SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE: The all-time contention between some natives and nature: Concept, Causes, Cases, Conflict and Cure for Sedentary behavior

By James Komolafe

Pondering questions begging for answers at these times!

1. Why do many natives especially Retirees and Senior citizens suddenly experience health decline and emotion collapses few years after Retirement?

2. Why do certain demographic brackets experience untold physical pressure and discomforting ailments without any known accidents or disaster?

3. What is responsible for the increasing loss of evidence and the frequent non detection of underlying causes for some certain ailments on going in the body despite the series of expensive tests?

What is a sedentary lifestyle?

A sedentary lifestyle is a most common behavioral lifestyle of the adults and the aged demography that are confined to a particular kind of environment by little or no physical activity.  A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often fond of sitting or lying down  around the same spot while engaged in an activity like reading, socializing, watching television, playing video games, or using a mobile phone/computer for much of the day.  A 2017 paper by the Sedentary Behavior Research Network (SBRN) defined sedentary behavior as any activity involving sitting, reclining, or lying down that has a very low energy expenditure. The measurement for energy expenditure is metabolic equivalents (METs), and the authors consider activities that expend 1.5 METs or less of energy to be sedentary.

Research suggests that only 21 percent of adults are meeting the physical activity guidelines, while less than 5 percent perform 30 minutes of physical activity per day.The sudden transition from the once active and outgoing lifestyle sudden becomes an individual who is ‘condemned’ by fate to another lifestyle never anticipated.

Journey into sedentary behavior

 At first, the adapting capacity may pose a challenge as the one in the saddle develops a new (strange) emotional excitement and ecosystem as a necessary coping strategy to his new reality. After a while, the impact of this experience soon begin to take its toll on certain break downs, incoherence, energy floss and lethargy making the former active life to wane over time. The sedentary lifestyle is never a dash or an event; it is an experience over time having some debilitating effects on both the mental and physical health. Just as one breathes in oxygen in order give out carbon dioxide, in the same manner, we build and burn energies in our daily experience and manifesting…Energy cannot be destroyed but converted from state to another. A sudden lifestyle that results in low energy expenditure over time is the foundation for sedentary behavior.  A sedentary lifestyle can potentially contribute to ill health and many preventable causes of death.

Screen time is a modern term for the amount of time a person spends looking at a screen such as a television, computer monitor, or mobile device. Excessive screen time is linked to negative health consequences…even common in our youths and adolescents resulting into decadence in social interaction and emotional connection that is looming so large in homes and the society.

Behavioral health dynamics is not the same as the medical health. A certain crash in one’s personal lifestyle protocols as triggered by the culture of sudden roughshod retirement planning is most condemnable.

The unassuming challenge of sedentary lifestyle

Fig. 1.below says it all; sedentary behavior may begin from just a simple habit to a massive eventual addiction. A tendency gravitating towards an increasing lower energy expenditure points to a sedentary behavior on a repetitive note. The job of the behavior therapist here is to identify, analyze and interpret the sedentary scenario in order to fine tune the individual towards an acceptable personal energy regime where life could ‘bubble’ again given the age bracket of the individual involved

CASES OF SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE

Most cases are with retirees, as soon as they retire, they sit down and tight under the guise of resting after much work for 35 years…only to experience drop in their energy value chain. They become no longer active like before. Some develop hypertension which eventually becomes a source of worry that consumes most of their time and may lead to their untimely death when not addressed on time. Sedentary lifestyle explains why some even die without prior notice of illness Many natives ‘patch it up’ over time due to ignorance or the wrong diagnosis until the chips are down. The pains and panic of sedentary are often confronted with drugs without the adequate lifestyle modification involved hence, worsening the condition of the native.

 Get this right now- At a certain age, and as one begins to advance in age, excessive energy accumulation without the adequate avenue to burn same as required is a major trigger for bodily pains and aches developed without an accident. Many people disregard behavioral health and those who should know better keep the quiet. The time to seek behavioral intervention and retention programmes in today’s work place is now. It is no longer enough to go for medical checks only- seek the behavioral checks as well in order to avert sudden collapses in emotional wholeness, mental wellness and physical vitality. Call the support line and slate an appointment today. Never wait for the unexpected to happen before creating room for a lifestyle ‘retainership’ service  and  package for your family wholeness…. This is our fundamental field as Doctors of Behavioral Health!

