If you’re like most Americans, you sit at a desk all day. On average, we sit 67 hours a week and spend just 7 hours out of every 24 moving. Doesn’t that sound alarming? It gets even worse: thanks to the popularity of desk jobs, we now burn 100 fewer calories a day at work than we did 50 years ago, according to a 2011 study published in the journal PLoS ONE. That itself equates an extra 10 pounds packed on in a year! Compounded with a study published in the journal Food Policy, which found that there has been a 4.3 percent rise in calorie intake globally, you’re looking at some serious weight gain hurdles.
Eat This! Tip:
Take a break. Just two minutes every hour can offset the predicted pounds, according to a Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology study. Even more convincing, a British study explained that that standing at work burned 50 more calories per hour than sitting. If that sounds like nothing, check this out: If you stand for just three hours of your day, in one year you’d expend more than 30,000 extra calories, which amounts to about 8 lbs of fat! Invest in a portable standing desk to reap the benefits.
