Every New Year, there is a plethora of "new" information about how to stick to your diet or fitness resolutions, and typically also a fair amount of commentary on what those resolutions should be. Ten best diet tricks, ten best exercises, ten best ways to avoid sabotage ... whatever form these articles take, there is rarely any truly new information. To be fair, there is rarely any seriously incorrect information, either.
But often, in the presentation, the writers will leave something out, take information out of context, or insert a tip that is contradictory to accepted recommendations. For example, in a recent web story on "ten tips for a healthy diet," the writer (on chow.com) advised readers to drink water throughout the day. This is a great tip (your body needs water for every single one of its processes, and most people don't drink enough of it). EXCEPT that the writer then went on to advise readers to keep a pitcher of water on their desk so they don't have to get up every time their cup/glass is empty.
What's wrong with that? Well, a few weeks back, there was a web story proposing that the single biggest factor in diet/fitness failure, not to mention the nation's general state of health, was that people spend too much time sitting down. Multiple studies over multiple years support that proposition, and it only makes sense; if you spend 8 hours sleeping, 8 hours at your desk, 2 hours driving (average commute times are edging into 40 minutes one-way, so a lot of people are on the road more than 2 hours a day), and another 2 hours sitting down for meals, that leaves only 4 possible hours in which to squeeze any actual physical activity into your day. Subtract another hour for grooming, another for home/child care, and you have only 2.
Medical and fitness authorities concur that for basic health, the average person should engage in an hour of moderate physical activity every day. And recent studies point out that this hour can be cumulative: six ten-minute walks are as good, for basic health, as one sixty-minute walk. So an hour of activity can be achieved in hundreds of different ways, from doing the merengue while you brush your teeth to doing leg raises at the copier. Or by not keeping a pitcher of water on your desk.
So what if you have to get up to refill your cup? That's a GOOD thing. Make it better by not going straight to your breakroom for the refill; walk all the way around your floor. It will only take a couple of minutes each time. If you refill your cup every hour, you'll get fifteen minutes or so of added activity, plus a break for your eyes. If you use those walks to consciously lengthen and straighten your back, to do some isometrics, to do a discreet stretch or two, or just to socialize with a co-worker for a moment, so much the better.
Everybody's situation is different, but as a rule, if you are trying to improve your diet, fitness, or general health, do NOT accept advice that involves moving your body less. Almost everyone needs to move more. Finding ways to add moderate activity into your workday can make a huge difference.
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