stress fightin' machine

A week ago I attended my first giant staff meeting for my new branch of the college. As an ice breaker, we answered a serious of questions - How will your co-workers know if you are stressed? How will you combat stress? How will you work toward life balance? As I stared at the questions on the page, I realized that the treadmill desk has fundamentally changed my work persona. While the answer to the first was pretty easy - I will be frustrated about mundane things - it was difficult to craft answers to the other two which didn't include treadmill desk in the answer. How will I combat stress? - walk a few minutes on the tread. How will I strike balance in my life? - walk a few minutes on the tread. I realized that not only has my body responded physically to the demands of walking an average of 4.8 miles per day at work, but my psyche has also responded positively. Being able to put myself in a work zone is great - the increased productivity and focus washes away any stress that might otherwise build up. It can also be a johnny-on-the-spot remedy. As we finish up the second week of classes, I wonder if I will feel the same way once mid-semesters (and their associated d-slips) roll around.

FAQs

Since today's onslaught of students in our office ("do you have any more of those planner thingys") brought with it a maelstorm of questions, I thought I would take a few lines to address the most frequently asked of those:

Q: A treadmill desk in your office!  Really? In your office?

A: Yep, really, in my office.

Q: Does your boss know you have this in here?

A: Yep, my boss knows, and her boss knows, and his boss knows.  So short of a trustee dropping in and voicing a loud objection - I think I am good to go.  

Q: Do you walk on that all day long?
A: I walk on it when I can. Today I did 4.44 miles and 3 hours worth of office work aboard the tread.  Tomorrow I am packed with meeting after meeting -- so will probably only get in an hour.

Q: Don't you ever just want to sit down?
A: Not really. I actually feel very energized, productive, and focused -- whatever antsy-fidgety-doodle in the margin-link clicking part of me that often emerges when I sit, seems to have to just go along for the ride when I am walking.  Today I had to sign 300+ letters and while I could probably have signed them atop the desk, it was more practical to do it at the table.

Q: How fast do you walk?
A: 1.4 mph @ a 5% incline

Q: What kind of shoes do you wear?
A: Pretty much whatever I wear to work.  Yesterday 2" high clogs, today flats.  When I work at my home treadmill desk, I wear my treadmill tennis shoes (I bought them as a getting started present to myself last September).

Q: Don't you get dizzy?
A: Not anymore.  I did after the first day, but since then I am not bothered by the movement  plus reading or typing or writing.  As a person who still gets carsick as a adult, this is a monumental feat.

Q: Doesn't your office stink?
A: I don't think so.  Of course it is winter, so the office is a bit chilly.  Come spring and summer I might have to dial down the mph and incline to make it all work.

Q: Can I use your treadmill desk?
A: Absolutely.  However, you might have to fight off C or P who have dibs on the lunch hour.  I am always gone for an hour @ 9am so if you want to give it a go -- come on over.  If you want to use a laptop, bring one along -- I am wired for all.  (aside: When B helped me bring it into the building (under duress I might add), he suggested that I put it in the break room (does my building have a one of those?) so that everyone could use it.  He's missing the point on its purpose.)

Hope this clears up any unanswered questions.  Please stop by if you can, and as GBC regularly said to folks he encountered in his day "have an effective day."

See you later, See you soon

As I am T minus 48 hours from officially starting my new job, I decided to create a compilation CD for my dear friends who have been along for the ride (some knowingly, some not so much). Although I am moving less than a football field from my previous locale, the distance is far greater in terms of personal and professional movement. As much as I can't wait to get started on my new chapter, I am equally troubled by the sense of abandoning several friends. So no better way to help quell those feelings than creating something that will perhaps serve as a small token of appreciation for their steadfast friendships.

Here is the playlist, which I might add, is a great treadmill desk playlist.

1. You Don't Have To Move Mountains Nickel Creek
2. Morning Star Borne
3. I Was Here Lady Antebellum
4. Peace Be Upon Us Sheryl Crow
5. Learn to Live Darius Rucker  (changed my mind on this one)
6. This Is a Good Street Mudcrutch
7. Truly Believe Edwin McCain
8. Heal Yourself Ruthie Foster
9. Everything to Me Tamarama
10. The Best Ride Stereo Fuse
11. Chutes & Ladders Sean Watkins
12. Mastermind Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
13. Suddenly, I See KT Tunstall
14. Get Your Shine On Jesse McCarthy
15. Diamond Road Sheryl Crow
16. Through My Door The Muckrakers
17. Live Out the String Marc Cohn
18. All Good Reasons Barefoot Truth
19. Clarity Shawn MacDonald
20. See You Later, See You Soon Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers

Thanks to all who have supported me in this adventure!

