In a SINGLE workday, you can negotiate a better rate with a supplier and increase your margin for years. You can call your financial planner and make an investment to impact your retirement. You can book a vacation that will create lifelong memories for your family. Better yet, you can have an Executive Health Physical and save your life.

The UF Health Douglas Williams Executive Health offers a full range of advanced diagnostic services to detect life-threatening conditions and extend life through prevention and early intervention all in ONE productive and efficient day. Throughout your Executive Health Physical, you will receive a full comprehensive medical exam, empowering lifestyle modification tools, all your test completed, questions answered and test results back the SAME DAY!

Each month we have shared helpful strategies and information in order to increase your knowledge on the importance of creating a balanced healthy lifestyle. There are many factors involved in ensuring you are on the right path to healthy living. The Executive Health nurse, Destiny Knopf, will share additional tips and tricks, which will assist you in achieving your ultimate wellness goal.

Chances are you are reading this article while perched in a chair and most likely; you’ve been sitting there for a while. Consider how much you sit in an average day: driving to and from work, at your office desk or in meetings each day, and then unwinding on the couch in front of the television at night. In addition, we far too often depend on email, cell phone apps, direct deposit paychecks, and online shopping to accomplish tasks which otherwise in the past would have required us to GET UP and run errands. Unfortunately, the countless hours you spend sitting each day may be putting your health at risk.

The dangers associated with a sedentary lifestyle also known, as “sitting disease” are many. By staying stationary, you’re setting yourself up for cardiovascular disease and the conditions that contribute to type 2 diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. The harmful effects of being sedentary also extends to your musculoskeletal system contributing to poor bone health, osteoporosis as well as weakened muscles leading to stiffness and pain in joints. In addition, sitting for too long can affect blood flow to your legs and increase your risk of venous blood clots and varicose veins.

The good news is it’s never too late to ditch a sedentary lifestyle. If you’ve been inactive, it’s time to leave your seat and put your body in motion to help prevent the negative effects of “sitting disease”. Keep in mind that just because you may exercise a little each day doesn’t give you a pass to stay planted on your behind the rest of your day. Evidence suggest that reducing your sitting time and exercising can counter a sedentary lifestyle.

Incorporate the below tips into your day to help get you moving, reduce your sitting, and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.

1. Get NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) – This involves stretching, turning and
bending. Aim for at least 10 minutes of NEAT each hour.

2. Take a stand – Standing uses more muscles and burns more calories than sitting.
– Invest in a standing desk, which allows you to sit at your computer and raise it up
to a standing level. Complement the desk with a cushioning pad to stand on and
ease pressure on your feet.
– Train yourself to stand whenever you talk on the phone.
– Stand when you watch television.

3. Get Moving
– Schedule 30-45 minutes a day to exercise: put it on your calendar, and set a
reminder.
– Be sure to get up and take a short walk every hour or more frequently while at
work.
– When you go to the store or work, park farther away and walk, rather than taking
the closest parking spot.
– Pace back and forth while talking on the phone and during long conversations, go
for a walk.
– Choose the stairs – If your office isn’t on the 1st floor, take the stairs instead of
the elevator.
– Have a question for your co-worker down the hall? Instead of shooting them an
email or text, walk to their office and ask them face to face.

4. Multitask while watching TV
– Get up and do simple stretches during commercials.
– March in place, or tidy the room.
– Better yet, watch your favorite show while walking on a treadmill or pedaling a
stationary bike.

5. Abandon the remote control – That’ll force you to get up and change the channel or
adjust the volume on your TV.

For more information on the UF Health Douglas Williams Executive Health Program, visit www.ExecHealth.ufl.edu or contact us at 352.265.8262. Your health directly influences every aspect of your life. By taking just one day of your time, we can help optimize your health and enhance your well-being.