NEAT Improvement Strategies to Improve Weight Loss
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I mean probably the most expensive way of doing by buy/adopt a dog. I do over 16k steps a day, everyday.
I mean he cost me a fortune in food and vets so is it really worth the 300kcal burn
Dogs are definitely great for NEAT, if a person treats their dog right.
If calorie burn is the only perceived benefit of a dog, though . . . hmm, might not be a dog person?
I don't have a dog now, because good reasons. But I miss those other (non-calorie) benefits.2 -
I had hip tendonitis recently and gained 6 lbs in 3 months. The tendonitis is thankfully on its way out now - but I worked out dog walking steps lost added up to a pound worth of calories each of those months…
(Don’t worry the dog still got his steps - just I went for a dog chat not a dog walk…).
I probably lost a lot of calorie burn in household activity too .. I only measure steps out the house (phone in back pocket). And maybe - just maybe - I ate too many ‘it hurts’ biscuits, cheese, crumpets, pudding etc. Oh ok, I definitely did.
The NEAT angle has a lot of value I think. On high fatigue days (I manage an illness) my activity slumps, and when I first got ill - which involved a lot of slumping - the weight crept up and up over 2 years or so. The increase of about a pound a month, equated to how many steps outside the house I had lost and how much extra time in bed I had spent when I did the maths.
Now I aim to manage the disability and still be fit and still aim for activity. My hip tendonitis weight gain episode reinforces the impact of getting this wrong!
So I am back to walking to the bottom of the hills in my park, got the bike back out (or walking shoes) for those longer local trips that can be too easy to do in the car, and am going to be in adding squats as the kettle boils/teeth get brushed to keep the glutes and hips happy… and reminding myself on high fatigue days it is best not to comfort eat!
I don’t see myself ever making household tasks take even longer - but I like the 250 steps every hour approach. I work from home, so today’s task is to set some NEAT enhancement habits that could work for me.
Thanks for all the ideas!
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So many great ideas here! Recently I have found a way to improve my NEAT by walking around my house while my tea is brewing. I cut waaay back on the amount of diet soda I drink about 5 months ago, and started drinking tea instead. The last 2 months, instead of sitting down while my tea brews, I started walking around the interior perimeter of my house during the 5 minute it takes my tea to brew. I often get in an extra 600 or so steps during that 5 minutes. I have 4-6 cups of tea a day, so I have found this an easy way to increase my normal day to day activity.7
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Bump
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I YouTube “Walk with Leslie”, or walk in place while crocheting or knitting simple projects, or do walking movements while watching TV, walk while reading or riding stationary bike, walk or play with my dog, clean up the yard, get up every hour, and obey my Fitbit prompt to move.4
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binghamdeb wrote: »I YouTube “Walk with Leslie”, or walk in place while crocheting or knitting simple projects, or do walking movements while watching TV, walk while reading or riding stationary bike, walk or play with my dog, clean up the yard, get up every hour, and obey my Fitbit prompt to move.
Love the Leslie Sansone videos, she is so incredibly encouraging! And the Fitbit prompt is a great tool. I could never walk in place while crafting, that is very coordinated of you. 👏6 -
binghamdeb wrote: »I YouTube “Walk with Leslie”, or walk in place while crocheting or knitting simple projects, or do walking movements while watching TV, walk while reading or riding stationary bike, walk or play with my dog, clean up the yard, get up every hour, and obey my Fitbit prompt to move.
Another great YouTube walking channel is Prowalk Tours. It’s walking tours of a lot of different places. Rome, Pompeii, Paris, and a lot of other great places. It feels like you’re right there walking around, enjoying the sights and sounds. One of his lates ones is a beach party in Rio. Great fun.
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Thank you @MargaretYakoda for the tip - I have subscribed to their YouTube channel! Looking forward to touring both places I have visited in the past + places I have yet to see. I have a treadmill, but you could easily march in place also.3
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MargaretYakoda wrote: »binghamdeb wrote: »I YouTube “Walk with Leslie”, or walk in place while crocheting or knitting simple projects, or do walking movements while watching TV, walk while reading or riding stationary bike, walk or play with my dog, clean up the yard, get up every hour, and obey my Fitbit prompt to move.
Another great YouTube walking channel is Prowalk Tours. It’s walking tours of a lot of different places. Rome, Pompeii, Paris, and a lot of other great places. It feels like you’re right there walking around, enjoying the sights and sounds. One of his lates ones is a beach party in Rio. Great fun.
Thanks for the tip. I got to look this up. I had Peleton CD's at a time, with forest environment, etc. but they got misplaced. Would be nice for my under desk biking.2 -
Repeating myself from earlier: I'm not trying to get people to literally fidget more!
But I thought this study was interesting, maybe amusing:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38664878/
Quote of conclusions:Our study provides evidence that habitual leg shaking can boost overall energy expenditure by approximately 16.3%. This simple and feasible approach offers a convenient way to enhance physical activity levels.
Small sample size, though, maybe other issues.3 -
Our study provides evidence that habitual leg shaking can boost overall energy expenditure by approximately 16.3%. This simple and feasible approach offers a convenient way to enhance physical activity levels.
Speaking of habitual leg shaking, I do this up to the point I’m falling asleep. In fact, as I lay on my side, I can’t shake my whole leg so my foot taps and twitches instead. This is the first time I feel like it’s a win for me 😆.5 -
Part of why I'm leaner is because I can't sit still long. I bounce my leg, continually fidget and whenever music is on in the gym that I like, I'm dancing (though not all out).Repeating myself from earlier: I'm not trying to get people to literally fidget more!
