Standing V Sitting

Livingdeadgirl44

So I spend an awful amount of time sitting on my *kitten*. I work at a desk for 7.5 hours a day and sometimes even spend my lunch hour sitting down too. Then I commute for a hour each way to work sitting on the tram. Then I get home and while I do go for a run or whatnot I spend the rest of the time sitting in front of my computer

I realised I could do something about this and stand for my commute, it's hardly going to tire me out with all the other sitting down I do. My question is what difference does standing up make to sitting down? Does anyone know the calorie difference? I'd like to log it to start untill I make it a regular part of my day.

TeaBea

So I spend an awful amount of time sitting on my *kitten*. I work at a desk for 7.5 hours a day and sometimes even spend my lunch hour sitting down too. Then I commute for a hour each way to work sitting on the tram. Then I get home and while I do go for a run or whatnot I spend the rest of the time sitting in front of my computer

I realised I could do something about this and stand for my commute, it's hardly going to tire me out with all the other sitting down I do. My question is what difference does standing up make to sitting down? Does anyone know the calorie difference? I'd like to log it to start untill I make it a regular part of my day.

Standing for long hours falls under "activity level" .... not exercise. Yes, someone in retail who is on their feet all days does burn more calories than those of us (myself included) who sit at a desk all day.

TDEE for sedentary is 238 calories less than TDEE for lightly active............but then you are only standing during your commute .... not the whole 8 hour shift. I guess you could give yourself 30 calories more ......but it hardly seems worth it.

A better activity would be walking..... buy a cheap pedometer & log your steps (again this is activity level) .... seeing daily steps really "enforces" doing more, getting up and moving around.

Livingdeadgirl44

I was so skinny when I worked in a kitchen lol, and that was with eating pizza and burgers every day too! I do try and walk about as much as possible. I go out every lunch time and walk in the evenings although that tends to stop in the winter but I still spend so much time on my butt!

runningjen74

It's not just calories but mobility that would concern me. I'm trying to wean myself off my PC at home and trying to get some stretches. I also try and get a walk in at lunch time. If I need to talk to someone in work, I get up off my butt and walk over to them instead of email or phone.

If you're early in the morning, get off the bus/tram/what ever a stop early and walk the rest of the way. It's all the small choices that we make everyday.

Livingdeadgirl44

Yes my legs get so stiff sometimes from all the sitting down. I do yoga DVD's which really helps with this.

Stage14

Standing is not going to burn much more in the way of calories, but it will be better for your circulation and general health. But a better move would be to try to get up and move around every hour or two. I make it a point to get up from my desk every two hour and walk downstairs, even if it's just for a minute. Again, I don't count it as extra calories burned, but I do it for my general health.

Livingdeadgirl44

This is quite a good article on the BBC website at the moment http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24532996 standing seems to have a lot of benefits!

My standing on the tram has been going quite well, I think I'm also using my core more as the line is really bumpy and it takes a bit of work not to fall over!