James Levine, a researcher with the Mayo Clinic, is conducting research involving the current obesity epidemic and found that sedentary people do not lose weight as much as physically active people. Well, this sounds like a no-brainer, but what he found is that the physically active people are not necessarily "exercising" more; the non-sedentary folks are involved in greater "informal" physically active throughout the day by doing laundry, grocery shopping, mowing the grass, making the bed. You know---the daily chores that we should be doing, and are putting off through procrastinating (ie, ...just one more email...after this TV show I will...). Now you have another great reason to clean your room, make your bed and take out the trash like your parents asked you to...it might just count as a workout!
He coined the acronym N.E.A.T. (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) to explain this phenomenon of being more "spontaneously physically active". According to Levine, "NEAT is highly variable and ranges from about 15 percent of total daily energy expenditure in very sedentary individuals to over 50 percent in highly active persons. Even minor changes in physical activity throughout the day can increase daily energy expenditure by 20 percent." What's more, the article explains that "lean individuals store at least 2-3 months of their energy needs in fat tissue; whereas obese persons carry a year's worth." And, as those of us who are trying to lose some extra weight, the energy expenditure (and, less food consumption, of course) is the magic part of the weight loss equation.
I thought this was fascinating, as I was expecting to lose more post-pregnancy weight with chasing after a toddler. Well, the obvious part I was missing is that he is constantly on the go, darting from room-to-room instead of walking, throwing a ball, playing with trains...while I am sitting in the playroom watching him. I'm emotionally engaged with him, but not physically....so that is about to change!
Natural Health magazine even wrote a 4-page article about this topic, Stand Up--Right Now!", that outlines various ways to engage in NEAT throughout the day at home and at work. For instance, if you are at a computer all day and sit in a chair, you can sit on an exercise ball instead (engages your core muscles), you can take more frequent walk breaks, or walk to a co-workers' office instead of calling/emailing. All of these add up to weight loss and overall better health.
Think about how you spend your leisure time each day. If you have a few hours in the evening, do you use all of those hours, every day, to watch TV or play a video game, or surf the net? What could you do in those few hours, or even just one hour a night, that could constitute NEAT? Cleaning windows, dusting, washing dishes, walking the dog, playing hoops with your kids. The Natural Health magazine offered some other suggestions, including, "...dancing while cooking, or walking while talking on phone." You could even try stretching during TV commercials.
How can you add more NEAT into your life, starting right now? How about this: after reading this article, stand up and take a stroll down the hallway, and come back to this page to tell us what you think!
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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