52 Small Changes - Week 3 - Keep Off the Couch

How refreshing is a mini-vacation?  To take a week and just chill?  I won't say that's what happened to that missing week, because that was no vacation!  School wasn't in session for two regular school days, so that translated into one thing:  this girl got lazy.  Yep.  On the very week I was supposed to keep off the couch, I planted myself there and decided not to be a hypocrite.  It was my week to whine and complain, because I had things to complain about...namely a headache that almost rivaled the infamous DC headache of 2011* (?!  I'm very bad with dates) and local traffic.  Oh, and how cold it was.  I think it was 53 degrees one morning!  Imagine this!

So, now that I'm back to semi-normal, which is my normal, I can continue with small changes.  Hooray!

I could live on a couch...like a cat.
Photo by chriz

Just as the title says, this is the week to start staying off the couch.  I dig couches, because if I'm a bit chilly (usual occurrence), I can snuggle under a blanket and encounter bliss.  Bliss comes in many forms, such as comfortable reading, comfortable TV watching and, most beloved, comfortable nap-taking.  I swear.  Me and naps?  We're best friends.

BUT!  Since I'm obviously working on getting more sleep during actual sleeping hours, I probably won't be best friends with naps much longer...and that will help me stay off the couch.

Brett, in her book, gives a road-map for success that includes walking/taking the stairs as often as possible, taking an active lunch, taking breaks often if you sit at work and activating your TV watching (by doing all kinds of things instead of only sitting).  Have you seen those exercise plans you do based on what happens during a TV show?  Perhaps something like this:

At Penny’s door: (knock, knock, knock) Penny. (knock, knock, knock) Penny. (knock, knock, knock) Penny.

Any nerds around to verify the authenticity of this scene?  I thought so.  Anyway, if this should happen as you watch TV, you would do a squat for each knock and a push-up for each utterance of the name Penny.  Can you imagine how buff you'd be after a Big Bang Theory marathon?  As it stands, there are tons of TV show workouts available (just do a search for your favorite show(s) and workout or challenge), and how cool is this:  it's a mind-workout, too, since you have to be on your game to recognize an exercise trigger!  An added bonus?  You aren't just mindlessly stuffing your face with snacks as you sit there.  Ain't nobody got time for that!

Other helpful bits of advice are to do your own cleaning and chores, stand more often, become more active during the week and get away from the technology for a while.  As extra credit, Brett advises you to get a pedometer, or these days, a fitbit, a fitness app, or something similar that counts your steps, and try to take 10,000 steps a day.  Apply these changes liberally to your life and you'll probably have no problem sleeping at night.  Even though I took a week off from blogging, I actually started walking with a group of friends every day.  When I walk 3-4 miles with them and a mile each time I walk the dog, getting to 10,000 steps is easier than plopping on a couch.

Okay, I lied.  I'm a liar.  It's not that easy, but since sitting down for hours on end is a thing of the past, it will become easy.

Best of Luck!
Heather

* This headache made the words in my book do waves and it didn't hit full force until AFTER we'd paid for parking, so I'm mad at that headache.  Rilly, rilly mad.

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