isn't in ruins and that switching occupations is an easy task. Didn't work. Too difficult to even pretend such a thing? Try again. Come on... humor me. Thank you. Now, take a look at how many calories you burn per week doing your current job, and then compare with how many calories you'd burn if you were, for example, outside digging ditches every day. Suffice it to say that after a day like that, you needn't ever step foot in a gym.

According to Men's Health, on average, people who work in an office environment burn about 9,000 calories a week through non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Then, depending on how much time and/or effort you put in at the gym, you could then be burning an additional 900 calories (three half-hour workouts per week) to 1,800calories (6 half-hour workouts per week). So, all said and done, an office worker burns under 11,000 calories per week even if they exercise regularly. How does that compare against our guy or gal that's out there digging ditches? It's no comparison at all. Skilled laborers burn an average of 21,000 calories per week at their job alone, never mind if they have the energy left at the end of the day to go the gym.

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We've all experienced "brain failure," that embarrassing moment when you can't remember something totally mundane and regular -- like how to spell a simple word or where you parked your car. Having a better memory is something pretty much everybody would enjoy, especially when it comes to doing your best at work. Giving your noodle a boost is something you can do in as little as 30 seconds, so there's really no reason you can't fit an exercise or two into your daily routine. Try one of these exercises from Natural Health to get started:

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Smarts: most of us think we have them but surprisingly, few really do. Although it's true that your intelligence is in good part determined by factors out of your control (like genetics and whether or not your parents let you eat lead paint chips as kid), it's also true that you have more control over your brain power than you probably think. All kinds of daily decisions affect how well your brain works and how "smart" you are, including everything from what you eat to how you act to what exercises you choose for your workout. Are you maximizing your mental potential? If your coffee cup is too big or you often try to multi-task while working out you probably aren't. The following is a list of a few of the ways you can make the most of what you've got in the smarts department (don't worry, they're all pretty easy!).

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You're probably doing your best to squeeze healthy eating choices and exercise into your work day, but are you doing it for all the right reasons? The majority of people are motivated to exercise and eat better by the desires to look better, feel better, and live longer, but did you know that adopting a fit lifestyle can actually help your career? Yep, hitting the gym can improve your work performance right along with your bench press stats.

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Health and fitness are big topics nowadays and because they're important to us in our everyday lives, they're also important to us in our work lives -- we spend too many waking hours at work to not worry about how our jobs are impacting our healthy living goals.

But what about thinking the reverse: how is your health affecting the success and happiness of your work life? Namely, do you think your weight is affecting your career?

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We're all stressed way too much -- I don't think anybody disputes that. Our schedules are too busy, our jobs too demanding, our family times too rushed. And although it seems like we're always talking about how we need to take it easy and relax,how often do we really make good on that? One bubble bath once every six months just isn't going to cut it!

The best stress relief happens when it's built right into your life, and the trick is to form a set of habits that you do on a regular basis without really thinking about it. You don't have to think "this action is meant to decrease my stress" in order to reap the relaxing and re-energizing benefits from it. Here are 5 ways to build stress-relief into your life:

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