Plenty of people will admit they're sick of their jobs. But what many people don't realize is that their jobs may be ruining their health.

A new study has found a link between office work and the obesity epidemic.

The study, carried out by the Cyprus International Institute for the Environment and Public Health and the Harvard School of Public Health, looked at how much exercise European office workers managed to fit into their day.

In many cases, the answer was not much.

Nearly a third of all Irish, 55 percent of Greeks and Croatians, and 61 percent of French workers did no exercise at all while at work. Not only that, but they tend to eat lousy fast- food meals during their workday.

It's a one-two punch right in the waistline. And if you think that's exclusive to workers in Europe, take a good look around your own office.

Anyone who's watched cattle all day will tell you what happens when a lot of eating is combined with not a lot of moving, You get nice and big, which is great for beef but not so good for us.

It seems that never before in human history has it been possible for so many people to work so hard while doing so little physically. By 2015, it's believed that 2 billion people on this planet will be overweight, and 700 million of them will be obese.

Desk jobs often take their toll in other ways, too. Office workers often have higher stress levels, and work longer hours. And that's the start of a vicious cycle, because more hours at work means more fast food meals there. For many workers, one bad meal a day at the office quickly turns into two or more.

Those bad meals include the so-called "healthy" options on the fast-food menus, along with those low-fat microwave meals many people bring to work. They might be low in fat, but they're even lower in nutritional value.

Those dishes are high in carbohydrates and packed with sodium, which is a recipe for disaster in your body. And if you ask me, they don't taste that good, either.

Meals like those are at the core of what I call the low-fat, high-carb Torture Chamber Diet, which has combined with our sedentary lifestyle to make us fatter and sicker than ever before. But you can change that right now and take control of your diet -- and your life -- no matter where you work.

First, do what you can to make your meals at home and bring them with you to the office. Make yourself some balanced dishes with good fats, limited carbs, unprocessed proteins, and vegetables. Not only will your meals be healthier, but they'll taste better and be cheaper, too.

Second, get some more movement into your life. If you're like most people, you probably don't have a gym at work, but don't let that stop you. Try climbing the stairs a few times after lunch. Bike to work if you can. Jog at the end of your day.

Be creative about it, and you'll find ways to get that exercise -- just find something enjoyable and stick with it.

It'll be hard work -- but probably not as hard or stressful as the job you're doing behind that desk. And you'll be repaid with something better than money: Good health.

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