HAVE A SEAT!

Among the many reasons I love my dog, Echo, is that she helps expose my hypocrisies. When not chasing squirrels, barking at the mailman, or going for walks, Echo is a lazy creature who spends untold hours reposing. She sometimes sleeps on the hard floor, but she prefers to relax on carpets, couches, upholstered chairs, and any other warm, soft place she can find. When I tease her about her slothful ways, she gazes back wordlessly, and I know what she is thinking: “How are you any different from me?”

Yes, I too travel about the house sitting in various comfy, pleasant spots, and much as I try to stand more often, I am no less of a compulsive sitter than Echo.

And for good reason: Sitting is less tiring and more stable than standing. Studies that compare the energy spent standing with that spent sitting report that standing costs about 8 to 10 percent more calories than sitting quietly in a simple desk chair. For a 175-pound adult, this difference is a modest eight calories per hour — the number of calories in an apple slice. Over time, these calories could add up: a typical white-collar worker who stands rather than sits on the job potentially burns an extra 16,000 calories a year. In case it makes you feel better, bipedal humans apparently stand more efficiently than bipedal birds or large four-legged animals like cows and moose (yes, someone measured how much energy moose spend standing). Humans also stand more efficiently than apes because we can straighten our hips and knees, and our