Ah ha. Understandable. Looking more closely at that desk I'm not sure how comfortable it would be nor how you'd type. Unless you're freewheeling but then there's little point.
Those exercise bike desks seem like a great idea in theory but it's all a bit too much min/max for my liking. I hate this idea, generally peddled by social media grifters, that the only way you can be successful in achieving your life goals is by doing ten things at once and planning out every nanosecond of your existence in order to extract maximum utility from your allotted span on this Earth (Guess who has spent a bit too much time on LinkedIn recently? ) As an aside, I read somewhere recently that standing at a desk does indeed burn more calories than sitting, but only by about 10%. But as sitting at a desk burns about 80 cals/hour, the benefit of standing up all day isn't exactly substantial when you could get the same effect from walking for about 15 minutes. Yeah, I totally, completely get you on this one and understand exactly where you're coming from.
Yeah, I think you're right. The idea sounds good but the reality, nope. I'm not sure what the solution is, there must be some way of doing some moderate exercise whilst working (and still being able to work). @Gareth Halfacree 's day is not an unusual one in having limited time to fit it in. I guess if we had the answer we'd be able to make a fortune.
Yeah, although to be totally honest with you I think the real genius solution is to work less, take more frequent and longer breaks and go and walk (or generally just move about as much as possible). But that's tough to do when you need to graft all day and even more so when you're fitting said graft around other responsibilities. Personally I think the benefits of getting up and away from your desk are wider than just exercise - I hate that feeling of being chained to my desk all day, whether I'm WFH or in the office. I have attempted to solve these particular problems by drinking 100 cups of tea per day, and fitting in a very large number of steps walking up & down the stairs from my home office to the kitchen & back. And the toilet is downstairs too, so bonus steps there as well.
The benefit of sit-stand desks comes from varying your posture. The idea is not to stand up all day but also not to sit down all day either; vary your posture throughout the day without spending too long in one position or the other. Lately I have been getting some hard-to-ignore lessons on the importance of keeping your lower back, and your spine in general, healthy and supported.
Absolutely, the benefits are as you say. I was talking about standing desks in the context of the original discussion, which was burning calories, where the benefits are pretty much non-existent. I love using the sit/standing desks in the office. Ours have those weird rubber/foam standing pads that are about an inch thick and sort of squashy, which make you shift your weight about as you stand - apparently that compounds the benefits of varying your posture.
1600 is not particularly low for a diet - Dr Michael Mosley (love him or hate him) recommended 800 cals per day for his 8-week Blood Sugar Diet program, which I manged to follow for two weeks and it did me the world of good. Granted, 800 cals a day is extreme, but it's meant to be; a desparate times, desperate measures sort of deal. At that time I had a 44-inch waist and as such was at high risk of type 2 diabetes and a litany of other health problems, so I needed to act fast. @Gareth Halfacree your work day is hellishly long - weight loss aside, is there any scope to cut back on work even a smidge, for the sake of your wellbeing?
Yeah, this was my thought too - that looks like a recipe for burnout to me (although I appreciate that everyone is different).And being self-employed probably makes this a lot more challenging.
Combo of being self-employed and the sole breadwinner for a family of four means it is what it is. Those are good days, too: when I've a book deadline looming, it can be 0700 to 2300 or later. Burnout's always a risk, but I've been keeping these hours for over a decade - I'm used to it. I know it's not great for my long-term health, but like I say: it is what it is.
I do sincerely hope you reduce your hours when you rather than your body decides. I know it's easier said than done.
Only way my hours go down is if clients start paying me more, and I don't know if you've seen the state of the journalism industry right now, but... oof.
I measured my waist again today after four weeks of "new me" and I'm pleased to be at 38.5" - whilst it's not my target number, it's still in decline, and a) I'm eating a lot healthier and b) leading a much more active and healthy lifestyle, so I can't complain. I'm considerably happier in myself, have more energy to boot, and have a more positive outlook on life. On a somewhat related note, I've adapted my training routine to focus on shoulder rehab - I've got an old impingement problem which has been giving me some grief, so it's been good to properly address it. One of the biggest changes I've made is my sleeping posture, and the aforementioned "desk job syndrome" is going to take a bit of work!
243lbs this morning. Wife and I are starting a 6 week gym course today - 3 sessions a week. I'm pretty sure I'm going to die doing it but here goes. Looking to dip below 200lbs in 12 weeks for our next holiday. Very optimistic to hit that but do-able.
