Last year I went from being constantly active and on my feet as a full time Nanny/Daycare provider to spending most of the day behind a desk writing.
It was a HUGE change in activity and boy did my body notice.
I’m not talking about gaining weight, though I did (that’s to be expected when your activity level goes down but your food intake stays the same lol).
I’m talking about the new aches and pains I started to feel due to inactivity. I ached in places I didn’t realize I could ache!
Like most of you know I’m plus sized and have been all my life.
However, I’ve also always been active.
If you’re sitting there thinking, “There is no way you can be truly active and still be fat” please take some time to educate yourself.
Yes, inactivity can lead to gaining weight.
However, you can still be overweight and live an ACTIVE & HEALTHY lifestyle.
Being thin does not equal being healthy or active.
In 2013 I hurt my knee which led to bed rest for a few months due to minor tares in the ligaments and chunks of cartilage missing making my knee unable to bend without getting stuck in one of those holes. Yes, it hurt as much as it sounds.
When I was finally mobile again I had crutches to deal with for almost six months.
I’m a clutz. Every time I walked around with the crutches I was an accident waiting to happen. Therefore I only moved around when I had to.
When I was finally able to get around without them (I actually had to reprogram my brain on how to walk unassisted which was a complete shock to me!) I was no longer a Daycare provider and was sitting behind the desk 6-8hrs a day writing my heart out. Just walking up the stairs would make my old injury swell up and cause the pain to radiate. So my old exercise routines and even my basic walks were pretty much nonexistent.
Now, today I’m able to be a bit more active. I know how far I can push my knee before it starts to swell up. However, through that healing period a few bad habits crept in.
- Bad Habit #1: Being content just sitting for hours on end writing or reading or playing on my phone.
- Bad Habit #2: Finding the most comfortable position while sitting or standing which usually means I am slouching to an extreme.
- Bad Habit #3: Not eating because I’m too caught up in what I’m working on to notice or care. (Yes, not eating enough through the day will lead to weight gain because your body thinks you are starving and therefore will hold onto and store whatever you put in your body more than it would when you eat regular small meals throughout the day.)
Since, I’m working hard at finishing my book and writing articles online I knew I wasn’t going to be able to change the amount of time I sit at the desk. Therefore, I went searching for small exercises I could do while working.
Here’s what I found.
For something more intense:
Last year I also experienced carpal tunnel syndrome for the first time (You can read about that fun experience here) and because of that I went searching for hand exercises to help prevent that from happening again.
Here’s what I found.
I have poor posture. I’ve had it all my life. My Grandmother was/is constantly scolding me to sit up straight, don’t slouch, etc… Part of the problem is my spin curves inward more than normal but the other part is just plain laziness. It is easier for me to slouch. However, over time I’ve realized that slouching leads to headaches. If I don’t pay attention to my posture throughout the day I’ll end up with monster headaches, tense shoulders and a grumpy attitude.
Here is what I found to help combat that.
I love my phone too much to ever stop using it so I’ve hunted down an infographic that lists some helpful apps.
This past Christmas, Santa left my husband and I a Jawbone UP in our stockings.
We love it and it’s made a major difference in our life. So I wanted to share it with you guys.
It’s basically a tiny computer, in the form of a bracelet that tracks your movements, activity levels and sleep patterns. It will graph the amount of steps you have taken, the hours your have slept, your activity level vs your periods of rest.
The app that you use with it will keep all that data stored for you, let you compete between each other (this was the real reason why we got it…. we love to one up each other) and other people on your “team”. It also has a feature where you can log all your food you eat in a day. It will rate your meals from healthy to horrible lol and show you all your important nutritional info.
Since the movement tracker is in the wrist, it’s not an accurate judge of how many steps you take because what it is really doing is telling you how many times you’ve moved your arm or jostled your body. However, you can use that data to tell you how active you’ve been during the day. It also has a handy feature (which is what I use to slip in the desk exercises) that will alert you (with a vibration through the bracelet) when you’ve been inactive for a certain amount of time.
You can also program it, through the app, to wake you up at the optimal time. You set an alarm for the time you need to get up and the bracelet will find the best time to wake you in your sleep cycle.
There’s even a power nap feature! But I haven’t used it because naps in the day make me feel worse, not better.
Being a professional writer can be a very unhealthy lifestyle.
Like all jobs involving the computer you are stuck behind a desk for most of the day.
If you are on a roll you rarely stop to take a break because you don’t want to lose momentum or focus.
Also, with writers, most of us feel more creative at night so we keep late hours or have a completely different wake to sleep schedule then average.
All of these traits can lead to many health conditions. Aches and pains, depression, even cancer. (Everything seems to cause cancer lately) However, you don’t have to give up your dream of being a professional writer or change jobs to lead a healthier life.
- Just take some time to find small exercise routines that you enjoy and that benefit your body.
- Find some fun health apps that will remind you to take care of your body when your brain is focused on other things.
- Finally, remember to eat. Starving your body does as much damage as overeating does. Find a healthy balance with the foods that you love.
Enjoy your life, your career and your hobbies.
Life’s too short to live unhappily!
Wednesday @ 9am “Does Reading a Book Exercise Your Mind?”
Friday @ 9am “The Difference Between Exercising For Your Health Vs Exercising To Be Skinny“
Do you find that your activity level has gone down through the years do to your career or hobby?
Do you have certain exercises or stretches that you like to use at your desk to help keep you active?
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