Sitting Syndrome...Writer's Ass

Writing and personal health.

I was big, like 120 pounds "too big," when I started writing novels seriously. Hour after hour passed at the computer while I munched through literary landscapes fueled by chips, chocolate, raisins, cookies and pretzels...all washed down with Pepsi. Stories poured out. Life seemed good, well except for my growing writer's ass.

One day, I could not walk. Severe pain shot through my right foot. My doctor convinced me to get a blood test, something I had managed to avoid for at least five years, in trying to figure out why I could not walk. It was strange. There was minimal swelling but the searing pain was so bad I could not even move it, much less put pressure on it. Tests showed one problem. Diabetes.

Doc put me on what I call sugar-dope to lower levels, and the foot pain slowly passed. Sugar levels bounced between normal and mildly elevated. During this time, I wrote four new novels. Productivity was high, so I didn't much care about the weight or diabetes, as long as that stupid pill could control it.

Severe pain returned, only it was in my other foot. "What the hell?" I thought as the pain was so bad I could not even sit at the computer. My solution? I bought an HP laptop so I could write with my foot elevated. During the next six months, the severe pain came back in my right foot again and then in my knee! Writing productivity plummeted.

The days of ignorant bliss ended. Pain was from diabetic neuropathy. There were only two ways to fix it. 1) Start taking insulin shots, or 2) get rid of the diabetes. I DON'T do needles!

Today, I weigh 268, 50 pounds less, and I'm getting regular exercise. My goal is 205. I stopped taking my sugar-dope twenty pounds ago. While sugar levels still jump if I skip a day of walking, or if I eat too much, I can completely control the diabetes without drugs.

Why am I writing about this? Simple. Writing is work. Sure, you won't build an aerobic heart rate sitting at your desk, but it requires stamina and mental acuity to write in long durations. Since losing the weight and ending drug therapy, my literary productivity has nearly doubled. It's easy to knock out 2K words in an evening and 10-12K on a weekend. My clothes fit really loose, and the neuropathy has vanished. Even my broad writer's ass is getting tighter.

Look out world. I will have three more books on the market in the next six months!