I laughed when you talked about engaging with your toddler but not being active while doing it. Just this morning I saw a piece on TV where a reporter did everything his 14-month-old grandson did for a morning. When the grandson ran, the reporter ran. When he climbed on the bed, then down again, then up again, the reporter did the same. When he chased a ball, ran circles, stood on a chair, dumped his food and picked it up again, the reporter did the same. It was nonstop activity, and by nonstop I mean the reporter had trouble keeping up! At the park, it continued -- up the slide, down the slide, on the swings, off the swings, run here, run there, pick up leaves, throw them down -- on, and on and on. If he fell in the grass and rolled, so did the reporter. It became so clear just how active we are naturally as little kids, and how much of a challenge that level of activity would be as adults. (The reporter was extremely happy when the toddler's naptime came around!)
One way to feel good about your NEAT attempts is to buy a pedometer and just attach it to your waistband or pocket every day. It really is a positive feeling to just see the steps add up, and it does make you want to do more the next day, even if it's beating your own total by 10 steps. I think one of the reasons that measurable exercise is sometimes easier to keep up with than the exercise we get in the normal course of the day is that the latter is wishy-washy -- there's no measurement and no progress, except that the kitchen is cleaner, LOL. Which is a worthwhile thing in my house for sure.
I know that in Weight Watchers, not only do you count points that represent the calories you eat, you also count "activity points," which is what you earn through exercising. And among the many things they list as activities -- walking, running, riding bikes, and so on -- are various types of housework. It's good to realize that a couple of hours of laundry and sweeping and cleaning is also a couple of hours of movement with which we burn calories.
So while I doubt I'm at the level where I'm going to clean the windows instead of watching television at night, you've definitely made me more aware of thinking where in my daily life I can squeeze in a little more movement. Now if we could just get to that runner's high by washing the dishes....
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Alison,
I laughed when you talked about engaging with your toddler but not being active while doing it. Just this morning I saw a piece on TV where a reporter did everything his 14-month-old grandson did for a morning. When the grandson ran, the reporter ran. When he climbed on the bed, then down again, then up again, the reporter did the same. When he chased a ball, ran circles, stood on a chair, dumped his food and picked it up again, the reporter did the same. It was nonstop activity, and by nonstop I mean the reporter had trouble keeping up! At the park, it continued -- up the slide, down the slide, on the swings, off the swings, run here, run there, pick up leaves, throw them down -- on, and on and on. If he fell in the grass and rolled, so did the reporter. It became so clear just how active we are naturally as little kids, and how much of a challenge that level of activity would be as adults. (The reporter was extremely happy when the toddler's naptime came around!)
One way to feel good about your NEAT attempts is to buy a pedometer and just attach it to your waistband or pocket every day. It really is a positive feeling to just see the steps add up, and it does make you want to do more the next day, even if it's beating your own total by 10 steps. I think one of the reasons that measurable exercise is sometimes easier to keep up with than the exercise we get in the normal course of the day is that the latter is wishy-washy -- there's no measurement and no progress, except that the kitchen is cleaner, LOL. Which is a worthwhile thing in my house for sure.
I know that in Weight Watchers, not only do you count points that represent the calories you eat, you also count "activity points," which is what you earn through exercising. And among the many things they list as activities -- walking, running, riding bikes, and so on -- are various types of housework. It's good to realize that a couple of hours of laundry and sweeping and cleaning is also a couple of hours of movement with which we burn calories.
So while I doubt I'm at the level where I'm going to clean the windows instead of watching television at night, you've definitely made me more aware of thinking where in my daily life I can squeeze in a little more movement. Now if we could just get to that runner's high by washing the dishes....
March 4, 2009 - 9:49amThis Comment
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