Causes of sedentary lifestyle:

1. Age ….Advancement in age means reduction in physical activity due to low energy.
2. Retirement status….a retiree in our clime is left alone to be on his own through an inadequate preretirement package losing the grip over his emotional realities.
3. Mythology and deception of resting! Personal lifestyle protocols suffer emotional wreckage and mental break downs due to the poor understanding of rest after work. The 3 stages involved are often muddled up by most retirees who suffer afterwards the negative consequence of ailments and certain health challenges they once or never experienced before!
4. “People’s idea of freedom; not working for anybody again” syndrome. Little do they realize the loss of order, self-discipline and personal regulation! You must work for your personal lifestyle protocol after retirement in order to keep fit and function at your most possible energy level. This is the critical work of a behavioral therapist.
5. Abuse of natural protocols. Many abuse their personal protocols because the consequences don’t show up immediately. They suffer health and productivity decline as they cannot cheat nature.
6. Error of competition. This self-sabotage.  A double tragedy for a behavioral strategy. Leaving one’s protocol to adopt that of another is a behavioral breach of protocol by many natives.
7. Error of complacency. The saying “I am not working anymore” has a way of afflicting people who cannot draw the line to do the needful. They become suddenly over saturated with indolence and are overly self-satisfied. No new line of passion is ever explored or expended. The moribund lifestyle is the sedentary evidence.
8. Conspiracy theory; Conspire with others without the appropriate knowledge of one’s gauge is a recipe for sedentary living at some certain age. Following the time table of friends and protocols could pose a dangerous threat to soundness. Learn to know your personal details before borrowing leaf from others.
9.  Fear of men;The fear of what will people say when they see you still working after retirement is a mere sentiment. Never allow sentiments to snatch away your sensitivity and sensibilities.
10.  Tragedy of a new ecosystem; Idea of resting for the next 2 years as some say soon result to lifestyle they cannot come out from.
11.  Disjointed or warped crash pre-retirement package. Pre-retirement training programmes  most time lacks the much needed behavioral curricula. Civil servants in most cases are scared about retirement just because of the conspicuous absence of behavioral buffers to create a soft landing premise at retirement. They are corned into a lifestyle that has little or no bearing to their inner flow. Three month to retirement crash modular training without proper behavior modification is fatal.
12.  Inability to see the bigger picture! The euphoria of a life well spent in active service leave many stranded after service. Many of our frameworks and system of personality profiling only schemes the surface and leave untouched, untamed the inherent residues and potentials of people. They cannot see the opportunities woven within them because the process of self-exploration and expression for new evolution is not available. Place a request for a free tool kit to enable you download your reserved energies.

Conflicts arising from sedentary lifestyle

Effects of a sedentary work life or lifestyle can be either direct or indirect. One of the most prominent direct effect of a sedentary lifestyle is an increased BMI (Body Mass Index) leading to obesity. A lack of physical activity is one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide.

People that sit still more than 4 hours per day have a 40 percent higher risk than those that sit fewer than 4 hours per day. However, those that exercise at least 4 hours per week are as healthy as those that sit fewer than 4 hours per day.

A sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity can contribute to or be a risk factor for:

• Anxiety
• Cardiovascular disease
• Migraines
• Computer vision syndrome only for computers and tablets
• Depression
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Mortality in adults
• Obesity
• Bipolar syndrome among others

A sedentary lifestyle could also lead to the following conflicts….

• Struggle with the old and the new life. When active and inactive
• Confusion over the next plan of action.
• Self-sabotage gaining much influence.
• Indecision/wrong decision poses a major threat.
• Emotional instability becomes a usual occurrence
• Cases of transferred episode and flashes e.g. aggression on others become a common phenomenon.
• The unexpected encounter could suddenly happen. E.g. sudden collapse or death.

