Wednesday 11 January 2012

Time for walkies

I know I might regularly chirp on about how little exercise city types get if they don’t make an effort, but for a couple of days last week I worked from home and realised how much less I moved around compared to a regular day in the office. Just the act of commuting (walking up escalators and to and from the tube station) and walking around the office (my desk is not located particularly close to the toilet) plus getting up from my desk to pick up printing or get drinks and snacks from the canteen or fridge means I do actually move around quite a lot.

Working from home, on the other hand, involves very little moving around at all – my living room and laptop are only 10 metres from my bed and the kitchen is about five steps from my laptop so all in all there isn’t much reason to move around. And I live in flat so there are no steps involved whatsoever. Basically the Kirsty Alley nightmare could quickly become a reality if I worked from home!!

And it’s not just weight gain I’d need to worry about … moving your muscles in essential for proper circulation, avoiding deep vein thrombosis/dangerous blood clots and keeping your immune system functioning properly as it’s only by muscle movement that you can move lymph fluid around your body. Lymph fluid contains your immune cells that help fight infection and also keep cancer in check by killing off the cancerous cells that are constantly created in the body, so it’s pretty important to move that stuff around. Poor circulation can also lead to constipation and headaches so if you suffer from either you may need to move more.

So what’s the answer? Well if you either work from home or are a house wife, you need to be disciplined and take yourself for a walk everyday, or get yourself a dog and then you won’t have a choice!! Getting outside for 30minutes fresh air will not only get your circulation going but help burn off some of those Nachos you were eating in front of Jeremy Kyle … I know you were!!

On a cold winters day it can be horribly tempting to stay in doors, but I find once I’ve been out I feel much better for it.

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