Solace in the hum

Sometimes when you least expect it, life just jumps up and bites you in the behind.  This happened to me at the end of this past week and as I prepared for a series of unexpected meetings, I found amazing solace and calm aboard the tread.  I'm not sure if it were the whirrr of my tread motor (although it is pretty quiet) or the steady rhythm of my steps that lulled me in to a quiet reassurance.  I felt grounded, focused, and ready to take on the world successfully, which, incidentally, I did.  After the meetings, I found the treadmill to be the perfect place to debrief.  I turned up my sabbatical soundtrack and let the motion, music, and minutes return me to my pre-meeting, stress-less place. As I gear up for another long week, I find that like any kind of activity, a little warm up aboard the tread pays off.  I am also pleased to note that although the week in hindsight seemed pretty stressful, I managed to maintain my routine and continue to make good progress toward my goals (see progress report to the right).

Kicking off Monday in foggy style

As I do a quick warm up on the tread desk, I thought I would update my progress report (see right column) and my map.  I am so close to Rimmy Jims, which marks my original goals.  Clearly, with 50+ days to go until my sabbatical is over I will easily surpass the 390 mile mark.  In fact, I will do it this morning when I once again hit the asphalt with friend K for a walkabout town and a cup of joe.  It is a crazy foggy morning, but I find myself filled with satisfaction, happiness, and a huge sense of accomplishment.  We decorated the house yesterday to prepare for a month-long celebration of the Christmas season.  I feel that I have arrived at a point where the daily ins and outs of life are no longer stressful, but welcomed - where the future is filled with potential and the days with good memories.  Happy walking everyone!

and holding...

"So this is your 'and holding...' birthday," a close friend said to me last Thursday on my 39th birthday.  I asked for clarification and she said "you know, 39 and holding..."  I told her that I planned on spending my 40th year working toward my 40th birthday so that I arrive to that day healthier in all aspects of my life - physically, emotionally, spiritually, and professionally.  Little did I know, as I made that statement, that I would be "and holding" sooner than later.  This was the first update in which I had not lost any weight, rather, I was just holding.  And while I continue to close in on other goals (Rimmy Jims, 2M steps, 1M seconds, 500 miles), it was the "and holding" realization that made me re-evaluate my mindset.  With sick kids home from school on Friday, relatives descending upon our guest room on Saturday, and the ongoing move of my mother-in-law in to a new apartment - I had to question my expectations for this week.  Were they realistic? Were my setbacks stress related (even though I feel fairly stress free)?  I did continue to make progress on inches lost and in the end, if I had to choose one or the other, I would like to fit into the new pants I just bought today rather than marry myself to a number on a scale.

Chainsawin', Wood Haulin', & Treadmillin'

What I have happily figured out is that my treadmill desk addiction has become so ingrained in my daily bodily needs, that even though I spent an hour this morning learning to use a chainsaw (thanks K) and another hour or so safely and properly wielding said chainsaw, and then a bit more time tossing about the "rounds" that I made quick work of with my new friend, Mr. Chain, followed by a walk with a friend, shopping with my mother-in-law, a few hours as a spectator of various grades of schoolboy basketball, and a minor computer meltdown at our house -- even after all that, after the dust settled, the kids were asleep, and I had brushed off most of the wood chips, I jumped up on to the treadmill desk to check email, watch some tele, and write this post. I also have discovered that my daily use of the treadmill desk has enabled me to work stronger, longer, and more efficiently. While the chainsaw wasn't especially heavy, it was awkward. While the walk wasn't long, it followed a morning of hard labor. I felt strong, empowered, healthy, in shape, and ready to tackle whatever life might toss at me - be it mother-in-laws, basketball spectating, or computer meltdowns. While I half expected to jump on the tread to burn some residual stress, what I noticed was that my routine has strengthened my resolve in so many areas of my life.

