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Back in 2007, I got the big break in my career. I moved from a job where I was up and about in a warehouse to a seated desk job. Little did I know how much that would impact my health. Something else amazing happened then. I stated getting emails about leftovers from catered meetings. My weight started to go up.
When you go to the doctor with your kids and he shows you the graphs about how much their height, weight, and heads have gone up, it gives you a sense of pride as a parent. You know your kids are developing healthily. Something totally different happens when the doctors pulls out the same weight graph and shows you how your weight has steadily gone up. It hurts and you know you need to do something.
Changing the Trend
So when the opportunity to change the event that started it all came along, I jumped on board. I moved from a seated desk to a standing desk. I’m not sure many believed I could do it. But I knew I could do it and I had to get a standing desk for myself. So I talked the boss man into letting me jump on the standing desk train.
I’m grateful because I had the opportunity to gradually get used to the standing desk. My standing desk arrived on a Thursday around lunch. This gave me the chance to get used to it for half a day before going for a full day. The first full day was a Friday. That meant I had the weekend to rest my legs a bit.
I talked to some of the other pioneers that did the standing desk before I did and they told me about how the rest on the weekends would make it harder to stand the next week. All in all, it took about three weeks for my body to fully adjust to the standing desk. My feet are still tired on Fridays at the end of the day.
Besides trouble getting used to it, the standing desk experiment has been better than I expected. I expected it to help with blood pressure and burn about 500 calories a day based on stuff I have read. In hind sight it has been so much more than that.
How the Standing Desk Helped
The standing desk has helped with energy. I’m able to walk to lunch with the college guys without getting winded or feeling it the next day. This one surprised me because after the first walk, I thought I’d feel it at some point. Obviously, I feel healthier with more energy and the ability to walk to lunch if needed.
This increase in energy has improved my marriage and family. When I get home, I’m not ready to sit down. I look around for chores that need to be done. My chore or not, I’m doing something for those that I love.
There were other surprise perks as well. I stopped biting my nails at work. This habit was bad before. I don’t know if I should credit my hands being farther from my mouth, using nervous energy to stand, or walking away during the wait on the computer sequences. In any case, this was a pleasant surprise and another perk for my health.
Having more energy, blood pressure that’s normal, rock hard calves, and a declining weight helps me to love myself more. According to Louise Hay in You Can Heal Your Life, “loving yourself is the first step in improving just about any part of your life.”
I would recommend a standing desk to anyone who asks. If a standing desk can do that much for me, I’m sure it can help anyone who is dedicated enough to do it.