Per recent research, 1 in 4 Americans sit more than 8 hours a day ! 4 in 10 adults are not physically active .
The same research indicates sitting more than 3 hours a day and combined with physical inactivity increases the risk of early death, mental health issues as well as cancer.
Unfortunately I am 1 of those 4 Americans who sit more than 8 hours a day, as I work in front of computer. Not only that, I work from home 2 to 3 times a week! Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
Although working from home provided me many benefits, little did I know sitting too long was also harming me at the same time !
For few years now I noticed slow deterioration in my health. It took me while to realize that these health challenges were impacts of my sedentary lifestyle.
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Whatever may be your reason to be sitting more than 3 hours a day, whether working from home or in general a job that requires too much sitting, there are some actions that you can take to live a healthy life and counter the impact of sitting too long.
4 habits you need to change to live a healthy life and counter the impact of sitting too long.
Here are 4 key health risks of sedentary and inactive lifestyle and how to avoid them:
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Physical Activity and Outdoor Time:
When you work from home or in general in-active, you will not be spending enough time outdoor in natural sun light.
Significant research has been done to show the adverse impact of reduced sun light on internal rhythm of body. This can lead to depression, obesity and many other health issue.
Once I realized this, I started taking little breaks during day. Walking as little as 5-10 minutes 2-3 times a day in sun light improved my own health significantly and reduced my migraine episodes almost by 70%.
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Healthy Food:
Working in your home office or sitting for long hours could lead to unhealthy eating and snacking habits.
One of the global research suggest that sub-optimal level of eating healthy food like fruit, vegetables, grains and legumes is leading cause of deaths caused by cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes etc.
It takes some work to prep healthy lunch box in the morning but it helps in the long run.
Once I started consuming optimum level of healthy food groups, my vitality and energy returned back.
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Regular Breaks:
Research suggests that regular breaks improve productivity, job satisfaction and overall engagement.
Take regular breaks during the day. Especially for people working long hours in-front of computers, it is important to provide rest to eyes as well.
Even if you are not able to go outside, just take a quick walk in the hallway or inside the house.
Face to Face Interaction/Socialization :
As humans, we thrive in social situation. Working from home or in-general sedentary lifestyle creates situations where one may go without social contact for long hours.
Not having enough social contact create much harm to our mental and emotional well being.
Allow yourself time either during or after hours for regular social contact whether with family or with friend.
I hope you find these tips helpful and will help you to avoid unwarranted side effects of inactive lifestyle.
Everyone should be living a cheerful, vibrant life!
Quote for the thought:
