STAND UP FOR YOUR HEALTH
Sitting for extended periods of time isn’t great for the body. You don’t have to read the research to know that’s true; you’ve probably discovered that when you sit for a long time, your body becomes stiff, achy, and filled with all sorts of twinges and knots. Internally, you get all tied up, too.

Here’s a quick summary of the research: the more you sit, the sooner you die, irrespective of whether you work out.
Before I dive into why you need to get physical, I want to step back a minute and reiterate an important point about exercise. Exercise alone will not create a profound loss of pounds. From a pure energy-exchange perspective, you can re-consume all the calories you’ve burned in an entire day of exercise by eating just half of a Marie Callender’s chicken potpie or a big serving of chili cheese fries.
In fact, you can outeat any amount of exercise—which is why it’s essential for you to have your mental game in place. I want you to think of exercise as your point guard and the food elements of this plan as your power forward. You need exercise for the movement—the action, because it can drive the game—but ultimately the exercise gets more assists than points. Your diet, on the other hand, gets in the paint and really mixes things up. It becomes a steady scorer and makes you an all-star.


There’s another reason I want you to approach exercise with a realistic sense of precisely what it will do for your body; that way, you’ll avoid the disappointment of unmet expectations. The problem is that exercise expectations are a bit warped in the fitness industry’s marketing to men: “Six-pack abs in 10 minutes!” “Add two inches to your biceps in just seconds a day!” You get the idea.

MOVE NOW
Even if you’re an otherwise active person, sitting for long periods of time can increase waist circumference, raise inflammatory proteins, affect glucose and insulin functions, and lead to increased triglycerides.

Prevent these occurrences by standing up or walking around at least once an hour, even if it’s just for 1 minute. Get up, stretch, and rest your eyes by staring out into empty space for a moment. Take phone calls while standing (make the phone ring your trigger to stand up).