But I thought this study was interesting, maybe amusing:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38664878/
Quote of conclusions:Our study provides evidence that habitual leg shaking can boost overall energy expenditure by approximately 16.3%. This simple and feasible approach offers a convenient way to enhance physical activity levels.
Small sample size, though, maybe other issues.
I refused to take a manager's job because it's mostly deskwork. I can't just stand to sit and just do charts and schedules all day.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 40 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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On the other hand, I can sit so still my Fitbit might record it as sleep lol!
In my family, fidgeters and jigglers were reprimanded and told to STOP...not that this was a problem for me, but my ex-husband, whom I met as a teenager, was always dadding his leg or bouncing his foot. He had ADHD and was (and still is) quite lean 😆.
My goodness - 16% difference in metabolism is really significant!
It's hard to cultivate a fidget habit at 60+ lol, however appealing that increase may be!3 -
BCLadybug888 wrote: »On the other hand, I can sit so still my Fitbit might record it as sleep lol!
In my family, fidgeters and jigglers were reprimanded and told to STOP...not that this was a problem for me, but my ex-husband, whom I met as a teenager, was always dadding his leg or bouncing his foot. He had ADHD and was (and still is) quite lean 😆.
My goodness - 16% difference in metabolism is really significant!
It's hard to cultivate a fidget habit at 60+ lol, however appealing that increase may be!
Admittedly, it's only 16% while jiggling, but yes: You've hit on why I bring stuff like this into this thread.
There are various "hacks" people suggest to increase calorie burn (call it metabolism or not), from things like eating hot peppers to drinking ice water. When I've looked up the details, even in cases where there's a nugget of truth in there, the calorie magnitude is truly tiny.
But many people - I think - underestimate the power of moving more in daily life. Like I said, not proposing everyone fidget. But any of us can consciously increase daily life movement, if we so choose: Stand instead of sit, walk instead of stand, move a bit extra when doing daily tasks, etc.
Those are still small contributions, but they can add up to more per day than the hot peppers, cold water kind of thing.
I'd be the last woman to tell people not to build muscle, but when people here say the reason to do that is higher calorie burn (metabolism) even at rest with more muscle . . . well, we're talking something like 6 extra calories per day per pound of new muscle, and it takes quite a few weeks (when not in a calorie deficit) and quite a bit of work to build that pound of muscle. We can burn six extra calories a day easy peasy with a little extra conscious movement.
I don't have a cite at my fingertips, but I've seen studies suggesting that on average, people with a history of overweight/obesity are more placid - for lack of a better term - in daily life movement patterns, compared with people who don't struggle so much with body weight. It's a factor, and it's a factor that we can change quickly if we want to.3 -
Just found this thread and it has been very helpful. thanks everyone
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It's been about a month since I reduced my sedentary job hours where I was working 4 -10 hour days by almost half...I work more at a 2nd job where I pace/walk for 4 hours straight and am cleaning more in general and walking outside more on those days. Already feel A LOT healthier!5
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Love this thread.
In my own case, I try to see the things I genuinely love (or have) to do, and try to see how to make them more active.
My energy (and attention) sucking (and I 'forget the rest of the world') fun activities that I absolutely love are video games, binge watching movies & series, and reading, amongst others. I've been scared to do any of them lately, but something I'm learning is that I have to make peace with who I am and work with it. My goal is to approach things through the path of least (internal) resistance.
I also have an elliptical/bike in front of my TV. I try to tell myself I'm powering the TV. It doesn't need to be absolutely constant (there is a seat) but whenever I remember I'm sitting on it I just do it for a while.
I have 6 timers that I aim to do per day (for now, may increase that). I can continue what I'm doing while at the very least standing, and at best taking a mental break and walking around for the duration of the timer. I'm still trying to work out if it's better for me to do more often but shorter duration (or not, but I aim to be more active for at least the duration of the timer), or fewer but longer breaks. I find that gadgets and electronics, and over stimulation, have made my attention span 'weaker' so I'm adding as a benefit that learning to take breaks from it can only enrich my life.
I also do random squats when I'm sitting at my desk. I'm really working on strengthening my knees (a weak spot).
I also try to be 'less efficient'. I do multiple trips when I can when I tidy up or similar.
I also didn't realize that the fact that I've always fidgeted and definitely shake my legs was such an asset! LOL
I know how my lifestyle was when I was pretty much twice my current size and I just know that I can't go back to the same habits unless I want to feel (knee pains, very heavy legs…) the way I did before.
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I'm taking a "Bulletproof Knees" class at my Y. I don't know why I stupidly didn't realize this before, but there are 2 relevant exercises I can do almost any time I'm doing some standing-still thing at home.
They are:
- Heel raises
- Toe raises
No, I'm not doing those all day every day 😆, but I'm mixing them in.
If you're not used to doing standing toe raises, try it first near a counter or something you can grab in case your first attempt challenges balance.
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Toe/heel raises are also miracle-workers for strengthening the muscles all around the lower leg and helping to lessen/prevent shin splints for runners. When doing the standing version becomes too easy, try walking for short distances.
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I just got a new office (last one torn down for an expansion.) I decided to get a treadmill for my office. So, when I have admin time (~2/week) I can now walk. I'm trying to commit to 10K a day.
During my precpting time, when I have to sit in one spot, I try to go to the water fountain/bathrooms, etc that are farther away. I've also tried to sneak out and do some walking the halls as well - sometimes they reign me back in though.
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