Stand and Deliver

After my little rant about things putting me behind schedule, especially my back, I got on to my group's Facebook page to see a link to an interesting, and fitting, article. It's pretty lengthy, but it's basically about how using a standing desk transformed in to him gaming while standing up. While the gamer side of me was interested in what he had to say about the immersion of standing up, I was surprised that his health complaints really matched my own. His digestion was weird, his legs didn't feel right, and his back was easily injured. This wasn't an article from one of those health nuts, but from someone I could probably game with. So on I read.

By the end of the article I was very intrigued. My friend who linked the article had been trying a standing desk and has been enjoying it, so maybe this wasn't all voodoo after all. After spending several days being out of commission, much to the frustration of my kids, I decided to give this a whirl after our mini vacation. I enjoy having guidelines for myself, otherwise I have an extreme "all or nothing" approach, and that approach may very well kill me after 6 or 7 knee surgeries. So here's what I've come up with:

• Starting Wednesday, or as soon as I can rig up a standing computer, I will spend an entire week spending at least half my waking hours standing.
• Playing games or spending a longer amount of time on the computer requires standing. If I'm too tired, oh well.
• Unless I'm needing to sit, the only time I'll be off my feet is when I'm painting. 
• I'm going to keep a mini journal of my progress, and in a week I"ll let you guys know how well I survived.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit nervous. I have very little cartilage left in my knees, but I think this will be good for me. I'm going to need to pull out some foam mats we have stored, and I'll probably become very friendly with aspirin, but I'm pretty sure I can stick it out. The hardest part will be day 2, because my knees are prone to buckling after spending an entire day standing. 

I really hope I can make a lifestyle change like the writer of the article. As gamers, it's very easy for us to fall in to a sedentary lifestyle. About the only part of my gaming life that asks me to stand is when I actually play Warmachine, and that's only a couple hours every week. I still have to stand and such when I'm making sure the kids stay alive and the house doesn't burn down, but it's definitely not enough. And after my father-in-law worked out a lot of knots in my back and shoulders Saturday night, I was determined to make this change.

So wish me luck! And I think it would be awesome to have some of you join me on this challenge. So if you want to get in on swollen knees and sore feet, let me know!

See you tomorrow!

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