Stand at your computer, Lose weight, Healthier than sitting

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justbob54
justbob54 Posts: 8
edited February 21 in Health and Weight Loss
My employer came up with the bucks to buy a computer workstation that raises/lowers so you can stand or sit at computer. Sitting all day is bad for you, and certainly bad for weight loss. Now that I have it, can't live without it. I stand most of the day now.
I'm sure there are many brands, and a bunch of different models. Expensive but worth it. This one holds both monitors, keyboard, ball type mouse (which I am getting used to), and a shelf for papers and even lunch (cover the keyboard to keep it clean then). Takes up a bit more real estate than standard keyboard/monitor set up, but I don't care. Still dropping weight, even though I have not hit treadmill in a week or two. Sit at computer, die at work. Stand at computer, hopefully not die at work.

Replies

  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Wait... How is sitting bad for your weight loss? Should I stand to sleep too?
  • AdventureFreak
    AdventureFreak Posts: 236 Member
    There is a lot of great literature that supports your experience. I try to stand as much as possible and it, at least, keeps me feeling energetic more frequently. One article I read in Runner's World equated the ill health effects of sitting to being comparable to smoking. Here is a link:

    http://www.runnersworld.com/health/sitting-is-the-new-smoking-even-for-runners
  • AdventureFreak
    AdventureFreak Posts: 236 Member
    Wait... How is sitting bad for your weight loss? Should I stand to sleep too?

    Sitting tanks your metabolism. Sleeping you are actually resting, repairing, and rebuilding.
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Wait... How is sitting bad for your weight loss? Should I stand to sleep too?

    Sitting tanks your metabolism. Sleeping you are actually resting, repairing, and rebuilding.

    ... but what if I sit to sleep?
  • AtticWindow
    AtticWindow Posts: 295 Member
    Wait... How is sitting bad for your weight loss? Should I stand to sleep too?

    I don't know if it's bad for weight loss, though I'm sure it's a factor if only because walking burns more calories than sitting, but sitting is bad for one's health. No word on standing while sleeping; I hang upside down like a bat.
  • disneygirl626
    disneygirl626 Posts: 132 Member
    I read this article and I don't have it anymore but basically the point was this: humans were not meant to sit the way we do in modern furniture. Modern chairs were designed a few hundred years back and they are very bad for our spinal alignment, posture, and flexibility. I don't know about weight loss but I know that I injured my back and I can walk around just fine now but sitting for long times is extremely painful.
  • AtticWindow
    AtticWindow Posts: 295 Member
    Whenever I'm not living paycheck to paycheck - presumably after I graduate from Hogwarts - I want one of those stationary bikes with the laptop table on them.
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Whenever I'm not living paycheck to paycheck - presumably after I graduate from Hogwarts - I want one of those stationary bikes with the laptop table on them.

    I would like one of those.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    Interesting, OP. Would you mind reporting back to use in a few weeks or months on your experience with this method?
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    Let my office try to pry my *kitten* out of my Aeron chair and make me stand to work...
  • AtticWindow
    AtticWindow Posts: 295 Member
    What I've found most disconcerting about the research done on the health hazards of sitting too long is that engaging in long and/or more vigorous activities following extended periods of sitting, e.g., working out hard over the weekend after 9 hour days all week at the office, only makes a negligible difference. Scary stuff, especially for people like me who spend most of their day at the computer.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
    I would love to stand rather than sit at work but my car hasnt got a sunroof
  • uconnwinsnc
    uconnwinsnc Posts: 1,054 Member
    I hate standing.
  • PinkyPan1
    PinkyPan1 Posts: 3,018 Member
    I keep my laptop on the kitchen counter and walk in place. I try to stand and stay on my feet all day.
  • AtticWindow
    AtticWindow Posts: 295 Member
    I keep my laptop on the kitchen counter and walk in place. I try to stand and stay on my feet all day.

    That's such a simply brilliant idea that I feel more like an idiot than usual for not thinking of it.
  • eslcity
    eslcity Posts: 323 Member
    Personally I made a mini running track in my class..

    Put all my students desk in a circle.. and i walk in a big circle all day long... get an extra 5 thousand steps a day...^^
    similar to this picture but i have a round desk in the middle so I can't cheat....^^

    6330361223_f058dea4d1_z.jpg
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    I keep my laptop on the kitchen counter and walk in place. I try to stand and stay on my feet all day.

    That's such a simply brilliant idea that I feel more like an idiot than usual for not thinking of it.

    I agree. I will start recommending this especially for those with a lot more than normal to lose.
  • PinkyPan1
    PinkyPan1 Posts: 3,018 Member
    I only came up with this idea after reading an article on the very same treadmill desk you are talking about.
    I keep my laptop on the kitchen counter and walk in place. I try to stand and stay on my feet all day.

    That's such a simply brilliant idea that I feel more like an idiot than usual for not thinking of it.
This discussion has been closed.