Sitting is the New Smoking

Just so you know, I love tec

hnology. Doing social media for AARP and other organizations, I rely daily on technology. From my iPhone to the 100s of software applications I could have running on my computer at any given time, my work and personal life revolves around it. I also do a lot less walking as a result; tied to my devices, much of my day involves sitting at a desk, working on a computer.

I remember a different time. My senior year of college, no one had cell phones. This led to some humorous moments; a first date with one boyfriend was arranged by landline phone, and when we misunderstood our meeting location, it took us three hours and several miles of walking to unravel it and finally find each other. There were no shortcuts - I couldn't just call his cell phone to find that he had been standing less than 50 yards away.

It turns out that at least as far as our health is concerned, the former ways were better ways. Recently, researchers found that even those who exercised daily for the prescribed amount of time were in danger of health issues if they sat 10 hours or more per day.

So, how would you change your day, to get less sit-down time? Consider taking walk breaks, standing and stretching, and put regularly needed tools (cell phone, stapler) across the room so you have to get up when you need something.

As for me, I wrote this blog post standing up. I think walk breaks might work better for me...

Click here to learn more about getting enough exercise.