Health an the Writer

The reason I’m writing about this subject is because a writer’s work is sedentary. The nature of our job is deskbound in front of a computer. Even those who use pen and paper, or (heaven forbid) a typewriter, they are still stationary.

To put words on paper is to use your mind while being inactive physically. I am an author, and I know. Not only that I know many other authors who are the same, and I have heard horror stories about others. We become so focused on our books that we forget there is a real life beyond these boundaries.

So many writer’s will eat while they create their novels and often times the food consists of junk food like M & M’s or chips, something that is easy to munch on and still stay on the computer. I have always had the tendency to do that, but I am fortunate to have a husband who drags me away from my PC (screaming and kicking lol) for a few hours every day.

I know novelists who have gained weight to such limits that they have developed diabetes and other serious diseases to the extent that they have become bedridden. Some smoke to calm their nerves or to keep the weight off their bodies, which poses more health hazards. Whether we have an illness or not, we are all developing the same problem, we are causing muscle deterioration and losing strength in our limbs, which will cause major difficulty later in life. Some of these will be irreversible if something is not done in the early stages.

My health hasn’t been the best for many years. I have suffered with fibermyalgia and peripheral neuropathy since my early forties (it may have been earlier, but it wasn’t diagnosed until then), and one of the things my doctor told me was that exercise would help.

For several years, I have belonged to a goals oriented on-line Yahoo group who also set targets for exercise, which kept reminding me I needed to exercise. Also, I have a husband and sister who have nagged me about not keeping fit and that it help my mind, give me more energy, etc. All of us have heard it before, and we just let it go in one ear and out the other. Anyway, I didn’t have time for everything, and I let my health slide.

At my last birthday, I changed health insurance. This insurance believes in prevention and one of the ways they believe in deterring bad health is through exercise. To help people like me who won’t exercise by themselves, they are paying for my membership and monthly dues at the YMCA.

I’ve been exercising at the Y for two and a half months, and I can honestly say I feel a difference, much stronger physically and mentally. This is something every writer needs to take time to do for their selves, and I’m not saying I’ll stick to this regimen, but I hope I do. Smile. This is our health.

My question is, what do you do to help yourself keep fit?

Have a great week.
Sandy