Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The Get Healthy Blog Hop!

I signed up for the Get Healthy Bloghop. It’s the brainchild of Stephen Tremp, L. Diane Wolfe, Michael Di Gesu and Alex Cavanaugh. The Blog Hop focuses on health. This is an issue with many bloggers who have expressed gaining weight over the holidays and other negative health issues that they are dealing with. Here is a Blog Hop that can help us make 2013 a year that we can help turn the tides! 

The Objective: Share with everyone something you have done that affected your health in a positive way. You can share an awesome low cal low fat tasty recipe. Post simple tips to lose weight. Or a testimony on what has helped, like joining Weight Watchers. Recommend a routine like P90X or Insanity. Or stretches one can do while sitting in their office chair working or writing. We’re sure people have countless great tips and ideas they would love to share. 


My entry for the blog hop.

1.   As I spend long hours working at the computer, I ensure I take regular two-minute breaks after every hour. This is to avoid cramps that long hours of sitting at the desk entail. In these two-minute breaks I drink water (I deliberately keep the water in the furthest corner of the room) so that I walk toward it and stretch my leg muscles.

      2.   I make it a point to blink a lot to lubricate my eyes and keep dry eyes at bay.  Regular eye exercises go a long way in keeping the eyes healthy. Staring at a distant object, then at an object close by, repeating this process several times is good for the eyes. As is looking left and right in sequences of eight. This is followed by looking up, then down, then up and back down, again in a sequence of eight. Another relaxing eye routine I follow is squeezing the eyes closed as though I am trying to block out all light.  This instantly relaxes the tensed eye muscles.

      3.   Hand and wrist exercises are a must to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Repetitive Strain injury. Stretching the fingers as wide as possible, then closing it as though one is clenching one’s fists in sequences of five is good to keep the blood circulation going. Rotating the hands from the wrists onwards, with the fingers clenched, first in a clockwise direction, then in an anti-clockwise direction keeps the hands, wrists and fingers supple.

      4.    An exercise I do to prevent the neck and shoulder muscles from getting stiff is: sitting straight in a chair, with my elbows bent, palms turned up, and pushing my shoulders as high as possible and then relaxing and bringing the shoulders down. This exercise, like the eye and hand exercises can be done several times in a day, in sequences of 3, 5 and 7.

Hope my exercises will help you all to keep your eyes, hands, shoulder muscles  and neck healthy. I am looking forward to reading the other entries. To read the other entries click here.

36 comments:

  1. Very thoughtful and staying fit is the key to most success in any field. Thanks for sharing the tips, Rachna which are simple and useful:)

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  2. Wonderful tips. I'm going to use all of them. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. As I was reading, I started doing these exercises. They're great, easy to do, and keeps the body working as it should. Thank you, Rachna!

    xoRobyn

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  4. It ja = hard fpr me to write as I do all dese at one .

    (THANKS for some really useful and *easy* tips :)

    Stay healthy, my friend.

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  5. Ha! I used to have a bottle of water by my side, but that meant I could stay seated for too long, so now I leave the water in the kitchen.

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  6. Thanks for the tips, especially the one for the neck. I try to get up a lot or if I'm inspired set up a standing work station so I can stand and work.

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  7. Great ideas to stay limber while writing. I never thought of doing eye or wrist exercises. Thanks,

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  8. Ooh, some really good pointers there, I think I will definitely adopt #1 immediately :). I like the sound of the eye exercises as well.
    Tasha's Thinkings

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  9. Those are simple and smart exercises! And they don't look as weird as doing jumping jacks at the office.
    Thanks for participating in our bloghop.

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  10. Great tips! I especially like the reminder about the eye exercises. My poor eyes take so much abuse throughout the day, and if they ever decide to rebel, I'd be left completely helpless. Much better to exercise and rest them regularly now!

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  11. Wonderful post, wonderful tips.

    Yvonne.

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  12. Hi Rachna, great post! There are so many things one can do such as shoulder and neck stretches. This helps reduce tension head aches too.

