Treadmill Desk — Sharon Odom

Treadmill Desk: 10 Years Later

It’s been 10 years since I first saw Dr. James Levine being interviewed on Primetime 20/20 while walking at a treadmill desk.

As soon as I saw it, I KNEW the treadmill desk was the perfect solution for one of my biggest problems — making exercise a regular part of my day.

Sure I’d go to the gym a couple days a week to walk on the treadmill but my mind was always back at my desk.

Remember this was 2006, before iPads and all the other ways
we can take work with us. I found it to be so incredibly BORING and it took forever to finish. And it was never enough.

Then I’d go back home and fidget in my chair because I was all revved up and found sitting to be boring. I enjoy food and want to be able to eat what I want (within reason) and still lose weight. Exercise is the only way to accomplish that.

The Eureka Moment

So when I saw Dr. Levine on that treadmill desk, I literally yelled, “That’s it, that’s the answer!” And wasted no time putting together my first treadmill desk. After the initial trial run with a laptop on my dining room table leaf, I graduated to a full fledged desktop system with dual monitors.

Ten years later, it’s a habit. I’m at my treadmill desk right now, typing these words. I still have a regular desk, and the dual monitor make it easy to go back and forth if I need to take a break or have a quiet conversation.

Primetime 20/20 Appearance

In 2008 Primetime 20/20 did a follow up to the Dr. Levine story and interviewed me for the segment. They came out to the house and recorded HOURS worth of footage. It was the triplets’ 11th birthday that day and we got them out of school so they could get footage of me fixing them a snack. Want to guess how much made it to TV?

Yep, 24 seconds.

The kids were very upset that all of their footage ended up on the cutting room floor. Here’s a picture of us with the camera crew. See the little green “It’s My Birthday” stickers on their shirts?

Anyway, it was really cool to see how stuff works on a location shoot.

The episode appeared on the show 3 months later, on August 1, 2008. Thanks to Primetime 20/20 for my 24 seconds of fame!

Random Notes

I don’t know how many miles I’ve walked, at least enough to have walked across America, maybe the world. I would love to see the distance I;ve walked plotted on a map, another one of the many things on my wanna do list.
I’m on my 2nd treadmill. Important Note: don’t let a company know you’re using their treadmill on a regular basis, they’ll void your warranty. They only want to sell their treadmills to people who use them for coat racks. Heaven forbid you actually plan to USE it!
Walking on a treadmill alone is not enough to keep the weight off. I haven’t missed more than a few days in 10 years, yet managed to gain much of the weight I initially lost. Fact is, you can take in more calories in an hour than you can work off in 8 hours of walking. We went through some tough times and I stuffed my face to cope. It’s a good thing I kept walking though, otherwise it would have been WAY worse than it was when I finally woke up!
To re-lose the weight, I used a combination of MyFitnessPal to track calories and Fitbit to track exercise — it’s been a magical combination for me. That’s really the key — find what works best for YOU. That’s why diets don’t work. It has be a way of life, something you can do indefinitely, because that’s the only way the weight will stay off.

Today, I still walk while working at my treadmill desk (strap the Fitbit to your ankle, otherwise it won’t count treadmill steps), which leaves all my Fitbit friends asking, “How do you do so many steps during the day?”

The best thing about working while walking — time gets away from you and you don’t even notice how far you’ve gone. As I wrap up this post, the dashboard says I’ve walked 240 minutes at 1.2 mph/10 incline, burned 1,128 calories and walked 4.8 miles.

Oh, and I weigh less now than I did in the Primetime 20/20 video. Hell yeah!

Have You Tried Walking Meditation?

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We’ve all heard how good meditation is for you. Maybe you’ve tried it, the traditional way, with the “ummmm” while focusing on your breath and being absolutely still.

For some reason, I cannot do this.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot focus on nothing. It works for maybe a minute, then my nose will itch or I’ll hear a noise or something will happen to break my concentration.

After several failed attempts at traditional meditation, I’ve hit upon the perfect solution for me… walking meditation.

Yes, you can walk and meditate, especially if you have a treadmill or a long stretch of beach available, someplace you can walk without fear of running into something.

In my case, it’s a no-brainer. I spend most of my day walking on my treadmill anyway, why not take a few of those minutes to meditate? I don’t remember when the thought came to me, probably while trying to meditate the regular way.