A sedentary lifestyle also appears to have a negative impact on mental well-being. The combination of the physical and mental impact to health makes a sedentary lifestyle particularly problematic. A recent review that included data from 110,152 participants found a link between sedentary behavior and an increased risk of depression. (Source: Medical news today Newsletter)

Cure to sedentary lifestyle.

Very important information here!!!!!!

Curing sedentary is not cast in stone. A more active lifestyle can significantly reduce the chances of chronic health conditions or breakdown, mental health disorders, and premature death. Sedentary to one may not mean the same episode for all. Look at the concept of sedentary in its entirety as it relates to you. The pivotal advice for all is to involve a professional just for a sedentary management guide. SABA Resources offers the prospectus upon request. A journey into sedentary can be traced, tracked and tamed. The mild and acute cases are also traceable. For all cases, whether mild, obvious or acute, place a request for the Sedentary Lifestyle Assessment Test from SABA Resources to check for fit and function.  Early sedentary does not show on the face but could reflect or refract in the behavior.

How to unbundle from acute sedentary lifestyle; A silent advice to senior citizens and everyone passing through the wedge of sedentary.

Unbundling from sedentary behavior requires a holistic behavioral intervention and not just a suggestive thought over a specific area to tweak.  Evidence Based Procedures (EBP) that is revealed during the intervention programme would show in clear terms…

1. The structural deviation
2. The trend analysis
3. The root cause analysis
4. The point blank analysis. From these four, the re-alignment procedure begins via behavior modification techniques that are most appropriate. The summary is that the individual would be articulated and aligned to what obtains and critical to his personality and find expression again. (We would discuss this in subsequent details in the next editions)

Increasing physical activity must be jumpstarted or increased

Research has shown that physical activity, including exercise and sports, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and early and untimely death.

Evidence also consistently shows that exercise can improve mental health. It is best to combine a variety of cardiovascular exercises, such as running or cycling, with strength-training exercises, which can include weight training or body-weight exercises. Going for at least three 30-minute runs and doing two 30-minute sessions of strength-training exercises per week would be sufficient to meet the minimum physical activity guidelines.

Clarify your goals and draw up your objectives- Coming out of sedentary must be with an outline of the next level thinking on lifestyle. Without purpose, intention runs riot and decisions are impaired. Emptiness must be filled with something else worth living for!

Reducing the time spent being sedentary

Share or partaking in regular physical activity can reduce the risk of the diseases or the heart and bowels.

Physical activity is important, but spending the majority of the day being sedentary is still dangerous.

People can reduce the amount of time they spend being sedentary by:

• standing rather than sitting on public transport
• walking to work
• taking walks during lunch breaks
• setting reminders to stand up every 30 minutes when working at a desk
• investing in a standing desk or asking the workplace to provide one
• taking a walk or standing up during coffee or tea breaks
• spending more time doing chores around the house, especially daily chores or gardening
• Making excuses leaving the office or moving around the building.
•  Taking phone calls outside and walking around at the same time.
• spending some free time being active rather than watching television or playing video games
• getting up and walking around during television commercials
• taking the stairs instead of using the elevator
• other requirements as directed the behavioral expert!

IN CONCLUSION

Research has linked a sedentary lifestyle to severe health conditions. This is not limited to retired citizens and natives. It impacts on all who goes the way!

Many people do not meet the minimum physical activity guidelines and are at risk of developing health issues from spending too much time being sedentary. Seek behavioral support today.

People can reduce the risks of a sedentary lifestyle by increasing the amount of physical activity that they do and using the techniques above to reduce the time they spend being sedentary, hence, it is advisable to ensure that you do not allow yourself or loved ones to spend the rest of their lives been sedentary. Seek professional supports today as you vote the vibrant and vital lifestyle without the rigour! Living long, strong and well is a possibility to everyone who goes the preventive way. Do not wait to be in the trap before seeking help. It is lifestyle adjustment based on informed decision. Africa shall be saved and Nigeria has a greater future…..To be continued.

James Komolafe writes from Abuja Nigeria. He is Cognitive Behavioral Therapist /Doctor of Behavioral Health. He is CEO, School of Articulation and Behavioral Alignment Resources (SABA Resources) Reach him call +234 8035999220 or james1kom@gmail.com