This weekend was very restful.
My husband, a little sore and swollen from
traveling, had a bit of jet lag.
He had
missed his lazy boy chair and made up for his absence by spending as much of
this weekend as possible with his butt glued to the seat.
Even though it was a beautiful sunny summer
weekend, we kept mostly indoors napping and catching up on television programs.
Yes, it’s a sedentary life.
Each year it becomes more sedentary, at least
for me.
This might be the reason why I
cannot stand for very long and often seem to be in pain.
My husband doesn’t get much activity, but what he does get is
still more than twice of what I might do.
Our workplace just completed a six-week challenge for employees to be
more active. T-shirts and other prizes
are awarded just for participating and the top go-getters will win nice
prizes. When an employee signs up they select
a daily step goal. The lowest goal they
allow is 6000 steps. I am lucky if I
walk 2000 steps a day. Over the six-week
challenge, my husband walked more than twice of what I did. He does our shopping and most of the errands
requiring walking. I hardly seem to go
anywhere anymore besides work or over to my sisters. To become more sedentary, I am afraid, would
mean being housebound. I’m probably
heading that way and if I want to avoid it (I do), I need to start moving
more.
While I work to change my eating habits, I also need to
increase my activity level and decrease the total time spent sitting. I sit while I work, play at my computer, read,
watch television, eat, and nap. I am a
champion at sitting not walking. Last week, I walked an average of 1800 steps
per day.
This week I plan to step it
up.
I’m not sure that means that I will
take a walk outdoors in the public.
It
does mean however that I will find ways to rise from my chair more often
throughout the day for some movement.
Because of my stiffness, joint pain and overall sluggishness I need to
move more.
I need to move more before I
can’t.
This week I start.
I will increase my average step count this
week and then increase it again next week.
I imagine a day when walking and activity will
be more a part of my day than sitting around.
It may be far in the future, but the sooner I start, the sooner that day
will come.