Shooting Yourself in the…Waistline?
As health conscious as we are these days, we often miss the ways our lifestyle choices and activities can contribute to poor health. This hit me like a punch in the nose when I saw Sarah’s post on “blogfat.” If you don’t know what blogfat is, here’s the official definition from the appropriately named “Blogossary“:
Blogfat is the notable increase of weight gained from blogging and lack of physical exercise.
Blogfat was originally coined by David Weinberger with his 2003 blog entry, Blogging makes you fat.
“Well,” I thought to myself, “that explains a lot.” Then I thought about tvfat, e-mailfat, forumfat, cellularfat… There are so many ways that we make ourselves sedentary, and for younger folks like me, it seems normal to live like this because it’s been a way of life for so long.
I recently read a great article in Reader’s Digest about Americans’ activity level now compared with in the 1950s, and it really made me sit up and take notice. “When It Pays to Play,” which appeared in July 2006 issue (yeah, I’m a little behind on my reading) was a fun read, and the chart of Calories In and Calories Out “Then” and “Now” was really just startling. It appears on page 101 in the print issue, and is definitely worth looking at.
Next time you’re in the doctor’s office, pick it up and compare your current methods for shopping, printing photos, mailing a letter, and half a dozen other activities with how we did it back in the day. I bet you’ll be making some changes… I know I am!
What do you think about Americans’ generally sedentary lifestyle? Leave your opinions in the comments section!
Tags: activity, Calories, Exercise, Fitness, Health, lifestyle, Weight Loss, woman, women, Womens-HealthRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Blogging, Encouragement, Energize Me, Exercise, Fitness, Health, Heart Health, Prevention, Weight Loss, Wellness
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4 opinions for Shooting Yourself in the…Waistline?
Cory
Jan 2, 2007 at 5:46 am
Great post, Kristen! And not only does lack of activity contribute to obesity, but sitting for long periods of time is also incredibly bad for your back. It’ll be interesting to see in the next decade or so if back problems also affect our chained-to-the-computer generation.
Katharine
Jan 2, 2007 at 12:00 pm
It’s way too easy to be sedentary today. Everything is set up for being sedentary. We can order groceries and clothing and office supplies and gifts online. We can work from home. We can use the remote for TVs, stereos, and just about everything else.
Like you, Kristen, I’m self-employed. I was in much better shape when I worked for someone else, because I each workday morning I had to walk from the train station to the subway station, and then from another subway station to the office. And I had the reverse trek at the end of each day. All that walking alone kept me in decent shape. After 12 years of self-employment, I’m much wider—I have no commute.
Lori
Jan 2, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Excellent post! It’s true - when even Weight Watchers has an online program, we’ve become too sedentary. Someone needs to perfect a desk-side exercise program. I would, but I’m a bit tired at the moment… ;))
Kristen King
Jan 2, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Thanks for your comments, girls! Katharine, I had exactly the opposite experience when I was working for someone else. Even though I had a lot walk from car to train to work to train to car every day, the rest of the time I just SAT and ate quick meals (translation: junk) and then fell into bed each night without doing much of anything. I gained 15 lbs in less than 2 years! The first month after I became self-employed, I lost 10 lbs of it without even trying.
Before I had a “real job,” I was waiting tables and nannying, and riding my bike or walking to all of my jobs because I was poor, so switching from that to never being on my feet was a disaster!
Now I’m just trying to find a good balance. :]
Cory, it would be really interesting to do a study of chronic back pain in people who spend a significant amount of time at the computer every day…
kk
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