I sit on my butt all day

[laohaire]

I work on the computer all day. Because I work from home, my working hours tend to extend a bit if you know what I mean.

I cannot just take a break and jog around the block for various reasons. I think if I could do that it would be great.

I do have a weight bench.

I just feel trapped in my home office and it's an effort to even haul my butt out of my chair to take a potty break. Does anyone know what I mean?

I want to quit my office job and work as a farmer. I want to lug, dig, haul, move, fetch. I want to walk 6 miles a day in the course of maintaining this field or that. I want sunlight. I want strength. Energy.

My job is a sweet setup, working from home is wonderful and I have great benefits. One of my bosses is kind of a pain but he's not mean and he's almost completely uninvolved. The other is great. Hardly any oversight. Flexible. I can take breaks to be with my kid or hang laundry or water the garden.

And yet, for at least a year I just yearn to work my body outside. I am jello flab at risk for a blood clot the way I am right now. And I can't get up the motivation to haul my butt out of the chair.

I imagine if I was a farm hand it would be hell to start with but I'd be up to the challenge.

Big problem is, I'm legally blind. I don't think there's any way I could be useful enough to get paid my local farm's minimum wage plus "all the veggies you can eat" bennies (which is a good deal, imho). I haven't even thought about childcare or anything, because that's just the big block right there.

Sometimes I think being a homemaker might do it. I could spend my day cleaning and gardening. I'd be up and around, very productive.

But I'd be crazy to let this job go. Neither DH nor I could ever hope to get as much money or benefits. I don't see how we could swing it. We also live in a state where health insurance is required by law - or you have to pay a fine of $500 a year. What a crock.

And then I just want out of this rat race and buy a bit of land and put a yurt or a tiny house on it, and just feed ourselves. DH is a tinker and could still sell stuff online for cash, and also can do jobs helping people with their computers. Even legally blind, I could garden and raise chickens. Wouldn't my health be better? Wouldn't my soul feel better than just doing my job making other people money?

How do I get my "get up and go" back when I'm tied to this chair all day? The worst part is that even when I'm untied, I'm still stuck - no energy. I'm not bouncing out of my chair when I'm done, just slogging over to the bed (which we use as a sofa, we don't have one) and going "blah."

[e.naomisandoval]

You can do it! I know you can! Because I did. I also work from home and I was so exhausted and got so little done except my business for so long.

The kind of program I follow can easily be done in 45 minutes to an hour, 3 times a week, from home. On three of the other days, the goal is to do something, anything, for at least 30 minutes. So that's 30 minutes off your butt. It could be dishes or making dinner or raking or going for a walk with your family, but it's not a major workout.

The thing is it is hard to start but once you get momentum and also start looking at your diet (which is far more important than exercise), you do get more energy.

I recommend Turbulence Training and Fit Yummy Mummy. Both have lots of free videos on youtube so you can get the idea. Also, check out Scott Colby on youtube to see if his stuff appeals. There is so much you can do in a short amount of time.

[lil_earthmomma]

While you can't take a break to jog around the block, what about taking a yoga break? Yoga is so invigorating, and centering. You can learn the moves either by checking out a class, or the internet etc.

Also, standing. Standing desks are awesome!!! We are not designed to sit down all day. Check out http://www.marksdailyapple.com/standing-at-work/ for more info about standing while working.

Why can't you garden and do chores? Is your sight standing in your way? Is there any way you can get a seeing eye dog or someone to show you how to container garden?

Just trying to throw out ideas! I hope you can find a balance between your dream life and your reality, it's something I think we all struggle with.

[laohaire]

Thanks, guys. I actually have a monitor mostly set up so I can stand up - just have to bug my husband to finish whatever coupler or whatever thingie so I can use it. So I'll have two monitors - I can stand up for an hour at a time or whatever, and then sit for a while to take a break (hard to imagine standing ALL day, or at least sometimes when I need to do a lot of focused writing I think sitting will be a lot better).

I can (and do) garden and I can (and do) do chores. I hang the wash during my workday. It's hard to do more without cutting way into my work responsibilities. I have an intensively planted small raised bed garden so there's hardly anything to do there except water it and examine for signs of pests. (No weeding). And I do that in the morning.

I just so wish I could just jog around the block because that gives me a lot of energy. But in order for me to jog I have to get my husband to drive me to a track (because I can visually follow a track). And he's hardly ever even dressed until like 4pm. Not to mention it's a huge production, and I can't just spend 10 minutes there doing a couple laps because there's a playground there and DD will throw a tantrum if we just go for 10 minutes. I have an elliptical trainer but it is SO boring and just doesn't feel the same as a real jog.

I do like being productive, though, so maybe I'll set in my calendar reminders to take 15 minute breaks every other hour and do a chore - whatever, fold a basket of laundry, wipe down the bathroom sink, make the beds, whatever.

I still need to do actual exercise, though - chores not enough. But maybe that will start some momentum. Cause just sitting here all day is going to kill me.