Health Hacking: Move (Premium)

For 2017, I resolved to maintain a ketogenic diet in order to lose weight and become healthier. This year's goal is going to prove more difficult. I need to move more. A lot more.

This topic will be less controversial, I know, than my articles about health, nutrition, and diet. And that's because everyone understands that being sedentary is bad for your health.

Unfortunately, I suspect that many of you, like me, are sedentary. We sit in front of a computer all day long. And we don't get up and move around as often as we should.

So the solution is easy, right? Get off your ass. And just move more, dammit.

Well, yes and no. As is the case with nutrition and other related topics, there is some debate on this topic. And as is the case with nutrition and other related topics, there is no end of studies that can "prove" whatever point it is you're trying to make. That's how studies work.

So let's just use common sense. And be realistic, too: One of the issues with resolutions is that we start out strong and with the best of intentions. And that, as time goes by, we slack off and return to the behavior that was problematic in the first place.

In other words, we can debate intensities, frequencies, and exercise types all you want. But it doesn't matter what you believe if you won't do it. The trick here is finding something you can do, repeatedly. And then keep doing it over time.

The diet thing was easy for me: A year ago, I knew I was going to be able to do this and sustain it over time. But where that sort of thing may be difficult for others, regularly exercising---even just walking regularly, given the cold of the past few weeks---is hard for me to maintain. You know the drill: Life gets in the way.

Put simply, I know what I need to do. But I have never been able to maintain it, though I did at least walk for long periods of time in the past few years. And until this winter, I did play pickup basketball every year for about the past 15 years.

I need a new schedule. Something that can fit into my work schedule, which includes and does not preclude interrupted "deep work" periods in the morning, seven podcasts a week, and my basic life. And I need to figure it out now.

I'm tempted to ask what you're doing, but the truth is, it won't help anyone. We all have our own motivations, and some will very easily get up every morning to work out before work, or whatever, while others are repulsed by that idea. There's no one answer. It's what makes this hard.

But if your lifestyle is anything like mine, and chances are it is, you need to move more. I bet most of us do.