Many of us lead a sedentary lifestyle, not by choice but by default. We are part of the rat race, treading the mill of long hours on the job plus the slow crawl of vehicular traffic along the roads.

To avoid the jams, we leave home at the crack of dawn only to find that countless others have the same thought. At the office we sit slouched in our chairs staring at the computer screen, attending meetings that seem to go on and on, grab a fast food lunch and back to the grind.

At the end of the day, we stay back at the office longer to avoid the reverse jam. If it happens to rain, then the journey home is lengthened by another two hours. Held captive in our cars there is nothing we can do but sit it out and crawl along with the rest. Once home, we sink gratefully into our creature comforts.

So what's new? Day after day it is the same and more of the same. This sedentary lifestyle is leading us to a future beset with serious health problems. We can look forward to obesity, cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and high blood pressure.

So pressed are we for time that engaging in healthy physical activities and healthy eating habits is a distant dream. Now what about the weekends, you may venture to ask. Well, what about it?

Weekends are for doing house chores that have been put on hold during the week days, food shopping and if you have children, precious family time to spend with them. Or it could simply be for sleeping in and watching television, two more sedentary habits that are bad for us when we need to be active.

Is there a way out of this lifestyle trap?

Yes, we need to list the main problems that will soon take a toll on our health. First is the lack of exercise because there is no time to do so. Second is the fast food lunch that we swallow, mainly because it is convenient and quick. Both these have made us overweight, if not obese. Third will be the juggling of house chores and family time.

The lack of exercise can be easily addressed. If our office is on the fifth floor, we can walk up instead of taking the elevator. That way, we work our muscles and our heart. This will keep us healthy if we do it on a daily basis. It will also strengthen our bones and increase bone density so that we will not develop osteoporosis. We begin to lose bone density once we are in our thirties. Losing bone density make our bones brittle and any fall will result in fractures. Walking and climbing stairs will strengthen our bones and tone our muscles too. We will also lose weight and become healthier.

Eating fast food which is calorie laden and consuming carbonated drinks have resulted in overweight. Being overweight is unhealthy and we need to lose the excess weight if we do not want to develop diseases like cardio-vascular disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. We can avoid unhealthy fast food and lose weight if we pack our own lunch from home. This would be a healthier alternative to burgers and fries. A whole meal sandwich with egg, tomato and salad plus a fruit for dessert is healthy and won't clog our arteries or make us overweight and obese. We can vary the sandwiches with different fillings such as tuna, sardines or salmon. Salads can be very filling if you include lots of dark leafy greens. Home cooked noodles are healthier as we can decide on healthy ingredients and use less oil when frying them or cooking in another style. Drinking lots of water is very healthy too and it can also ease hunger pangs.

Juggling with house chores is not that difficult if we manage time skillfully. A division of labour with our spouse handling some chores while we do others and if our children are able to help, rope them in and make it a fun activity so that they will enjoy doing it. As for food shopping, we can make it an outing with the family. Have the children suggest what they would like to see in their menu. This is a great opportunity to teach them about healthy food, label reading etc.

The time that is left can be spent on family activities like sports. We can go swimming, bicycling or even dancing to the beat of music. These are healthy activities that will bond the family.