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Sami (Papacek) Mansfield: All I want for the holidays is more time to move

Sami (Papacek) Mansfield/LinkedIn

Dec 24, 2024, 07:37

Sami (Papacek) Mansfield: All I want for the holidays is more time to move

Sami (Papacek) Mansfield, Founder of Cancer Wellness for Life and also a Chair of Cancer Member Interest Group at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“All I want for the holidays is more time to move.

Imagine this: What if every adult in the U.S. added just 3 minutes of movement snacks to their day?

By 2025, that would add up to a staggering 4 billion hours of extra movement—transforming lives and improving health across the nation.

Here’s why it matters: Sitting is the smoking of this century.

Even if you exercise, spending most of your day sitting can increase your risks for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even an earlier death.

A groundbreaking study with over 1.3 million participants found:

Risk thresholds matter:

Sitting more than 6–8 hours a day raises your risk of heart disease and early death.

Watching TV for over 3–4 hours a day?

The risks skyrocket—especially for type 2 diabetes.

Why TV is worse:

It’s often paired with snacking and inactivity, which worsen blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

TV time alone is linked to a 29% higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

Mortality burden: Prolonged sitting contributes to 8% of all deaths and significant risks for heart disease and cancer.

What’s the solution?

Movement snacks.

These short bursts of activity—just 2-3 minutes every half hour—can make a real difference.

Take stretch breaks.
Stand during calls.

Walk between tasks.

Small changes add up.

Let’s rethink how we move through our day—because every minute matters.

The takeaway:

Sitting less and moving more isn’t just a personal win—it’s a movement that could improve the health of everyone you live, play and work with!! Your future self will thank you.

P.S. What’s your favorite way to sneak in a movement snack?

Share below.

Shout out to Life Span Fitness for this image – study for the data here.”

Sami (Papacek) Mansfield

Sami (Papacek) Mansfield is the founder of Cancer Wellness for Life. She’s been a certified cancer exercise specialist since 2003 and has dedicated her career to implementing evidence-based lifestyle education, resources and tools into cancer care for both the patients and the providers. She is also a Chair of Cancer Member Interest Group, at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and Breast Cancer Taskforce Co-Chair at Colorado Cancer Coalition.

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