Monday, August 12, 2013

I'm Lazy

Yep, you read that right.

I’m lazy.

Ok, well maybe lazy isn’t the right word.

Sedentary is probably a better way to describe myself.

Are you shocked reading that this is how I think of myself?

It’s true. Yes, I work out most days. Some days I even get in two workouts. But the rest of the time….I am on my butt. And that 45 mins- 1.5 hrs a day of exercise just doesn’t cut it.

You see,I work a desk job. I sit in meetings. I hover over my computer. During my eight hours of work, I only get up to walk to the bathroom.

I used to walk on my lunch break but once I started in with classes I started using my hour of downtime to do homework. Having 5 ‘extra’ hours of time to devote to homework made the amount I needed to do at home substantially less and I loved that.

But because I now work through my lunch break I basically have 9 hours straight of sitting time.

After work I usually go to barre class for an hour, and that is awesome, but once I get home I end up on the couch for the remaining hours of the day watching TV, playing on my phone, eating, etc.

Then bed.

So what does that mean for me.

16 hours of awake time, minus 1.5 hours of activity (if I’m lucky), means that over 90% of my day is spent sitting. Yep, you read that right. NINETYFREAKINGPERCENT!

This number, it’s not good.

So, yes, I do think I am lazy. Maybe not completely by choice but still, 90% of my day being spent on my ass- yeah, I feel like a slug. I literally can feel the damage sitting all day long does to my body.

My injury to my psoas last year was caused by underuse, not overuse. From being so inactive (all while training for a half marathon mind you) and now I still feel how weak my psoas is when I run. And I hate it. It’s really not a good feeling.
And I felt it before the triathlon Thursday night. I leaned over to get something out of my bag when I was getting set up and I felt how stiff my back was, how sore my shoulders were from sitting and hunching all day. I felt like an old lady. Not really how you want to feel right before starting a triathlon.

Like they said in Runner’s World ‘sitting is the new smoking’ – doesn’t sound very healthy does it?

So what am I going to do to fix it?

Well, there is not much I can do about the 8 hours of work time. My job requires me to work at a computer. I do want to ask about a standing or adjustable desk but right now I work remotely on a laptop in a building cross-campus from my office. Not sure there is much I can do about this until I am back to working in my real office. Although I am thinking about bringing in a stability ball to sit on- better than nothing, right?

I am going back to taking lunch time walks. It will cut into my schoolwork time in the fall but I am ok with that. My goal is to get in at least 3 a week with 5 a week being ideal.

I am actually changing up my exercise routine to help accommodate Paul’s new training schedule and the needs of my household. So all of my workouts will be in the morning and I will be coming home after work every day, cooking dinner, and taking care of the dogs. My plan is to take the dogs for an hour walk every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and at least one long walk on the weekends. Then come home and work on schoolwork- not watch TV. Still sitting but at least my brain is being active.

Also, I am going to try and be better with housework during the week. A) because it will keep me off the couch and B) it needs to be done.

Oh, and I bought a fitbit (just waiting for it to ship) and I am hoping this helps get me moving more. I am sure seeing super low step counts every day will motivate me to get off my butt more!

So, those are some of my ideas for how to be more active in my sedentary world. Any other suggestions?

Are you an sedentary active  person like me? How does it affect your health and fitness?

14 comments:

  1. I've been focusing on little movements. I drink 100oz of water, and most of that at work. So, I walk to the bathroom. A lot.

    And if the downstairs one is full, instead of waiting, I go upstairs. Or if I'm feeling really sedentary, I go upstairs anyway.

    I also do what I call "potty break push ups". We have a bench in our bathroom, so I do elevated pushups on there. 5 each time I go (so usually about 20 per day!) Other options: squats, plank, tricep dips, lunges, jumping jacks.

    It only takes a few seconds, but I can tell my body appreciates it!

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    1. I drink a ton of water at work too and probably end up walking to the bathroom about a half a dozen times a day but sadly I work in a one story building and the bathroom is not that far away. I always walk around campus to attend other meetings but I know it's not enough. And it's not a matter of getting in exercise for fitness (since I do workout) it's about moving, or even just standing, versus sitting all day. And since my job isn't changing any time soon I just have to find better ways to move more in my free time.

