Perhaps FRENEMIES??
Or not. But really, TV has a huge potential of shortening your lifespan….
Nearly 22 minutes of lost life for every hour of TV watched — that’s the measurement being quoted from a widely-reported Australian study of TV. Based on 11,000 adults, the study estimates that Australian males, averaging two hours of TV watching a day, will see their lifespan decrease by 1.8 years, and Australian females by 1.5 years
…so here are 5 things to make your boob tube time more active:
1.Stand. There is no law that TV must be watched from a chair. You can stand, which depending on weight or gender, takes a quarter to 50% more calories than sitting; you can also pace if you like, which people commonly do with sports programs.
2.Watch socially. Social support is a very large factor in overall survival. If you can watch with family and friends, you’ll be able to joke, cajole, discuss, and move around more easily — as one writer describes her family very actively watching a Dallas Cowboys game.
3.Use an exercise device. It can be a simple stepper or something more elaborate like an elliptical or exercycle, but you can readily move watching TV — and still stay in place.
4.Talk and walk. After the program is over, go and stroll with the people with whom you watched, discussing what you saw.
5.Don’t eat while watching. Drink water or non-caffeinated drinks. People tend to not notice what they nosh while watching television, making it a further component of our obesity epidemic.
In other words, do the opposite of all the things that make TV amazing!
LOLz! We kid, we kid!
We do half of these already — we burned a trail in our carpets from pacing during 24. Ha!
All of these are easy, and let’s face it, don’t you want to live a little longer??
P.S. That baby in the picture is doing none of those pieces of advice. Shame.
[Image via AP Images.]