Did you know sitting too much can cause you problems? Yes, there is research behind this. Sitting down is associated with a sedentary lifestyle and can be detrimental to your health. It even might be more dangerous than smoking! Here are five things you need to know about sitting disease.

Credit: Juststand.org

What is Sitting Disease?

There have been several studiesthat have shown the consequences of sitting too much every day. Still, the most compelling for me is the American Cancer Society studyfinding women who were inactive and sat over 6 hours a day were 94% more likely to die over the study period. Sitting disease is also known as a sedentary lifestyle. It is characterized as the harmful effects of sitting too long. Sedentary behaviors are any activities that involve sitting, reclining, or laying down that involve a low energy output.https://giphy.com/embed/FuvAuMnNkfUvS

Even if you work out every day, you can overwrite the activity you did if you spent most of your day sitting or lying down during your leisure time. This is because you are not keeping up your non-exercise activity thermogenesis (N.E.A.T). The 30 minutes to one hour of activity may not be enough to combat prolonged sitting. According to a study over 15 years, prolonged sitting was associated with an early death risk even with exercise.

Sitting Disease Affects on the Body

Sitting for prolonged periods can slow down the metabolism, impair blood sugar regulation, reduce blood pressure control, and decrease fat breakdown. This, in turn, will increase the risk factors for lifestyle-related conditions like:

• Heart Disease
• Obesity
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Some Cancers
• Early Death
• Depression and Anxiety
• Osteoporosis
• Cognitive Decline

Overall the more sedentary you are, the higher your risk of these bodily affects.

Causes of Sitting Disease

With the increase of technology and time-saving solutions, the world has become more sedentary. We are making our lives easier, but we are getting sicker from not moving as much. In addition to technological advances, our jobs are becoming more sedentary. According to the American Heart Association, sedentary jobs have increased by 83% since 1950, and our work weeks are longer by 350 extra hours a year. That’s a long time sitting!https://giphy.com/embed/gFslO9XsrO0wkDyiID

How to be Less Sedentary

First, you have to know if you are considered sedentary. Here are the signs you might be considered sedentary:

• You are tired all the time
• Increased weight, and you’re not sure why
• Get easily winded
• Unable to sleep
• Mental health is suffering

Decreasing your risk for sitting disease is more than just hitting your recommended amounts of exercise. On top of the minimum recommendation of 150 minutes most days of the week, you should be increasing your non-exercise activity thermogenesis. You can increase your NEAT by simply doing regular activities around your house or office more often and, for example, sitting getting up every 30 minutes from your desk to stretch and increase your blood flow.

How to Increase Activity Levels

There are less than 20% of us that have active jobs. Since workingtakes up most of our day, we have to find ways to be more active on top of daily exercise. Here are some helpful tips to sit less and move more:

1. Park further from the door when going to work or stores
2. Get up from your desk every 30 minutes and stretch
3. Do arm exercises at your desk or tap your feet underneath while working
4. Enjoy the outdoors and go to the park
5. Get a dog and walk them multiple times a day
6. Take up gardening and spend time caring for plants
7. Get up during commercial breaks while watching tv and move
8. Try to learn fun social media dances while scrolling
9. Get a fitness tracker and set reminders during the day to move!

I’ve been married six yearstoday, and if there’s anything marriage has taught me, it’s that I should have stayed single. Why the hell is this woman crying in her sleep? On our wedding night, her dad had called me aside and warned that she could be a bit of a cry baby, I had no idea he meant literally. Here’s a tip, she’s the wrong partner if her idea of a romantic setting is one that has a diamond in it. The perfect partner will be content with just pearls.

Imperfectly perfect. The perfect partner is boring. You’ll find yourself constantly apologizing because they’d be right all the time. Everyone would look at you and say, “oh your life must be so great”, but in truth, your life really isn’t. It’s a nightmare. You’re going through emotional and mental torture. The only way out is to accept defeat. So you walk around head up like you’ve just hit the jackpot. Yes indeed, you bagged the prize everyone else wanted.

Can’t drive, can’t wife. If you want him to go to your stupid double-date with your best-friend and her husband, better be prepared to drive to and fro. Wishful thinking. I know I’ll end up driving, but it wouldn’t kill her to at least offer to every now and then. Or at least bribe me with kisses. A man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves. No surprises we never make it to the date night.

No finance, no romance. If you can’t at the very least match her current level of comfort, don’t do it. Don’t believe the tales of Cinderella. Love at first sight is possible, but it pays to take a second look, especially at his finances. Poverty doesn’t choose you, you choose poverty. The perfect partner adds meaning to your life and yet, she subtracts some cash from your wallet. I don’t make the rules.

Kidnapped. If you prank call your significant other about being kidnapped and they fall for it, they’re not the one for you. If she starts laughing instead, wife her up immediately. She’s a real one. Have you ever loved someone so much that you wanted to keep them hidden from the world and have them all to yourself? Well, apparently that is called kidnapping. But you catch my drift?

Growth. If your partner outgrows you, be genuinely happy for them, because it means that they’ve learnt everything that they need to learn from connecting with you. Healthy endings and beginnings. At the end of the day, you shouldn’t be sad that the relationship has come to an end, be glad that it happened in the first place. Then go find somewhere quiet and cry your eyes out you little shit.

Finding the perfect partner is like searching for dinosaurs in the 21st century. There are only a few of them scattered around. Myself and three others. Nobody is truly yours, it’s just your turn. For a reason, or season, who knows how long for. But it’s your turn, so do your best to make them happy and keep it goin’. You know you’ve got a real one when they always want to know how your day went…

in detail, until it starts to piss you off