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How do you break out of your sedentary lifestyle?

I'm super sedentary; I move very little, your average couch potato, and if I'm just going about my daily routine I'll get only 1,000-2,500 steps per day. What I want to know is, how do those with sedentary lifestyles find the motivation to increase their activity level? Are there any tips or tricks that could be offered to me?

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396 REPLIES 396
Excellent post! Really positive story. Love that! I'm soooo glad my husband
seems to be getting a kick out of "our" attempts to do 10,000 steps a day.
I just hope it will last.🙄

Slowmotion
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Hi there,

I have a sedentary job and my family and I are not sport fans or exercise enthusiasts. So...I've used the Fitbit site to set silent alarms each hour I'm at work, to remind me to get up and walk around at least our office space a few times. I also talk walks up and down the stairs of my building (a library, so I visit the stacks if there's time). An added benefit is chatting with co-workers. Like others, I'll opt for the farthest parking space and take the "long way round" (a la Doctor Who!) when grabbing lunch or walking from the parking garage. I also have 80s dance parties at home with the hubby and kids, just to get all of us moving and having a laugh. I've been REALLY BAD about this lately but I do want to get back on the stationary bike. If I can watch an episode of Endeavour or something on my phone, I forget that the bike is hard "work" and burn off calories and feel a lot better (generally sleep better, too). Best to everyone!

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Are you sure they were not letting you know your battery needed to be charged? just asking

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Hi Sabern,

Thanks for checking. No, the hourly buzzing is something I purposely set. The display also blinks furiously when it hits precisely on the hour. I tend to plug my Fitbit in every other night so generally the battery is full.

Take care,
Trish

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If ONLY I could get him to dance!!!😊
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I was quite lazy before getting a fitbit, and my office job didn't help any either.

I started making small changes, going for a walk after work.

Then bigger ones:

1) Got a standing desk. Able to jog on the spot a bit whilst working.

2) Joined an outdoor exercise group. Social, fun, and a good workout.

3) Jogging on the spot whilst watching t.v. (about 3,000 steps per 42 min show). Netflix marathons become real marathons!!

4) Do activities that you enjoy that get the body moving, be it walking, running, dancing, or a sport.

 

And most importantly, HAVE FUN!!

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I LOVE your idea of watching TV or Neflix and jogging on the spot. I'm just not sure my downstairs neighbour will be all that thrilled with my new talent.Smiley Wink

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I second the standing desk.  It keeps me moving more throughout the day and I can do exercises/stretching while I'm working.  Plus it just feels nice to know I didn't sit on my butt all day.  🙂

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I'm very sendentary too but now that I can see how much steps I do, I try to move more all the time. Plus, I look ridiculous but I walk back and forth around my tiny living room. We have a daily contest with my husband: the one who has more steps decides what we watch on TV in the evening. One time, he made me watch Gravity. Since, even if I have to open the floor with my feet, I don't let him near the remote 😂

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Oops sorry I thought Joggers message was a personal one - not to the group.

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Jogger, you are too funny! I let my husband watch what he wants and I read.
We do watch a few series together. My DH won't get a Fitbit so it no
contest, I am determined to slim down and look better. We lived in Asia and
I was used to being the biggest woman, genetics. When we moved back to the
states I gained a pound a month and now I am trying to take it off. I am
"paying" myself when I go to the gym, and paying myself for reaching my
daily goal and a bonus for steps over that. It may sound daft but I want to
buy some pretty things for my sewing room right now it is "in the far off
land of most like never happen until the moon and stars align." Can you do
stair steps to get more movement? I can't do steps my knees kill me, but on
a flat surface I can make my goal. Just wearing my Fitbit makes me more
aware. Last night I realized I needed 140 to make my goal, so I walked to
the other side of the house, tucked my dog in and walked back, then walked
around until I thought I was at goal. I was two steps short. Oh well.My dog
is afraid of thunder and likes to sleep in the walk in shower with the
curtain closed, weird but it is better than scratching at my bedroom door.
How many steps are you getting? Would bribing yourself work?
Linda a.k.a. Natsuko
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Jen that comment made me giggle!!!! 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to write it.

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Thanks for your message. I'm decided to lose weight too, I had lost around 66 lbs (a tiny bit more than 30 kg) but I took everything back with my pregnacy. 

 

Funny I decided that every -5 kg (around 11 lbs) I would get a tiny something. I'm kind of a lipstick lover so maybe a lipstick for the first time?