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  2. I'm totally an active sedentary person who sits 90% of the day too. I'm not sure what to do about it because I like using my lunch breaks to, you know, eat, so I sit and read or write or something while I'm eating. I'd take a walk, but I hate eating my lunch at my desk. I also only get 30 minutes of a break so there goes that.

    I've debated a standing desk, but I'm already pretty weird at work and have no friends in the office, so it's hard for me to want to do anything different. I'm hoping to GTFO of this job soon, so maybe I'll have different options if I go to a new place.

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    1. Yeah, they 'give' us an hour for lunch so I can defintely do both eat and walk. I think it will be weird and maybe a bit awkward to have a standing desk in my real office (since I share it with 3 others) but I really shouldn't care what they think, right? My health is more important!

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  3. Hi Lady! You know, I totally get that about sitting too much. Once I started working out regularly, I started getting really achyd when I sat all day. So I did something about it. I started off by using stacks of books and little shelves to create my own standing desk. And then I approached my boss about ordering a desktop stand and she obliged! I'm typing this up from my standing desk now and it has made a huge improvement in my activity level since I'm more likely to walk around and even dance while listening to music at my desk. If you're looking for low-cost options, here is what I had my employer order: http://standeeco.com/

    I hope you are able to squeeze in more activity, I know it's really hard with a desk job ;)

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    1. I am pretty sure my boss will go for a standing desk. Unfortunately, I am not working in my real office until 2014 sometime. That stinks. I love the idea of stacking things under my laptop. I was talking about that with friends this weekend. Probably will look ridiculous but its an easy (temporary) fix. Yay! Thanks for the idea :)

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  4. With my job I am lucky that I don't sit 8 hrs a day.Depending on who needs help & what computers have problems I am mostly on the go all of the time.We are are also on the second floor so I probably go up on down the steps at least 2 dozen times a day. (It makes no sense that the computer servers are on the second floor but that's another story). We also have buildings about 1/4 mile away so unless it's 100 degrees or 0 I usually walk. I usually can come up with 10,000 steps just at work alone. I usually walk at lunch but have gotten out of the habit in the summer because of the heat/humidity.

    The real sad part is that probably 70-80% of America doesn't do ANY activity whatsoever. So they have 24/7/365 with no activity at all. That is why we are in such bad shape. I admit that I was one of these people 4 years ago. Yes, I would rollerblade 1 hr a week but that was it until I realized how sedentary I was. Even though you classify yourself as sedentary you are in the top 10% of all Americans in terms of activity.

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    1. I was even worse just a couple years ago so I should be happy for how much I have progressed but I don't want to get too comfortable. I know I can, and should, do more so I need to focus on building it into my routine. My body will thank me :)

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  5. I am definitely with you on being too sedentary throughout my day. I, too, spend 8 or more hours almost exclusively sitting at my desk or sitting at a conference room table for a meeting. I've been meaning to set a timer to go off at 55 minutes past every hour while I'm there so that I can get up and walk a lap around the inside of the building just to get 40 additional minutes of walking every day. Still leaves WAY too much time sitting around but it's a start, right?

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    1. I think that's a great idea Denise! Another reason I went with the fitbit is that I can set an almarm to notify me to get moving. I love the idea of taking 5 minutes every hour! I may have to steal it!

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  6. HI!! I have a fitbit and I love it. It has really helped me step up my steps. I work really hard to get the 10,000 steps a day. That being said my ultimate goal every week it to get to 70,000. If that is from getting 10,000 everyday and 7,000 one day and 13,000 another. That helps me. My WL also accelerates when I get my steps in. Enjoy!

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    1. Do you count non-walking steps, like from workouts, towards your goal? I cannot wait for mine to arrive. It seems like 10,000 steps is a pretty common daily goal but I wasn't sure if I would include steps from running or not.

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    2. I leave it on when I go to the gym. I think is varies on the person if they do or not. I would NEVER, EVER get my steps if I didn't go to the gym, plus take a walk at work and have a fairly active day. 10,000 is hella hard! haha I don't run (I am securely a walker not a runner.) :)

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  7. I'm totally lazy. And like you, have a sedentary job... I love sitting, I love being lazy but it's Sooooo not what's on the path for me and weight loss!! I didn't know you lost 125 pounds with PCOS... definitely going to dig through your archives tonight and learn from you, I'm so glad you commented!

    xo

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