Thursday, July 24, 2014

Avoiding Writers' Butt!


I sit in front of a computer for many hours every day, both writing and running my business. When I'm concentrating, I also have a habit of dipping into a bag of pistachio or cashew nuts and nibbling away. It's oh so easy to pile on the pounds if I'm not careful and along with that comes aching hips and knees and a bad back.
I've heard of writers trying all types of things to burn calories and keep active while they work, treadmill desks and little cycles under the table. I'm sure these work for some but neither appeal to me.
For me, the ideal way to counteract the physical inactivity is to take regular breaks and go for a walk. The problem is remembering to do so and motivating myself. A few weeks ago I discovered a pedometer called a Fitbit Flex. It's a wrist band that contains a small device that measures the wearer's steps.
My husband is the fitness fanatic in our house, so I surprised us both when I took the plunge and ordered a Flex. The default setting on the device is a daily target of 10,000 steps—the distance recommended by the American Heart Association to stay healthy. I couldn't imagine taking that many steps in a day, but in fact 10,000 steps is only about five miles. (Actual distance walked depends on the length of your steps.)
The Fitbit talks to an app on your cell phone via bluetooth and free software on your computer through a dongle that's included in the box. It's possible to monitor far more than just steps and distance. If you want to go the whole hog and use it to help lose weight, it has a function for monitoring calorie use and comparing that with your daily calorie intake.
I've been wearing my Fitbit on my wrist for two weeks now, and it has motivated me to take regular breaks to walk around our garden so the step count mounts up during the day. Then I usually finish off with a nice long walk with my dog in the afternoon. I imagine it's a lot easier to hit the target if you own a dog! Sometimes I've resorted to walking around the kitchen umpteen times in the evening to rack up the final few hundred steps to hit my target—this totally confuses my cat and dog who think I've gone crazy.
The Flex also has a sleep mode to monitor quality and length of sleep each night. This has been quite an eye-opener for me. I was kidding myself I had around eight hours sleep a night. I've now discovered I manage between six and seven hours most nights. That might explain why I'm tired a lot of the time!
If you find yourself sitting too long at the computer and need motivation to take more exercise, I can tell you the Flex has worked for me far better than I imagined. After two weeks I already feel fitter.
For those of you who have to sit still for long periods of time, how do you stay fit?

Helen Scott Taylor lives in South West England near Plymouth in Devon between the windswept expanse of Dartmoor and the rocky Atlantic coast. As well as her wonderful, long-suffering husband, she shares her home with a Westie a Shih Tzu and a burmilla cat. Helen's latest venture is a ten book boxed set, Ten Brides for Ten Heroes. Find Helen on FaceBook and Twitter, or visit her website.

16 comments:

  1. I want that cupcake. :)

    That said, I have one of those contraptions--my dh won it--and I have not taken it out of the box. You have inspired me!

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    1. Yes, take it out of the box! It might not work for you, Roxanne, but it's worth a try. I've been surprised just how much it motivates me to walk.

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  2. Great post, Helen. It's true that we writers need to challenge ourselves to move -- for our health and mental energy too! My husband gave me a Fitbit for my birthday to replace my old-school pedometer and I'm sold. I love winning badges and receiving the congratulatory emails when I reach my goals. It's a very clever -- and motivational -- program, I agree. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Glad it works for you too. It's surprising how many people have them. I love collecting the colored bracelets to match outfits as well.

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  3. I have an exercycle desk that I can't use when I'm using the mouse a lot, but when I am writing on schedule it helps burn calories. It's great for deadlines when you can't find time to do exercise.

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    1. An exercycle desk? Now, that's cool, Aileen! I'm going to have to Google this. :)

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  4. Helen, I've never heard of writers' butt but what an apt term. A colleague of mine bought a pedometer watch/bracelet that sounds a lot like your FitBit Flex. Hers cost about a hundred bucks which was too costly for me. I have a feeling a pedometer would be depressing for me as I'd realize how little I move during the day. I've tried so many different exercise tricks. I seem to keep them up for about six weeks and then nothing. Right now, I'm doing the recumbent bike each morning. I've found that whatever I do I have to do first thing in the morning else I don't do it. The good news is that my good cholesterol (HDL) was up 9 points since my doctor's visit four months ago. I think the exercise made the difference.

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    1. I hope the bike continues to work for you, Angela. I've tried exercise bikes over the years, but I really prefer simply to walk outside. I'm luck to live in a lovely countryside area so it's a pleasure to exercise outside. I bought my son a Fitbit Flex to motivate him to leave his computer sometimes. When I asked him how many steps he'd taken the other day he'd managed 600! So it's not motivating him very well.

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  5. I recently got the FitBit One and we just joined a gym. Only time will tell if it will yield benefits. Maybe this time!

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  6. Great post. I've been fearing "writer's butt" and wondering what I could do to preempt it! I'll have to check this out. Thx!

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  7. Want to come write about your experience of FitBit on my blog? www.havematwilltri.com

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  8. Hi Helen, I just read your post and you managed to convince me. I'll look the Fitbit on the Internet. I certainly use a motivation to move around. I have been swimming daily for the past two months. A friend who is a psychologist told me we need 21 days to build a good habit. I'm so afraid to break my good swimming habit, but in winter I will need something more practical with the cold weather.

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