This will be a short blogging day

In the olden days, they used to call it ''secretarial spread'' -- and it wasn't about the boss having an office affair. Yup, it's 9:30 a.m. and you can already feel your hips widening. Those of us who are desk bound are at a disadvantage.

Read all about it at SparkPeople, a free site that is a wonderful resource for weight watchers.

Australian researchers found that men sitting at their desks more than six hours a day are nearly twice as likely to be overweight than those who sit for less than 45 minutes a day. While women fared slightly better—spending on average 20 more minutes on their feet at the office than men—researchers conclude that a sedentary job is a major health concern for both genders.

And it’s no secret that sedentary jobs (and lifestyles) have contributed dramatically to the accelerating obesity rate of the past 20 years. Put emphasis on the word ‘dramatically’—a study conducted by the University of Chicago in 2001 found that a worker in a sedentary career may end up with a Body Mass Index 3.3 units higher than someone in a highly active job. If you’re 5'5" this can mean an increase in weight from 140 pounds to 155 pounds!

SparkPeople suggests all kinds of ways to avoid the inevitable.

When you have more time, check out the very extensive site. There are free exercise videos, tools, journals, all kinds of goodies. It's in my blogroll, in the links to the left.

Just do it while running on the spot.

UPPITY DATE: I should have mentioned that it was the inspirational Shrunk who turned me on to SparkPeople. From 281 pounds to 137 ...