The Daily Reminder - Day 12: Physical Health + Stand
A couple of years ago, I received the Apple Watch as a gift. Initially, I was not convinced that I needed something so technologically advanced. And then, the stupid thing would buzz every hour, at 10 minutes to the hour. "Time to stand up" it would say. So sometimes I would listen to my watch and other times I would ignore it.Fast forward a few months later and one of the initiatives that my job offered was free Weight Talk nutrition coaching. Basically, each week, I had a 15-20 minute phone conversation with a nutritionist about my food choices, exercise, and weight goals. And one of the things my weight coach said was that recent research has been showing that sitting for long periods of time is SO bad for our bodies. She went on to tell me that if I worked out for 20 minutes a day, but then went long stretches of sitting (like more than an hour at a time), it basically leveled out any benefits I got from my workout. Now - I know any working out is better than not working out. I don't think that was her point. I think she was basically saying, if you come back home after a workout and eat donuts and cupcakes - it just eliminates the benefits of working out. Her point was to make the impression that being sedentary throughout the day after a workout is the opposite of what we should do.Today. Let's listen to our smart devices that are programmed to keep us moving. If you don't have a smart watch or tracker, just stand up for 2-5 minutes every hour. Walk around the house, the office, the neighborhood. Doesn't matter what you do while standing, just don't be sitting!Recap from Day 11I have a love/hate for stretching. My body always feels better when I stretch and I know this logically. But it always feels like I don't have time to step away to stretch. It is the most illogical thing. Truly. Who am I kidding? I have enough time to do whatever matters to me that day. That's how prioritizing works. What I keep realizing with this experiment is that I GET TO CHOOSE what my priority is that day.I get to choose. That's so powerful, isn't it?Ironically, yesterday I finished listening to Rachel Hollis' book, Girl, Wash Your Face on audiobook (Which I would highly recommend!). She says that she hopes if there is one major takeaway from her book it would be that we all realize we have the choice to change our lives. We have the choice to be happy or angry or joyous or successful. It honestly didn't even hit me until this moment how overlapping her message is with my continued reflections during this experiment.Thanks for reading and joining me in this experiment! Many of you have emailed or texted or mentioned to me that you have found these helpful. I am so, so thankful for you all!Let's keep going!photo cred pexels.com (Jaymantri)