 

I don't have any stairs, I'm living in a tiny appartment but I do two sessions of gym everyday including: stretching, jogging in place, weight lift (with full water bottles), sumo squats, jumping jacks (we added them recently), sit-ups, leg crosses and plank. 

 

My husband is doing that with me for now but when he can't, I still do it alone. Something really changed since I started that regimen, I'm so motivated and even if it's hard, I don't quit like I did every time before. 

 

Honestly, I put a goal of 4000 steps a day. If I'm taking a walk, it will be more but if I'm not, I struggle to reach 4000. I don't have a garden and it's really hot for now here so... but I'm trying to improve! 

 

Would you be interested if we added each other in the fitbit friends? Maybe we could motivate the other one 🙂

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Thanks! You should see my face when he mentions Gravity. My eyes are exactly like the movie: full of nothing 😂 

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Sure, please add me as a friend. I made a mistake when I was entering my
information and seem to have two names. Friend me under Linda R.



I need all the motivation I can get. Gravity bored me to tears but then
some of my choices bore my husband to tears.



Natsuko a.k.a. Linda R.
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I can't find where I add friends just with username?

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if you can after every meal... set your alarm or stop watch for 5 minutes, walk away from your house or office for those five minutes, and once that alarm goes off it means turn back around and go home or to work!  I'm so proud of you for trying.  My mom is super sedentary and I wish she would just get up and go from couch to couch, but everyone has their own journey.  Even if you didn't do this after every meal, but find your way one step at a time its awesome.  Just think if you did this 3x thats a half an hour walk daily, if you only did it two times its 20 minutes more than you walk normally anyway.  routine slowly over time becomes habit and you'll feel like you want to do more the more stamina you build.  if 5 min is too much set it to 2.5 minutes!  you're your own coach!  

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I am not an expert, so all I can do is tell you what worked for me. My biggest problem was my sedentary lifestyle, but what made that so was that I had zero energy at any time of the day. I was 120 lbs. overweight, and sucked wind when I went upstairs to go to sleep at night. I was never rested, and always - always - tired. I am friends with some men in a church small group; one is a nutritionist/life/health coach, and the other is a rep of a famous nutrition/vitamin program. 

 

This next, I'll try not to make it TMI. I was told that we carry pounds of bacterial garbage in our digestive systems, and that blocks out nutrition from coming in to give me energy. By their suggestion, I went into a 24-day program that was ten days of cleanse (mild, not gross cleanse) and then into the nutrition, or reboot, phase for the 14 days after that. The products worked great. But the really nice thing is that after 2 days of the cleanse, I could feel the energy entering my body. Getting up and walking started to become an easier and easier proposition. The more energy I gained, the more I walked, and the more I walked, the more energy I got from the walking.

 

I truly believe that I would have never quit being sedentary if I hadn't made that simple change to trust my friends (and their products, which really are very good), and done that simple cleanse... I can see my past history of trying to lose weight. All of the programs I tried addressed the food, but none of them really addressed the energy aspect. Even in losing weight, my energy did not return with those programs. This time, I got the energy first, and now my weight is going down (25 lbs so far and I should lose the other 95 lbs. in about 1 1/2 years). I am still following my nutritionist's advice, and taking my supplements, and walking like a man possessed. This weekend, I am going to Tallulah Gorge, Georgia, and part of my hiking is going to climb stairs from the lower part of the gorge to the ridge - about 570 stair-steps up. I am proud of myself, and so is my pretty bride. Speaking of that, we won't mention the other benefits of the energy gains, but they are there. 

 

Never give up. Kick butt, and don't worry about taking the names. You can do this.

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Something that helps me is thinking about things I like. 

 

In my case, I like vikings. Everything viking, I'm interested. So, I read vikings were nomads... this means that they were always moving to get what they wanted and needed. They were not sedentary at all! So, as I want to be as viking as I can, that motivates me to keep moving and break out my sedentary lifestyle.

 

This may sound strange, but it actually works for me and gives me more endurance. I think the mind plays a big role on this.

 

Hope you relate with this! Keep moving! 🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃 

Santi | Community Moderator, Fitbit

Like my response? Vote for it! Also, accept as solution!

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That's not weird at all. I think we all go someplace when we walk or jog. There is a hiking simulator app out there called Illusion trails that works with your TV and lets you walk down paths, view scenery and select the path you want. Right now there is just an Island, but they claim they are going to be making more virtual worlds. Who knows, maybe they will make a Viking World. 

John Bomhoffhttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/199138095/illusion-trails-hike-through-a-fantastic-world
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