I know a nice, big comfy chair parked at your desk is as much of an office status symbol as a Mercedes parked in your very own spot.
But maybe it's time to do away with chairs completely -- before they kill us.
A new study finds that we're spending more time in office chairs than ever before, with 80 percent of us now working at jobs that involve little to no actual movement throughout the day.
Just 50 years ago, by comparison, half of all Americans worked at jobs that involved at least moderate movement -- including jobs in mining, farming, construction, and manufacturing.
What's that got to do with your office chair killing you? Everything. Because the researchers say all that extra sitting means men now burn 142 fewer calories each day, on average, than they did back in 1960.
For women, that tragic number is 124.
That adds up fast. The researchers even speculate in PLoS One that just 100 extra calories a day would be enough to cause the weight gain we've seen over the past half century.
Now, it would be easy to respond to this study by running to the treadmill and burning 100 calories a day... and that seems to be what the authors are getting at when they suggest that office workers strive to meet the government-recommended goal of 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week.
But that's not the answer either.
Studies have shown time and again that exercise alone won't make you thin... and it won't even cut your risk of an early death.
You can do that by eating better and getting more moderate activity spaced throughout your day –- and it's easy enough to do without joining a gym or buying expensive exercise equipment.
Park further. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk across the room instead of picking up the phone and dialing a co-worker's extension.
And try to get out of the office for a walk each day -– just make sure that walk doesn't end at someplace that serves milkshakes.