Don't Take It Easy

This post is going to reveal just how ancient I am.  I remember when people who worked in offices were called secretaries.  These people did their work on typewriters.  People who worked on typewriters expended a great deal more energy during the course of a work day than people working at computers do today.  It took more effort to push the keys on a typewriter than it does to use a computer keyboard.  Secretaries weren't tied to their desk chairs the way office workers are today.  They had to get up frequently to get paper and resource material that now is right at the finger tips.  Over the course of the day a significantly greater amount of energy was expended by the typewriter user than the computer user.

At a time when our society is struggling with both an obesity crisis and an epidemic of health problems related to poor physical conditioning, I think we need to look at how we do everyday things in our lives.  For most of my lifetime the aim of products and services has been to make life easier.  Perhaps life has become too easy for our own good.  We have made it incredibly easy to avoid the expenditure of physical energy.  As a result our total caloric expenditure over the course of a day is significantly less than it was before we made life so easy for ourselves.

I propose that we can be healthier, thinner people if we find ways to expend more energy during the course of the day.  When doing any activity, see if you can think of a way to do it that will require you to move more or use more muscle.  We've long been encouraged to take the stairs instead of the elevator.  Maybe take that one step further and make more trips up and down the stairs rather than group tasks at either the top or bottom.  When going shopping, instead of taking the spot closest to the door, park further out in the lot.  Hand carry a basket rather than push a cart for a small number of items.  If you only have one or two cuts to make on a board, use a hand saw rather than a power saw.  Use a hand screwdriver instead of an electric one when there are only a few screws.  Move the computer printer away from the computer so you have to get up to retrieved your printed material.  Sit on a gym ball or even stand for some of the time when at the computer.  Even something as simple as toe tapping increases muscle and energy use.  There are endless possibilities do things in ways to expend more energy. 

A portion of a calorie burned here, a portion of a calorie burned there and over the course of the day it ads up.  Doing this day after day will result in not only an increase in energy used but an increase in muscle mass.  This muscle will itself increase calories burned.

I have no desire to go back to manual typewriters, but I see a great need to change my own lifestyle to move more.  Rather than do things the easiest way, I'm looking for ways to use my body.  Remember the old cliche: "Use it or lose it."