1M down, 2M on the horizon

I was originally going to take today off.  Like a personal day at work, so to speak.  It wasn't exactly planned; but, between cleaning out the garage with my husband, giving a midday presentation, and shopping for a weekend chalk full of baby showers, it seemed fairly unlikely that I was going to have any "desk time."  But after mowing the lawn, running out for dinner, and jumping in the hot tub - my body was telling me something different.  I think the best description was that my legs felt like what a dog must feel like after his or her owner has been away all day , I needed to get up for a walk.  So walking I am.  I will probably load up a Netflix movie, rather than doing any real work, and so in the end it will be just as I imagined - a personal day.   I have noticed that my legs seem to have received the most benefit from my late-in-the-day walks.  As a long time RLS patient, I have tried nearly every drug on the market - with good, crappy, and mixed results.  I am currently on a dermapatch that works great.  But sometimes I forget to trade it out and then I am left to manage my symptoms overnight with a less potent option.  However, I have noticed that my symptoms are much better than they have been in the past under similar circumstances.  I contribute this to the only thing that has really changed - project treadmill desk.

750,000+ steps

Since my live demo with Core Health a few days back, I've been curious about the number of steps I take per day. The American Heart Association recommends 10,000 steps per day.  It is at this level, according to their research, that the human body is able to better fight off disease, counter aging, and maintain a healthy weight.  So today I counted the number of steps I took in a minute (81).  Then I calculated the number of minutes I have walked during this experiment (9337) and multiplied the two numbers.  I was excited to see that I had already walked more than 750,000 steps and was on track to reach a million steps before my sabbatical is over.  On average, my new desk set-up has accounted for nearly double the AHA 10,000 step recommendation.  It is helpful to break out the steps, because they add up fast.  Averaging 19,000 steps per day, I am hoping to walk a million steps right around the winter holidays.  It will be interesting and challenging to see if I can maintain my schedule throughout Thanksgiving since my kids will be home from school for the week and we will likely be moving my mother-in-law into assisted living.  I will need the extra mileage just to counter the increased stress!

Week Five Update

After five weeks (35 days on my treadmill desk), I am feeling great.  Not only am I proud of myself for keeping up this new, healthy habit; but I am also excited about how I feel.  My goal to return from my sabbatical in better shape physically, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, and professionally seems well within my reach.  I have added my update to the column on the left, which includes improvements in pounds and inches lost.  If you are still debating whether this is the solution for you -- wait no longer -- you are five weeks from feeling great!  (post note: when I was updating my stats I noticed that the total calories divided by 3500 (calories/lbs) equaled the number of pounds I have lost.  Is this working?  You bet.)

More on ergonomics

I'm back to the drawing board, literally, in that I am once again working out the bugs as I work toward perfect 'puter gadget positioning for someone of my height - 64".  While I have been able to find many sites about the best ergonomical positions for sitting posture, diagrams illustrating good standing desk posture are a bit more illusive.  I did find an excellent website at Cornell University that guides you through proper positioning.  I figure the only difference is what is happening below my waist.  So I am experimenting with a floating negative tilt keyboard tray.  I have attached it to the bottom of my lower desk section with four little ropes that I can adjust until I find the perfect height.  I still have my mouse on the main desk, but will play around with whether it needs adjusting as well.  Right now the keyboard is not actually visible, as it sits below the desk, but I think with a cutout and a plexiglass overlay (yep - I actually have spare plexiglass laying about from a craft project from a few years back) it will all work seamlessly.  This new design also allows me to postion my mouse just about anywhere - including dead center of the keyboard.  I read on the Cornell site that the closer to your midline the better and the more akin to normal hand carrying angle the better, so I have wedged the mouse pad so that my hand rest on the mouse just as it would without the mouse.  I am going to try this new design for a few days and then I will report how it is going.

Television & Treadmilling

I've set up my treadmill desk to face the television. I've found that I can walk off several miles while watching my favorite shows. I have also found that if I am tired and don't want to walk, watching a show or the news takes my mind off of either my tiredness or my boredom and once I am a few minutes in to it the stress, tiredness, and boredom melt away. Being on sabbatical, I was worried that I might just sit hours on end in front of my computer - and with such a scenario - I might eat out of boredom rather than out of necessity. Walking on the treadmill when I am in front of the computer or television not only lessens the body boredom, but also makes it nearly impossible to engage in mindless eating. I have actually discovered that I am eating only when I am hungry and that it is purposeful. Today is day #16 and by the end of this current session, I will have walked more than 100 miles!