Is Your Lifestyle Too Sedentary? Here Are 8 Signs You're Not Active Enough

You fall short of global health recommendations.

One way to know if you are a sedentary person is to consider the World Health Organization's new guidelines, which advise either 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week, plus two days of strength training. If you're not hitting either of those suggestions, you're likely not moving enough. The solution? Slowly build your exercise tolerance until you reach this threshold and beyond.

You spend more than half your waking hours not moving.

Another helpful indicator: "Count the number of hours you sleep, and then subtract that from 24 hours. That number is the number of hours in the day you have to be active and engaged. If you spend more than 50 percent of that time sitting, reclining, and not moving, it's important to find ways to change this," says Suzanne Steinbaum, MD, a preventive cardiologist, founder of SRSHeart Center for Women's Prevention, Health and Wellness. Being more active could be as simple as parking further away at the grocery store or taking a walking meeting.

You feel fatigued all the time.

It's true, fatigue comes from many things—stress, a poor diet, hormone imbalances—but being sedentary also plays a role in extreme tiredness. The more you sit around, the more wiped out you're going to feel. That's because the body—heart, lungs, muscles—is being "deconditioned", which can happen in as little as a couple of days.

The good news: Research shows that moving can put the spring back in your step. One study that looked at the effect of exercise on folks who reported persistent levels of fatigue found that both those who engaged in 20 minutes of either low- or medium-intensity exercise three times a week for six weeks experienced a 20 percent boost in energy levels. And while both groups also reported a reduction in feelings of fatigue, the low-intensity group experienced a much higher drop. Translation: You don't have to go hard to reap the benefits.

You notice changes in your weight and metabolism.

To keep your weight from fluctuating in an unhealthy way, you have to burn the same number of calories that you take in. But when you're too sedentary, your calorie intake stays the same while your energy expenditure plummets, and those excess calories get stored as fat. In the same vein, being sedentary also affects your metabolism—the body's process for converting food into energy. A slower metabolism means you're burning fewer calories at rest. "There is less blood flow and less metabolism," Layton says. "Long term, that leads to diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, and other diseases." If you notice you are too sedentary, focus on moving more before you consider cutting additional calories from your diet.

You often feel winded.

"The heart thrives on good oxygen flow," says Sanul Corrielus, MD, FAAC, a board certified cardiologist and owner of Corrielus Cardiology in Philadelphia. As we sink deeper into the couch, Dr. Corrielus explains, "our breathing gets shallow, which depletes the heart of good streams of oxygen supply and contributes to the deconditioning of the heart." Minimal movement can also make you feel winded faster as well as experience palpitations, which "can lead to further deterioration of the heart function if not addressed effectively."

The more stagnant a person, the greater risk of mortality and heart disease, Dr. Steinbaum says. Research shows that each additional hour per day spent watching television comes with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Plus, sitting at least 10 hours a day, compared to sitting for less than five, is associated with a higher risk of heart attacks. "Without movement and exercise, we have an increase in the sympathetic nervous system," she says. "Sympathetic overdrive leads to an increase in stress hormones and inflammatory markers, leading to an increase in cardiovascular disease."

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As you get older, it takes longer to recover from a sedentary state. That said, Dr. Correlius says will take about eight to 10 weeks of consistent workouts to reverse the deconditioning. "Even if it's just walking for 10 minutes every other day, the key is to start and be consistent," he says, Your goal should be to work up to doing 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise five days a week.

Need a little push to get you started? JAMA Cardiology reveals that just one session is enough to offer two to three hours of protection against damage to the heart.

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You miss out on quality sleep.

Sleep is precious. Not getting an adequate amount—the recommended seven to nine hours—can lead to metabolism issues, weaken your immune system, up your risk of an early death, and more. And the longer you're inactive, the more your sleep will suffer. For example, if you spend more than 11 hours a day in chill mode (we've all binged-watched an entire season, let's be honest), it can lead to both reduced sleep quality and sleep quantity. A meta-analysis also found that excessive sedentary habits ups the possibility of insomnia.

Rest assured, you'll be able to sleep more soundly if you nail the recommended national activity guidelines. Research reveals those who did were 95 percent less likely to feel overly sleepy throughout the day.

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Your mental health has taken a downturn.

"Studies have also shown that those people who are more sedentary have a decrease in psychological well-being and quality of life," says Dr. Steinbaum, noting that these people also tend to be more depressed. She also explains that exercise is associated with the release of serotonin. "These 'feel good' hormones are what makes the 'runner's high' that drives people to crave exercise and be committed to their exercise plans," she says.

How do you fix your declining mental health and inactivity at the same time? Mindfulness can play a crucial role. Becoming aware of your underactive tendencies and choosing to be active can help put your mind and mood in a better position. "Mindfulness can strengthen our ability to combat stress and anxiety," says Matt West, a psychologist and co-founder of the Boom Journal. West strongly believes that the habit of moving mindfully is extremely beneficial to optimizing the relationship between fitness and mental health. For example, in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, students who were either mindful or moving experienced a bump in mood and a decline in stress. When the habits were combined, the effects were bolstered even more.

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Your memory is faltering.

Typically when we think of being sedentary, our minds zero in on physical side effects like muscle weakness, heart issues, and overall risk for diseases like cancer. But our brains need exercise just as much as our bodies do. According to a PLOS One study, hours spent sitting leads to less thickness in the medial temporal lobe, an area of the brain responsible for memory. This brain change might explain why you've been forgetful if you've also been idle. But a dose of aerobic fitness, like treadmill walking, can not only boost this area, but also help with age-related cognitive issues such as dementia.