It’s really quite easy once you solve the problem of how to keep your eyes closed while walking. You can do this at the gym, maybe with some earplugs to drown out background noise. Using a treadmill makes it so much easier to block out distractions because you can hold onto the rails very lightly and close your eyes.

Here’s a guide that I found useful, although it doesn’t discuss the use of treadmills. Actually most of the articles and guides discuss how to do it with your eyes open, sometimes along a marked path outdoors. That would be ideal but here in hot Houston, not something I want to do most of the year. It’s just like anything else … take the part that works for you and leave the rest!

Happy Meditating!

Smooth Fitness 7.6 HR Pro Treadmill Warning

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If you’re thinking about buying a Smooth Fitness 7.6 HR Pro for your treadmill desk … don’t.

I bought this model after my Smooth 5.25 broke. The repair was going to be expensive and was going to take awhile, so I decided to invest that money in a new supposedly better model. Because I loved my previous Smooth treadmill, I felt safe buying one that was LIKE NEW for a $200 price cut. That was definitely a bad move because it meant that I couldn’t return it. Here’s what happened:

It arrived in a beat up looking box and the top wasn’t even connected to the rest of it, it was totally loose. If I hadn’t been so desperate to have a treadmill, I would have refused delivery
It had NUMEROUS scratches and marks and dents
It had a bad squeak — expected when something is old but this was supposed to be LIKE NEW
The rails are a lot lower than my old one so the treadmill desk was at hip level. I had to set the keyboard and mouse on top of two reams of paper to bring it up to the right height. (see photo):
It doesn’t work the way my old one did. I’m on and off the treadmill all day long and at the end of the day, usually would record how long I’ve walked, distance, calories burned, etc. This treadmill resets itself after 3 minutes so I have to record everything EVERY TIME I get off. I called support and was told it’s a “feature”. Don’t you hate when a flaw is called a feature?

Ok so all of that was annoying but the thing couldn’t be returned so I had to live with it. But after awhile, it developed an intermittent problem — the motor makes a funny grinding noise, the belt vibrates and speeds up a bit, and the digital display goes a bit haywire, showing a pulse even though I’m not grabbing the sensors. It lasts maybe 20-30 seconds. It seemed to be getting worse recently so I wanted to get it checked while this piece of crap is still under warranty.

Submitted a service request and someone called the next day. A treadmill service guy came to check it out, and called Smooth to discuss. He told the Smooth rep about the treadmill desk, how I walk for long periods of time at low speeds, and I could tell from his face that I was not going to like what the Smooth guy was saying.

Get this … Smooth is saying that the treadmill is not designed to be used that way — as a treadmill desk — and doing so could/would void my warranty. What the hell does that mean? If I removed the desk and just used it to look at TV and walk for 4 hours, would THAT be okay?

I ordered this thing over the phone and told the lady what I was going to use it for, and she didn’t say anything about that voiding my warranty, nor do I see anywhere on the website that their treadmills can’t be used at low speeds for long periods of time. That makes no sense at all — there is no posted minimum speed limit in any gym I’ve ever been to. Just another case of a company trying to pass the buck and find some way to blame the consumer for their own shoddy merchandise.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to this rep myself and frankly was so pissed afterwards that I didn’t want to talk to him and put energy into something so negative. It’s stupid to mistreat someone who has bought TWO of your machines and has raved about them. Yes Smooth Fitness, that’s you… stupid.

Consider my recommendation to buy Smooth Fitness treadmills to be null and void, unless you want your warranty voided because you actually USE your treadmill on a regular basis.

Treadmill Desk: No Longer Optional

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It’s official: a treadmill desk is a necessity for me. Not a nice-to-have, a MUST have. It’s a machine, so I knew eventually the day would come when something would go wrong. You’d think I’d have a contingency plan, but I guess I didn’t realize how much I would miss it. Now I know.

The incline stopped working on Sunday, and on Monday the treadmill suddenly accelerated and I had to jump off. After talking to the technicians at Smooth Fitness, I realized that regular maintenance is important for treadmills, especially if you actually USE it as much as I do. Oops, my bad. The 3 year warranty expired 5 months ago. It sounds like an expensive repair. You know what I’m thinking — I got my money’s worth out of this one, time to get a heavy duty commercial grade treadmill. After over 3 years of almost daily use, I’ve proven to myself that it’s not a passing fad for me, it’s a way of life.

