Hello Everyone!

As I mentioned in a prior post, my entries would be few and far between because I needed to concentrate on a new path in my life ... getting my masters degree in business. I'm now halfway through my MBA program - and I'm still alive! Whew! :-)

This year has been full of changes - professionally, personally, and even in the area of fitness. A year ago, my life shifted dramatically from an active daily routine to almost totally sedentary. I started a new "desk job" a year ago and began my graduate coursework simultaneously. Bam! Talk about going from active to sedentary? I work at a desk from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., spend three hours sitting in a car in the late afternoon/early evening while driving my children to their school commitments, read my textbooks every spare second I can grab, then plop myself down at a desk at 9 p.m. to study until midnight. I get the joy of then waking up and doing it all over again the next day. Add personal stress into the mix, and it's a recipe for fitness and health disaster!

Some of you experience similar lifestyles. I think of truck drivers who do nothing but sit for hours and hours, or people like me who work all day and take classes at night. Nothing we do will change the sedentary nature of our work - it's what we're given at the moment.

So what have I done for my health in the midst of this new sedentary lifestyle? First, I've worked hard to keep my nutrition in order.  I continue to load my refrigerator with healthy snacks and foods so that if I give in to mindless munching while studying, I don't do too much damage!

I have remained diligent in my exercise. It's still my catharsis. It's the thing that allows a constructive and healthy outlet to all the stress that gets locked up inside me. But I will warn you - doing an hour of exercise a day does NOT offset 23 hours of sitting. It just doesn't. Sorry, but true.

And that is one of my revelations (thank God we're never too old to learn!) Our bodies weren't designed to be lumps on logs. We were made to move. Think about the history of the human population and how they lived - they moved and worked to survive. My youngest daughter is the one who struggles with being active. She'd rather be inside laying on the comfy couch with a book than playing a game of PIG outside at the basketball hoop! I told her that the new motto throughout our day will be: MOVE. ("I like to move it, move it. You like to move it, move it. We like to....MOVE IT! :"- courtesy of the movie Madagascar!)

For me personally, this means thinking of ways in which I consciously put my body in motion. Instead of collecting items throughout the day to carry up the stairs once (even though that IS efficient!), I carry each item upstairs whenever the need arises. I make an effort to stand in the evening whenever possible. Instead of sitting at the table working on my laptop, I place the laptop at my kitchen island and stand while I do computer work. If we have a movie night, I spend an hour of the movie moving (walking in place, stepping up and down on my aerobic step, etc.) and always fold laundry standing.

These are minor ways in which I can get my body in motion to offset the times I'm forced to be sedentary. Because as I mentioned, jumping on a treadmill for an hour cannot possibly compensate for 23 hours on my duff.... so creative thinking and planning must be involved!

I'm still in shape - and working every day to be mindful of ways to live a life of health.