Hi Everyone

Welcome to my seventh blog.

Thank you all again for such a wonderful response to my blogs.

I have been on holiday for the last week.  now and it’s been great. It’s awesome to be back at the beach again, in spite of rather rainy and dismal weather! Nevertheless, I have had a few wonderful days with my three boys in the nest, so this has made me a very happy Mama Hen!

I have therefore had a bit of time to think about this blog and I have found it very confusing!  I am rather easily and often confused, though! So many ideas and thoughts but nothing has felt quite right… until I went back to all my notes and podcasts and found my research on this particular topic.

What, you might ask, is this “sitting syndrome” and why on earth would I devote a whole blog to it? Well, for one, it is an actual documented term, and for two, it can have a huge impact on your overall general health and well-being. Let me explain further. The sitting syndrome or sedentary lifestyle is a term used to describe individuals who engage in prolonged periods of sitting or overall inactivity. While sitting down all day may appear harmless to you, in actual fact, it is not and can serious consequences on your overall health.

When you sit, you use less energy than you do when you stand or move. Research has linked sitting for long periods of time to a number of health concerns. This includes obesity, have increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around your middle, and high cholesterol levels. Prolonged sitting may also increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Of course, we all have to sit down, and some more often than others, and some for long periods of time. What is important is that we understand that we need to move regularly and often.

There are so many positive effects of standing and moving. Both can increase energy and productivity levels, lower stress and improve moods. Gentle movement can boost your metabolism, tone muscle and may reduce common aches and pains. Activity may help maintain or improve your bone health. Standing and walking will increase your blood circulation.

Weight-bearing activities that promote balance and good posture may help reduce your risk of osteoporosis and may promote bone health in teenagers who love their long periods of screen time.

Gentle exercise may help decrease the risk of early mortality.

Standing and moving promote greater mental alertness, which leads to greater productivity and improved concentration and more energy. Subtle movement may promote HDL (good cholesterol) and lower LDL (bad cholesterol).

Moving may help decrease your blood sugars and this may help reduce your risk of diabetes.

Moving muscles helps pump fresh blood and oxygen to the brain, which releases mood-enhancing chemicals and can make you feel happy!

So, come on, lads and lasses, let’s get moving!

In no particular order, below are a number of easy simple steps to take in order for us to do this.

Firstly, I really try to use stairs wherever I can. One just needs to look for them and, once you know where they are, you can use them whenever you are at shopping centres or office blocks. Perhaps if you work on the twentieth floor you could do this once a day.

Ages ago, I fell into the habit of walking while I talk on the phone. Even when I am on the landline, a take a few steps forward and then I turn around and repeat. Whilst my family finds this quite strange, it works for me and besides which there is quite a bit I do that they find strange., very strange.

The folk who are attached to their PlayStation and the many games that they are engaging in, should try to stand up and move around whilst playing them. For a bit of humour, why don’t you try jogging on the spot or standing on 1 leg?

When watching TV, watch one programme, then stand up and walk around before watching the next. Jogging on the spot whilst watching can also be really great. Possibly not if you are watching with a group of people! Even better, what we did years ago, was to buy a treadmill and a stationary bike and we watch TV whilst exercising.  This is to watch TV in a healthier way as opposed to finding a way to make exercise better! We also exercise outside which is great for our mental health and so nice to get some fresh air.

You can also try meeting friends, colleagues and family at a park or on the beach and catching up with them whilst walking or hiking or even climbing. You then kill two birds with one stone, not literally, just figuratively!

If you are able, perhaps consider walking or riding your bike to and from work. If you take a bus or train, get off a stop early and walk several blocks. If you have a long commute in a train consider, standing up regularly. You could also practise contracting and releasing the muscles if driving in a car. Possibly your legs and your buttocks. Again, make sure that you do this with some discretion. You might not look so lekker clenching and unclenching your gluteal muscles in public.

For a long time, I choose to park my car in a parking bay that is relatively far from the entrance to the shopping centre that I am at. This then makes me walk a little more than I would do if I parked closer. Retail therapy is also great for so many reasons, mostly that you keep moving. Try to explain that to your husband or partner.

Invest in an Apple Watch or Fitbit. The exercise objectives are actually not that difficult to achieve. Just beware, a fitness tracker is totally addictive. Even my somewhat sedentary better half is motivated to get up (even after a heavy night!) and go for a run or spinning class in order to meet his exercise goal! As long as you are doing it for the right reasons, it is so good for you in so many ways.

If you work at a desk, try a standing desk or improvise with a high table or counter. Standing as you work is actually really interesting and allows you to keep moving and using your stabilizers as you work. Try having a meeting standing up – a great way to keep them short!

So, guys, why don’t you give this a go?

Remember one step at a time. Stand a little more, then move a little more and then maybe walk a little more. Before you know it, you may be running the 5km park run!

My fifth tip.

So, having just spent this whole blog telling you to keep moving, I am now going to tell you the opposite!! Oh dear, you may be thinking, holiday brain has set in.No, it has not.

What I really would like you all to try to do, is to sit when you eat, whatever you eat and whenever you eat. Focus on your food, think about what you are eating and enjoy every mouthful. In this way, you will know when you are full.

It’s so easy to just eat mindlessly. I ate a whole packet of fruit pastilles the other night because I was so absorbed in a movie on TV!  Don’t do this! When you have had enough stop eating. A bit of repetition here, I know, but I think it’s worth being reminded about. For many of you, it’s holiday time, and therefore you have the time to enjoy your food. For those not on holiday, hopefully, work is slowing down, so you can do this too.

Hope this works. Bye for now!