Well, not really. Right now I'm sitting on my butt. But, at work today I rigged up my desk so I'd be able to work standing up. I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to hold out, seeing as how it's the first day and all. But I'm happy to say I got to work at 6:45 and stayed mostly on my feet until almost 12:45. (I sat down while I was on break, and I sat in my chair for a minute or two a few times while perusing books I was working on. But that was it.)
I wanted to make this change to a) burn more calories than sitting,
and b) help my body in a variety of other ways.
I suspected that standing
would be better for my stomach since it wouldn't be compressed by
sitting all day. It also makes
breathing easier because my torso is more open. I can get deeper breaths
with less effort, and even my regular breathing seems a bit more
relaxed and deeper. (I still have trouble remembering to breathe, but at least this might help when I do.) Plus, I'm assuming that standing will encourage strengthening of my core muscles.
Standing also allows, and encourages, moving more of my whole body. Now I can add lower body movements when I'm "sort of dancing" while I work instead of just
moving my shoulders and head. The pressure on my legs and feet encourages me to move them more, and the "sort of dancing" seems to work best for alleviating pressure. I can hold a book in my hands and actually walk around
a teeny bit while skimming the material I need to look at. I did buy some gel inserts tonight, though. Even with the relative increase in my freedom of movement, it's still mostly standing, which is harder on my feet and legs than bigger movements like walking.
The only other potential problem is my elbows and
shoulders. But, I was having some problems with them even when sitting.
At least when I'm standing it seems easier to just take a few seconds to do some stretching. My monitor needs some sort of stand to raise it
a few inches, though, so the angle of my neck could be a contributing factor, too.
There are some revealing repercussions of the change which I didn't anticipate, though. For example, I had no idea just how deep my laziness has become. The first time I had to bend down to put paper in my recycling crate under my desk my split-second thought was, "Hmm, should I move that so I don't have to lean over?" Then it occurred to me how ridiculous it sounded to be complaining about having to bend over! That's how lazy sitting at a desk all day has made me! It takes a little extra effort to do other things like bend over to put books on a cart or reach over things to get a post-it note. But after a few more times of instinctively thinking, "Should I move that someplace more convenient?" I started getting used to exerting myself in small, new ways.
There's also a psychological factor. It feels a bit strange, especially since the aesthetics of my set up are pretty lacking (I'm using a gray crate to support the keyboard and an old copy paper box as a raised work surface to write on and to lay books on). But it also feels...liberating. The freedom of movement brings a surprisingly strong feeling of freedom in general. I suddenly don't feel like it's just another day of "drudgery at a desk." I had some hazy flashbacks to working at the Circulation Desk at the library; there was a sense of animation and every minute standing there contained the potential for having something to do at any moment. This is sort of like that. I'm curious to see if this sense of freedom and potential wears off once I get acclimated to the new set-up and its novelty fades.
___
On the food front, I'm feeling pretty good. Tonight's dinner was a 6 oz. package of Baby Bella mushrooms sauteed in a drizzle of olive oil with some garlic powder and other spices, some lemon & spinach couscous, and a slice of rosemary & olive oil bread with a little Chevrie goat cheese spread on it. DELISH! I had a single serving of eggplant parm for dinner last night and the other serving for lunch today. Celentano frozen eggplant parm = mouth-watering yumminess! I've had sweet potato fries this week, and fish, and even made it halfway through my cream-only iced coffee from Dunkins before I added a little bit of Truvia. Granted, the cream adds calories, but it also contributes protein and helped me feel fuller throughout the morning. It does a better job of suppressing hunger and sugar cravings than unsweetened iced tea. Another happy lesson learned this week: Chobani Blood Orange yogurt has the right blend of tart and sweet, unlike their Lemon yogurt which is too tart. Most importantly, the Blood Orange seems to be the only yogurt I've tried in the past year or two which doesn't lead to mild stomach pain/bloating. It's also more satisfying and more nutritious than Pop Tarts. So, more Blood Orange yogurt it is then.
I've felt hungry more frequently this week, but never too much and never for too long. And when I think about the difference between feeling a little bit hungry and feeling uncomfortable because I ended up eating too much or the wrong things, I kind of prefer the hunger. It also encourages me to drink more water to temporarily quell the hunger. I'm sure there will be times, especially once I've been doing this for awhile, when the hunger will make me crabby. But we'll see how I decide to deal with those times when they arrive.