I ordered the new treadmill on Tuesday, the Smooth Fitness 7.6 HR Pro. As I count the days until it arrives, I realized just how hooked I am on walking while I work. I feel restless during the day, like something is missing. I keep climbing on the treadmill out of habit, and find myself standing there working sometimes just to avoid sitting on my butt.

When the new treadmill gets here, I think I’ll start a trip and “walk” somewhere fun and far away. In the meantime, I find myself going for walks with the dog just to get some exercise.

Treadmill Desk Update

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Thought I’d start the new year with a treadmill desk update. It’s been 2 years and 3 months since I created my treadmill desk by placing the leaf from our dining room table over the rails of a Smooth Fitness treadmill. Started walking very slowly, worked my way up to 1.8 mph at Level 11 incline (out of 15).

I walk an average of 5-6 miles per day over 3-4 hours. It has become a habit … I step on it and start my day. No thought required, just do it. Now I understand the Nike slogan.

Yes, I’ve lost quite a bit of weight, 58 pounds. Never felt better and have been told I look that way.

If you work at home and have struggled to lose weight, try the treadmill desk. I struggled with weight all of my life and this by far has been the easiest way I’ve found to lose weight and keep it off. I can’t imagine life without it.

Want to see it in action? See the Primetime 20/20 video interview (about 24 seconds long): www.WalkWhileYouWork.com

Primetime 20/20 Airdate Set

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Helaine from ABC sent me an email last week saying the airdate for the treadmill desk story has been set — Friday August 1st. Of course that may still change, but for now it seems to be set.

I have no idea how it’s going to look, how long it is, or anything. Hopefully the camera will be kind — you know the camera adds 10 pounds, right?

Should be interesting!

UPDATE: ABC was at my house for HOURS filming, guess how much made it into the story? Here’s my 24 seconds of fame!

Previous treadmill desk entries:

My Treadmill Desk

I Love, Love, LOVE My Treadmill Desk!

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Someone emailed me a couple weeks ago, wondering how things are going with the treadmill desk. Am I still going strong? (YES) Do I use a pedometer? (SOMETIMES) How has my weight changed? (lost 25 pounds so far!) So I figured it’s time for a treadmill desk update.

Simply put, the treadmill desk has been life changing for me. I finally found an exercise program that fits seamlessly into my life. No stopping what I’m doing to run to the gym. No hoping it doesn’t rain or get too hot to walk outside. No childcare issues. No boredom.

It has been absolutely amazing and so unbelievably easy. All I do is climb on and start walking. Because my mind is occupied with work, the time just flies by and the miles add up. Usually I walk 5-6 miles per day, although on occasion I’ll do as many as 10 or more miles. Very seldom do I miss a day — it’s such a part of my life now that if I do skip a day, my body misses it. And you better believe the next day I will do 10 miles!

Last month I started to feel like my body was getting used to the routine, like the pace was too easy. I stepped up the pace a bit, but you can only go so fast and still be able to type, and the idea is to walk at a pace you can maintain for 4-5 hours. I had forgotten the treadmill had an incline feature, and one day accidentally hit the incline button and there was my answer! I’ve gradually increased the incline and now am at level 5 (the max is 15). I can definitely tell the difference — it gives my legs and butt more of a workout without having to increase the pace.

As for the weight loss, it has been slow and steady, 25 pounds so far. I don’t deprive myself of anything, but I am eating healthier than before. There’s something about exercising and drinking lots of water that makes you crave fruit and healthy food, not junk. Maybe it’s the endorphins, I don’t know, but knowing that I’m doing something so good for my body makes me not want to eat junk.

As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago I made a major effort to eliminate sugar, which I’ve found is darn near impossible if you eat any commercially prepared foods. Sugar is in everything! The only way to totally eliminate it is to cook everything from scratch. I’m not quite willing to do that at this point, but I have drastically cut back on it, limiting myself to a cup of frozen yogurt every night after the kids are in bed. Knowing that I have that to look forward to, I can pass on it during the day.

I learned a long time ago not to deprive myself of my favorite foods. That’s why so many diets fail and people put back on the weight they’ve lost and then some…because dieting that way is like holding your breath — you can only do for so long. You have to be able to eat your favorite foods and the exercise has to fit into your life. This works for me — I can see myself eating this way and walking while working for the rest of my life. Good thing the treadmill comes with a lifetime warranty. (It’s the Smooth Fitness 5.25)

BTW, the treadmill desk movement is spreading — Mike Young sat next to me on a plane trip to Orlando and now he has his own treadmill desk — read about it on his blog. And everywhere I go I tell people about it, especially now since people are starting to notice that there’s less of me!

