Clinically Sedentary

Is there such a thing?

We cancelled our 2023 vacation to the Hawaiian Islands this week. I should have been crushed with disappointment.

Instead I was relieved. So relieved in fact, that I’m still sending thanks up to the Gratitude God that we were able to get out of going on the trip without causing anyone hard feelings, or forced by default to eat large deposits for cancellation; or put in compromising positions of trying to do activities we are clearly not in shape for… and may never be, again.

Back in May we started putting together the trip. We planned snorkeling, mountain climbing for waterfalls, outrigger canoe lessons, and windsurfing, and that was for starters. We planned to take the trip with family — my brother-in-law and his wife — we’re all close to the same age. They are high-elevation dwellers. They run, bike, and hike regularly. They are the epitome of vibrant health. We are not.

My husband and I are both clinically sedentary.

Sitting on Ke’e Beach while basking in the sun and listening to the Pacific waves crashing sounded heavenly in theory, but sitting defeats the purpose of vacationing for us. Here at home we sit too much. We both sit for our jobs. So go on vacation to sit and relax from sitting? Nope, not happening.

“Researchers analyzed 13 studies of sitting time and activity levels. They found that those who sat for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity had a risk of dying similar to that posed by obesity and smoking.” — ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Sitting is the New Smoking

My husband drives a truck for a living and sits for 12-16 hours most days of the week while out on the road. I sit to deal poker for one to three hours before taking breaks, three to four nights a week. It doesn’t sound like much, but then add in what we do on our time off.

We sit at the game table for hours and battle out Bo5 in a variety of games. We go out to eat, and sit. We socialize with friends, we sit. We take a drive, and sit. We watch movies… well, we don’t sit, I always insist we lie down in bed to do screen time. We do stroll around the neighborhood once in a while to get fresh air when my husband’s home. And then we sit.

I try countering being sedentary. I ride my bike around the neighborhood for 17 minutes on flat roads a couple times a day, go to the gym 5-6 days a week for short 40-minute training sessions, and hike in the flatlands two or three times a week for 40 minutes… oh, and if I want to drive to the next county to the nearest swimming pool, I do laps, but the jaunts are few and far between. And it isn’t enough. I do what I can while fighting injury — a torn rotator cuff and a mysterious numbing and tightening of my leg — that allows me to only exercise for short periods of time daily to keep what I have and not lose more. Use it or lose it.

But.

Sometimes I choose to embrace the path of least resistance.

Is it the start of slowing down and aging in place? If so, I’m losing a well-fought battle and it scares the fuck out of me.

If you think you’re immune — and I don’t care how old you are, this will happen to you at some point. When I turned 50 I was bored with routine working out so I stopped lifting weights. Instead, I swam, ran, and biked. This change of pace led to fulfilling a bucket-list item: running and completing a marathon. It was a grueling five months of training. I plowed through it with a vengeance. I decided to take on the challenge to get back into the game. I was a jog/walker and a gym rat. Back then the energy spent from training and competing for the marathon surged the energy back into my body and mind, bringing me back to life.

I don’t know what it will take this time around. I may have reached a tipping point.

Human behavior is sensitive to and strongly influenced by its environment. —Malcom Gladwell, The Tipping Point

Let that sink in.

About a year ago I stopped paying attention. It’s laborious to pay attention and stay disciplined all the time, At least this is what I’ve found in the aging process, and more importantly, what I’m experiencing living in a place that does not fuel desire or passion. Complacency or settling for is what happens when we lose sight of the end game.

The end game (for me) was always climbing to, and reaching for that next level. Aging forces us to acknowledge and face that we may be at our best from now moving forward right where we stand… or sit, in this case. We may have reached our full potential without knowing it.

So maybe the lesson is learning to accept what is, and learn to sit with it.

See you next week!