    And the and and writs exercises are a must. I do them every day.

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  13. I need to do those eye exercises. I do get up pretty often from my desk chair when I write.

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  14. These are so easy and practical, and totally appropriate for me as I sit at my computer all day typing up notes! Thanks for sharing!

    And thanks very much for your comment today!

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  15. I think I need to make more of a point to get up and walk around. Sometimes I look up and three hours have gone by where I've been frozen in position typing away.

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  16. I have to do that too! It's too easy to get all stiff, hunching over a computer.

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  17. Great tips and ones I tend to forget,so thanks for the reminder! :)

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  18. Great tips. I try to take breaks, but when I'm really into what I'm doing - like working my way through a blog-hop list - I forget! I'm going to go and walk around before I move to the next blog :-)

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  19. Great reminders! I'm familiar with most of the tips--now if I would only implement them :-) Maybe I should print this out and tape it near the computer...? Thanks for the hints.

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  20. Fantastic tips!
    Sitting by a computer for long period of times would certainly be easier if we did some of these exercises more often, thanks ;)

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  21. This sounds like my kind of exercise regimen.

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote

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  22. I've been seeing a lot of get our butts out of the writing chair -- I think the once an hour is a good rule of thumb.

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  23. Hi friends...glad you all found my tips beneficial. They are simple and easy to do at any place and any time. I am enjoying reading all your posts.

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  24. I think your exercises are easy to do and they will be very useful. I take notes to not forget them. It's really important to keep the body moving. Thanks for sharing! :D

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  25. Neck, shoulders and back are the things I suffer from. Stretching. lots of stretching.


    mood

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  26. Hi, Rachna! Great exercises. I'll definitely add these to my list of exercises to incorporate into my days.

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  27. I like the sound of those eye exercises... I'm going to try them out! Thanks for sharing Rachna.

    Writer In Transit

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  28. I'm at my computer a lot, so I'll have to try some of those, especially for the wrists. To my credit, I do get up often, probably once every ten minutes. Some days more. (I'm a bundle of nervous energy and can't sit still for long.)

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  29. Great exercises and tips!
    Thank you for sharing
    :D

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  30. Two minute breaks - very good advice, and stretching fingers, hands and arms to avoid carpal tunnel - yes, these are wonderful tips to share.

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  31. Good tips, especially the hand one - my hands are beginning the family trait of developing arthritis and exercising them is essential.
    Suzanne @Suzannes Tribe

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  32. Good tips, Rachna! These are helpful, especially for those long writing days. :)

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  33. Hi, Rachna,

    These exercises are PERFECT for the writer. We often forget our eyes, wrists, and fingers.

    I know I will be doing them for now on. My eyes, in particular feel stained and dry most of the time. I am a visual person and use my eyes for EVERYTHING Creative... I do a lot of fine drawing, illustrating and needle work besides writing ... so you can understand why I have the strain.

    Nice to meet you, and thanks for joining the HOP and for your wonderful tips!

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  34. I love exercise! I've always been active since I was a kid, and though I no longer do organized sports now (just for fun!) I make sure to exercise 5 or 6 days a week. I have an elliptical and I often read while I'm on that. I use weights and I have a couple exercise DVDs I like; Cindy Whitmarsh is my favorite. I see good results pretty quick when I do her workouts!

    I go to the chiropractor once a month or so, and my doctor always shakes her head at how out of alignment my neck, shoulders, and wrists always are. Now I know that's from my workouts, too, and just the every day living, but writing takes a toll on those areas as well. It's crazy how writing is bad for the posture!

    My husband and I eat pretty well. I make sure we have fruit and/or vegetables with each meal. We have the NutriBullet, which is awesome. I love making a healthy veggie/fruit drink for breakfast after my workouts!

    But I never ever say no to chocolate!! :)

    Happy reading and writing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines

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  35. It's great that you posted on little exercise tips while sitting in the chair as opposed to totally leaving the scene. These will come in handy... just got to make sure to remember to keep it up. Writer’s Mark

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