So there you have it, straight from the Triplet Mompreneur’s mouth — my treadmill desk was the best investment I’ve made in myself in a long, long time. If you can’t find the time to exercise and have the spreading derriere and waistline to prove it, think about getting your own treadmill desk. You will love it!

My Treadmill Desk

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My treadmill desk is up and running!

Never heard of a treadmill desk? Neither had I until a few months ago, when I saw a story on 20/20 that featured Dr. James Levine, a Mayo Clinic obesity researcher in Rochester, Minnesota.

The whole time he was being interviewed he continued to walk on the treadmill, very slowly. He explained the concept of NEAT — non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or the energy spent on physical activities of daily living. Dr. Levine said that 90% of Americans don’t work out regularly and at least half of workers sit in front of a computer most of the day. So most people don’t get enough exercise, as evidenced by our thickening waistlines and ever expanding backends (Ha! There’s a backend you don’t want.)

When you spend most of your waking hours in front of a computer, there’s very little “NEAT” to speak of, unless you make a concerted effort to exercise. That can be tough when you’re a mother and have enough things to do as it is. I always wished I could exercise while I work, and when I saw Dr. Levine being interviewed while walking on a treadmill, I knew immediately that this was the answer.

I went online and found several people that had setup their own treadmill desks. After much thought and debate over whether to get a cheap treadmill, I decided to go for the treadmill that Joe Stirt and Thomas Niccum both use, from Smooth Fitness. It has a lifetime warranty and since I’m going to be on this thing every day, I want something that will last, or have a bulletproof warranty in case it doesn’t. Another guy who built a treadmill desk had used the Smooth 5.15, so I figured that Smooth was the way to go.

I bought the Smooth Fitness 5.25 for $995 and that included delivery. The 5.15 had been discontinued and replaced with the 5.25, although I did find it on ebay for $699, including delivery. I wanted to think about it but when I went back it was gone. So I got the 5.25 and now that I have it, I’m glad I got this model instead. The treadmill platform is about 8 inches longer than on the 5.15 and when I’m walking my feet end up about 5 inches from end of the belt. So if I’d gotten the 5.15 it may have been too short.

Next, I had to decide on a laptop. This took longer because I couldn’t decide whether to get a cheapie or a desktop replacement. Finally I decided to go for something that I could use for a few hours a day and not think of it as a desktop replacement since I’ll alternate between my regular desk and the treadmill desk. I ended up getting an HP Pavilion DV8309 from Fry’s, with a really cool docking station.

Even before buying the laptop I had found the perfect way to mount it to the treadmill — the leaf insert from our dining table fit perfectly over the treadmill rails. There’s a handle that protrudes slightly and the leaf fits snugly under it so there’s no wobble, and even if a kid leans on it, it stays put. It worked out perfectly, couldn’t have planned it better. It’s as though it was built for being part of the treadmill desk.

At first we setup the treadmill on the other side of my desk, on the right side of my office, but from a usability standpoint it really needed to be a few steps from my desk so I could go back and forth easily. So we re-arranged things and placed it a few feet from my chair so that it became an integral part of my office.

Ok, so last Saturday I woke up determined to buy a laptop. No more thinking about it, reading reviews, pondering prices. I was going to Fry’s to buy a laptop. The DV8309 was sturdy enough for part-time work and was on sale for $799 (after a $50 rebate). With docking station and sales tax it ended up being around $1,250.

I wasn’t sure I needed the docking station (it was $250!), but turned out to be a wise purchase because it allowed me to move the screen up about 8 inches higher than it would have if it was just sitting on the table. Which would have been about 8 inches too low. It also included speakers, a wireless keyboard, and wireless mouse. Really cool.

Anyway, got it all setup and it worked perfectly. Every day I walk while checking my email, listening to audios, watching DVDs, listening to conference calls, talking on the phone…all the stuff I do at my regular desk. The time just flies and before I know it, I’ve done 2 or 3 miles. It’s so much better than schlepping over the gym. When I get tired of sitting on my butt, I get up, take 2 steps, and I’m walking while working.

Today I’ve done over 12,000 steps, more than 5 miles and it’s not even 6 p.m. And I feel great! Will post updates in the future…

Here’s an article about Dr. Levine