There are a few things that you can do to maintain a healthy weight that doesn’t involve drastically changing your diet.
BY: Jody Trierweiler
Exercise may be the first thing that comes to mind. However, no matter how much you exercise, sitting for excessively long periods of time is a risk factor for early death, a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine found.
There’s a direct relationship between time spent sitting and your risk of early mortality, based on a study of 8,000 adults. As your sitting time increases, so does your risk of an early death. The positive news: People who sat for less than 30 minutes at a time had the lowest risk of early death.
As a society, we have convinced ourselves that we can make up for a primarily sedentary lifestyle by spending an hour in the gym. Recent studies have revealed the dangers of excessive sitting. “Sitting is the New Smoking” one headline read. “Sitting 8 Hours Per Day Increases Risk of Heart Disease” read another. We are now armed with the knowledge that being sedentary for the majority of the day, even if we exercise, is still dangerous for our health.
Here’s the secret to staying slim: move more. That seems deceivingly simple. But it’s really not. You must incorporate more movement into your daily activities. This is easy to do if you’re at home or in a private office. You can stand and walk while talking on the phone or doing chores. You can do squats or lunges down the hall. You can
do a wall sit while brushing your teeth. At work, add a stand-up desk or sit on a Swiss ball instead of a regular chair. But, at other times, such as while traveling or attending meetings, it can become very difficult.
You should incorporate as much walking as possible into your day! A great goal is 10,000 steps per day, which equals about 5 miles. Remember to take a movement break every 30 minutes!
Jody Trierweiler is the Host and Co-Producer of “Jody’s Fitlife” on Comcast and Fitness Expert for “Live in the D”, on WDIV-Ch 4. She is a fitness lover, wife, and mother of two boys. With a BS in Sports Medicine, Jody loves teaching group exercise classes. Her focus is on eating clean and living an active healthy life. She volunteers and is active in the community and her church.