Factory Reset Part 2 – Learning to Move More
When I was still a reporter at the newspaper where I work, I spent the vast majority of my time sitting, sitting at the office all day, sitting at meetings all evening and sitting in the car, driving to and from my various destinations. I would return home anytime between 8 and 10 p.m., and if time allowed, I would get started on my stories for the next day or I’d just fall into bed, exhausted, knowing I had to be up at 5 a.m. to do it all over again. Working the crazy hours of a reporter leaves very little time for any movement at all, let alone actual exercise. And boy did it wreak havoc my body. The human body was just not meant to spend that much time in a day sitting. The buttocks has evolved for walking, running, skipping, dancing – NOT sitting.
I had never realized sitting so much would have such detrimental effects. I thought as long as a person still got the recommended amount of exercise in a week, that’s all that mattered. But my lifestyle proved otherwise. Besides the weight-gain, sleep disturbances and mood issues that come as free gifts with a sedentary lifestyle, sitting for most of my day, almost every day, also had led to digestive issues, lower leg and foot swelling and an overall stiffness and discomfort that over time turned into full-on pain in the lower half of my body as the day wore on. Something had to be done, so I turned to Mark Sisson and his book, “The New Primal Blueprint.” He insists that making a point of moving more, any movement at all, throughout the day, every day is more important than getting in that hard-core 45-minute workout.
“Making a commitment to moving more will improve musculoskeletal health, increase fat burning, help regulate appetite hormones, improve appetite and mood, and fight fatigue,” Sisson writes. “This is crucial even for those of you who consider yourself already active but who nevertheless spend many hours a day sitting still. Plain and simple, being sedentary for long periods wreaks havoc on your body, even if you start your day with a five-mile run or end it with 50 laps in the pool.”
My first step in solving my problem, thankfully was greatly helped along by fate. I’d had the opportunity in 2014 to transition into a more editorial role at work, taking my reporting to part time. Not perfect, but a definite step in the right direction. This freed up a few evenings a week to get more exercise. Then in 2016, I jumped at the opportunity to become copy editor, allowing me to give up reporting completely. Life improved tremendously for me after that, no longer dealing with the stress of reporting and allowing my body to settle into a comfortable 8-to-5 schedule. This still wasn’t enough, however. I was still experiencing digestive issues and leg/foot swelling and overall discomfort from sitting all day.
Sisson offers suggestions to the millions of Americans tied to their desks: “No matter how deskbound your job is, you can make some inroads in this area,” he writes. He suggests taking phone calls or conducting in-person meetings on the move and delivering a message to a co-worker in person instead of phoning or emailing.
“[T]he modern workplace culture equates being productive with being glued to a task, grinding away for hours at a time without a break,” he writes. “Plenty of science validates that cognitive function is improved when you take frequent breaks from tasks requiring stationary concentration. … The harder you work – and I mean delivering either physical or mental effort – the more important it is to break from peak cognitive focus for some gentle movement.”
The next step I took to move more during the day was to take a leisurely, 20-minute walk during my lunch break. This offered not only a chance to get moving and my circulation going, but also a chance to just get out of the office and breathe and destress. The only time I don’t walk is when I’m not feeling well. I don’t use weather as an excuse. If it’s cold, I wear layers to work. If it’s rainy, I make sure I bring along my raincoat, boots and umbrella. Everyday, I plan my outfit around what the weather will be during my break. And it has become one of my favorite times of day, especially when the weather is nice.
I then was given a Fitbit that yells at me if only 10 minutes remain in the hour and I haven’t yet gotten 250 steps. Some hours during the day, I get that many steps and more just by walking back and forth from the printer and to other coworkers’ desks. But if at 10-til the hour Fitbit yells at me, I stop what I’m doing and take a short walk (to the break room or bathroom or wherever) until I get those steps.
I had lost all the weight I needed to lose and my digestive issued also had abated by this time, but my leg swelling and pain continued and I began to long for a standing desk. I knew this was the only real solution. I knew my employer would never buy me one, and I certainly couldn’t afford it myself, so for many months, I cursed this roadblock and settled for every once in a while just standing at my desk bent over my computer. As I’m sure you can imagine, these were very short intervals.
Then one day, it struck me. Looking around the office, I thought, surely I can find items that can be used to create a standing desk. My employer also happens to be a pack rat, so our office is quite cluttered with old, no-longer-used office supplies and furniture. So I began to dig, and it didn’t take me long to find a riser/shelf tucked under one of the unused desks. Turns out this riser was the perfect size and height to allow me to comfortably use my computer while standing. Not settling and thinking outside the box allowed me to leap that final hurdle. It took a few weeks of adjustment to standing all day; during that time I regularly moved things around so I could sit when I wanted a break. But I quickly acclimated and now stand pretty much the entire day and feel great. I have a short list of the best things I’ve ever done for my health, and creating a standing desk was definitely one of them.