Staying Healthy and Writing More
Don’t Sacrifice Your Health For Your Dream of Writing
Who hasn’t gained weight lately? If you made it through 2020 without gaining wait, awesome, you should be writing this blog.
I did gain weight because when you go from teaching at two universities, walking or standing most of the day, plus going to the gym three times a week, and walking your dogs, to sitting at a computer for hours and hours every day, bad things happen to your body. And when you don’t watch what you eat, things get worse. So, I gained 10–15 pounds.
This is a reality for many writers when their schedule doesn’t suddenly change. In fact, over time, especially the more successful the writer becomes, the more weight he or she gains because more time is required behind the computer screen.
Balance is the Key to Success
This sedentary life is not good for us. The “new normal” can not mean sitting behind our computer all day, then moving to the couch to watch Netflix.
Like everything in life, we need to have balance. Yes, writing time is important and it does require butt in the chair, but if we don’t balance that healthy eating and exercise with our work, our health will suffer. Not taking care of personal health will impact our future and the number of books we’ll be able to write.
Finding time to exercise does not have to be a major commitment. There are plenty of activities we can do around the house. This week, the weather was cold and rainy, so I couldn’t go swimming outdoors like I typically like to do. Plus, I had a lot of work to do and didn’t want to take the time to drive to the pool, drive home, shower, etc. So, I decided to climb my stairs. I worked for a couple of hours, then I took 15 minutes to walk up and down my two-story home. Later, after working a couple more hours, I again walked up and down the stairs. I did this three times. That’s 45 minutes of cardio! And my legs knew it.
You can dance while you vacuum. You can do any number of activities in between working from home and writing your book.
