Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: episode is a reminder that sitting for long periods of
Speaker 1: time leads to all sorts of problems. So don't just
Speaker 1: sit there, get up and move anytime you can. I
Speaker 1: am sure you have heard the phrase that sitting is
Speaker 1: the new smoking. The idea is that sitting too much
Speaker 1: is bad for your health, just like cigarettes are. What's
Speaker 1: ironic about this is that while smoking is terrible for
Speaker 1: your health, the need to go outside to smoke a
Speaker 1: cigarette did force people to get up and move several
Speaker 1: times a day, absent that modern knowledge workers have fewer
Speaker 1: reasons to get up out of their chairs, And it
Speaker 1: turns out that sitting for prolonged periods of time appears
Speaker 1: to increase people's risk of chronic health problems such as
Speaker 1: heart disease. Even if we know this, though, many of
Speaker 1: our lives are not set up to involve getting up.
Speaker 1: We drive in our cars to our offices, and then
Speaker 1: we sit at our desks and in meetings. People then
Speaker 1: return home and sit in front of the television for entertainment.
Speaker 1: Even folks who exercise regularly often sit for much of
Speaker 1: the rest of the day. Putting more physical activity or
Speaker 1: even just standing into a day requires conscious choices, which
Speaker 1: brings us to the topic of today's episode. Don't just
Speaker 1: sit there. You can always find ways to engineer just
Speaker 1: a little bit more moved into your day. For instance,
Speaker 1: anytime I am on an audio only call, I get
Speaker 1: up and walk around. I'm not going for long walks
Speaker 1: or anything. I am just pacing around my office, but
Speaker 1: it is something. If you've got a video call, but
Speaker 1: you don't need to be on camera, you can do
Speaker 1: the same thing. Most of us do need to use
Speaker 1: the restroom at least a few times during a workday.
Speaker 1: If you work in a larger office building, you might
Speaker 1: aim to use one a bit further from your desk.
Speaker 1: The same goes for a water fountain. While I like
Speaker 1: the idea of those giant insulated tumblers for efficiency's sake,
Speaker 1: a smaller water bottle has the virtue that you will
Speaker 1: need to fill it more often, and that is not
Speaker 1: a bad thing. You can also just stand up. You
Speaker 1: really don't need a reason to do that, but if
Speaker 1: you want a reason, I'm sure you can think of plenty.
Speaker 1: Walk to the window down the hallway to check the weather, go,
Speaker 1: retrieve something from your car, get another pen from the
Speaker 1: office supply closet. You might keep a log and make
Speaker 1: a hash mark every time you stand up and move
Speaker 1: around for at least a few seconds. The goal is
Speaker 1: to do so every thirty minutes or so, though once
Speaker 1: an hour might be more realistic for people with lots
Speaker 1: of meetings. Even if you've got back to back zoom meetings,
Speaker 1: take thirty seconds while you are finding the next link
Speaker 1: to stand up, walk around your desk chair, and then
Speaker 1: get back into your chair. As for leisure time sitting,
Speaker 1: the same concept applies. If you are watching TV. You
Speaker 1: can get up and stretch between shows, but it might
Speaker 1: also be a good idea to switch up your leisure time,
Speaker 1: so prolonged sitting isn't as much of an option. Join
Speaker 1: that bowling league or go outside with your family after dinner.
Speaker 1: Is it as good as taking long walks multiple times
Speaker 1: per day, or hunting mastodons or tending a farm as
Speaker 1: our ancestors did. Probably not, But the goal is really
Speaker 1: to limit the consecutive minutes spent sitting. Any time you
Speaker 1: choose to not just sit there is probably better than
Speaker 1: not choosing to get up in the meantime. This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast that's b E the number four, then breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before
Speaker 1: Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: Should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.