Sometimes things don’t happen for a reason taking us to where we are supposed to be allowing for awesome, inspiring connections.
Yesterday I went to meet a friend and it appears they forgot we had made arrangements. A bit disappointed I left and ended up at a local grocery store, where I met Trevor Redman, the founder of There & Back, and left inspired. Trevor has crossed Canada twice. In 2006/2007, he walked 11 421 km across Canada and in 2009, he bicycled 14 632 km around Canada. He is “on the move to create movement.”
The meeting happened at just the right time for me. In life we face many quandaries and as we age, we sometimes accept that there may be no solutions, yet we keep exploring and listening. By listening closely, we just may find answers or start in the direction to finding one.
The worst repetitive injury a person will face is caused from continually sitting around and doing nothing. Trevor Redman
With the advent of TV, computers and the desk job, humans spend more time sitting than standing – close to 10 hours for the vast majority, which is apparently more time than we spend sleeping.
Did you know?
- Sitting extended periods increases your risk of death up to 40%
- Sitting makes us fat. Obese people sit for 2.5 more hours per day than thin people
- Between 1980 and 2000:
- Exercise rates stayed the same
- Sitting time increased 8%
- Obesity doubled
- Sitting expends almost no energy
- People with sitting jobs have almost 2x the rate of cardiovascular disease as those with standing jobs
- Those who sit 3 hours or more per day watching TV are 64% more likely to die from heart disease
- Each additional hour of watching TV = 11% higher death risk
This information found me sitting in front of my laptop (no surprises there). I already knew that I don’t move enough. I was aware of the recommend 10,000 daily steps and am periodically committed to getting it done; however, lack motivation to change what I was doing and the weather here doesn’t always cooperate. My husband has been committed to daily walks for years and my daughter continually challenges me to get healthy with her. Now my son has joined the movement to get me moving by giving me a Fitbit One, a tiny tracker that provides real-time feedback. (Do you think that there might be some kind of a conspiracy here, not that I’m a believer in conspiracy theories? Or is it there a lesson to be learned?) Anyways, this little bit of technology allowed me to see how far short of the 10,000 steps I was falling. New problem, how could I get them in when the weather was unpleasant? A friend shared that they walked around their house every time they were on a business call, so I decided to try that. Surprisingly, it works and I’ve reached daily goals several times in the last 1½ weeks. The fact that my kids now get to see how much I’m moving provides some incentive; plus we can challenge each other to go further as we’re all connected.
To cap it all off, I met Trevor. We talked about what a tremendous experience crossing Canada is and how each time and way you do it provides a different perspective. We discussed people’s curiosity about anyone taking on this type of challenge and Trevor shared the answer he found – “Because I can.”
So with much gratitude and humility, I write this post. I’m starting again on this part of my journey thankful that I can.
photo credit: Trevor Redman, The Movement for Movement
