That elicited all sorts of conversation related to "injuries". At least I was not alone in my pain. Many people walk because they can, even when they can't do any other form of exercise.

On the positive side, and there are always positives, I developed a nice little walking route for myself, met some very nice walkers in the 'hood, and now that I am back in the (bicycle) saddle, find that I want to alternate my bike route with my walking route. I miss my "walks"! I am thrilled about this most unexpected outcome!

I did notice throughout the past few weeks, that sitting for prolonged periods of time, such as at the computer (guilty as charged), really aggravated my knees to no end. And then I remembered a newsletter that I wrote a year or so ago about the perils of prolonged sitting.

I dug it out of the archives because I think that we could all benefit from reading it once again!

I hope you enjoy it.

My knees thank-you!

Modern (unhealthy) life begets sitting. Sitting at the computer. Sitting at your desk. Sitting while talking on the phone. Sitting in front of the TV. Sitting while the dishwasher does your dishes.

Doing healthy things require movement. Working at Wholly Macro, living the Wholly Macro lifestyle that we write about each week requires a lot of movement gratefully and thankfully. We have learned to consciously be aware of, and LOVE to move!

life span if we simply stop sitting so much. 

The American Cancer Research Institute is urging Americans to reduce sitting by even as little as five minutes an hour each day, in addition to what we hope is your thirty or so minute regimen of moderate exercise each day, because some research indicates that scheduled daily exercise blocks are still not enough to protect you from an otherwise sedentary lifestyle.

An American Cancer Society study found that women who sit for more than six hours a day (not including while at work), have a 34% higher risk of death than those who sit less than three hours extra a day. This was true even for women who exercise regularly.

And Men: In a University of South Carolina study, 64% of physically active men were still more likely to die of heart disease if they sat for more than 23 hours a week in front of the TV (the TV part is per the study, I swear!!), than those who sat for 11 hours a week or less.

As compared to other risk factors for mortality, here is how sitting stacks up:

Excessive Sitting creates a 35% greater risk of mortality compared to

Smoking (15 cigarettes a day) which creates a 55% greater risk of mortality, compared to

Being Overweight / Obese, which creates a 24% greater risk of mortality, compared to

Drinking two to three alcoholic beverages a day, which creates an 18% greater risk of mortality.

Excessive Sitters: You know who you are!

Prolonged sitting has metabolic consequences too, which means that it disrupts processes that break down fat and sugar in the blood. It literally changes the very way in which our bodies were originally designed to metabolize such components as food, toxins, stress, oxygen, etc.

Negative hormones such as the stress hormone cortisol concentrate in belly fat in the abdominal region. Sitting perpetuates stagnation in this region, while standing, walking, climbing, stairs, and other such movement activates the abdominal region, promoting digestion and elimination.

An Australian study suggests a link between a sedentary lifestyle, and several key indicators of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease risk, such as insulin resistance, inflammation, and body weight.

So please: Think of ways to build physical activity into your workday and leisure time.

View minor chores as an opportunity to prevent disease, prolong your lifespan, and improve the quality of your life.

You can do this by:

Reducing TV time, or at least standing up and moving around every time a commercial comes on.

Walking while you talk. It might not work for all calls, but enjoy the opportunity to take a walk, even if just around your house or yard, when you have a few minutes to return a call to a friend, and at least stand up at your desk / walk around your office for all others.

Delivering messages to housemates or colleagues in person when possible rather than texting or emailing.

Using stairs, not elevators.

Placing everyday items across the room instead of right next to you.

Doing house and yard work yourself. It is great exercise. Our gardeners were here today, with their leaf blowers of course. We find the noise so disruptive. Who doesn't? Jaime said, "I wish they would invent a better way to remove the leaves". I said, "They already have, it is called raking!" Now we just need to tell the gardeners to leave the leaves and rake them up ourselves!! Hmm.

Cooking is also great exercise, even simple cooking. Think arm muscle workout.

So is doing the dishes. Come help us do our dishes and you will see!