People get out of shape and weigh too much for only two reasons: they don’t exercise enough and they eat too much. It is that simple. How and when to eat in order to reduce your caloric intake is the subject for another time. What I want to concentrate on now is how to get started moving just a little more than you are now.
We all have our good habits and our not-so-good habits. I’m sure most of us know someone who has seemingly experienced some sort of exercise epiphany. It might be walking, running, some form of weight lifting, P90X, PT109, or whatever. However, if they don’t manage to make this new regimen a habit that they can realistically work into their daily schedule over the long term, their new resolve will just fade away and die. Although there are people who once they start off on some ambitious adventure can keep things going indefinitely, I think many people would be better off and have more success over time if they started off just simply trying to move when they normally would be just sitting.
Like many people these days, a lot of my job involves sitting at a desk typing on a keyboard or maneuvering a mouse. Then, when I get home, I sit with a computer all the more while catching up with the family on Facebook, sports on ESPN, and the news everywhere. This was my solution to just get moving: a recumbent bike and my Airdesk. As I write this, I’m pedaling away at 18 mph and burning what the little computer says is 510 calories per hour.
I challenge anyone to claim that they “just don’t have time.” Do you watch any television at all? Do you read at all at home? Do you email, Facebook, or surf the Web? Then you have time to move when you otherwise would sit.
I addition to my bike rig, check out this website; it has all of the information you need to get started with building your own treadmill desk. It also has links to more expensive, commercially available options. If you are going to walk somewhere between .7 and 1.1 mph, you don’t necessarily need any kind of high end treadmill that’s rock solid at 12 mph. That clothes hanger that you bought years ago, or almost anything that runs that you can find on craigslist should work fine if you use the described free standing design. However, if you are going to support the desk on the handles of the treadmill itself, you will want a heavier, more solid model that is not going to vibrate or scooch around on you. If I can talk my wife into bringing one into the house, I have two big old units in the garage that are refugees from an old gym. The speed controllers on both units are shot….both run, but only at 1 mph, which just happens to be perfect for a treadmill desk.
To be continued…….