NEAT Improvement Strategies to Improve Weight Loss

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 28,171 Member
    @Bella_Figura: Some great ideas in there! So nice that you have shopping options a pleasant walk away. When I lived closer to one, I often went for groceries and brought them home in a backpack, even fairly heavy ones since I had a suitable pack.

    I really hear you on that stairs thing, BTW. I didn't even realize how I was "budgeting" trips up and down stairs until I lost weight, and it got easier. I do it much more often, now, whenever I want something up that's down, or vice-versa.
  • penguinmama87
    penguinmama87 Posts: 1,158 Member
    Bella_Figura wrote: »
    Having never had a garden before, I needed to buy a whole bunch of gardening tools when we moved to this house. So I bought a manual mower rather than an electric/petrol one, ditto shears, loppers and secateurs rather than an electic hedge trimmer and grass strimmer. I also water the garden using an 15 litre watering can (it's heavy!) rather than a hose. It takes me 10 full watering cans to water everything, so it's quite a lot of hefting. It also means I use water from the water butts, rather than tap water, which is environmentally better. So a win-win all round.

    This is a great idea! My kids are forever leaving half-drunk water cups and bottles everywhere, so I usually round them up in the evening (I used to make them do it because: responsibility! but now I usually do it because: extra steps!) and dump them into a watering can for our plants. Beats wasting it by dumping it down the drain AND paying those few extra cents on our sewage bill.

    I often find I prefer the manual tools to powered ones. I find them much more intuitive to use, anyway. Sometimes I need the strength of a powered tool, but rarely enough that I don't feel the need to own most of them. Or we own a few, and our neighbors own a few, and we can borrow each other's as needed rather than each having to buy and take care of something that gets used only a few times a year if that.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 10,134 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
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    Again.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 28,171 Member
    BrightEyedAgain wrote: »
    1.) Since my father died, I talk to my mom by phone every night for about an hour. I love my mom, but I'm really not a phone person, so I used to do chores while we chatted--unloading the dishwasher, folding laundry, etc. Now I walk a circuit in my house the whole time and save the chores for when I'm not on the phone. It makes me less distracted during the conversation while giving me extra steps daily. Then later I get the NEAT from the chores as well.

    2.) I've started filling my bird feeders only halfway so I have to go around and refill them more often. This also saves money on food since the squirrels don't get as much as they used to.

    3.) One of my hobbies is spinning wool for yarn that I later knit. There are lots of different tools you can use to spin. Before MFP I would spin mostly sitting down on the couch with either a supported spindle in my lap or an electric spinning wheel. It was relaxing, but about as low energy as possible. However, after losing weight and getting more fit, I found myself too restless to spin or knit anymore. That made me sad until I figured out how to incorporate more movement into the hobby. Now I use a drop spindle standing up and walking around my living room. Or, I use a manual treadle wheel that is powered with foot pedals. I still use my sedentary tools when I'm tired from the gym, but now I have more active ways to enjoy my favorite hobbies.

    Those are some really creative ones!

    As a fellow crafter (though different crafts) I particularly like the conversion to more manual tools. I wish I still had a good treadle sewing machine. I have a really old one, but it's not very competent; the one I learned to sew on wore out long ago. There's something satisfying about treadling a sewing machine, and I found it more finely controllable as to stitching speed as compared with any electric model I've used.

    About the only thing I've got along similar lines is doing banjo practice standing up rather than sitting down. I do some visual journaling & mixed media stuff standing at a high worktable sometimes, and of course things like cutting out fabrics for clothes is standing; but my other main current crafts are small-scale and close-up, harder to do standing (beadwork and other jewelry making is the main one - a few tasks are standing, but most require an ultra-steady hand and a magnifying light).

  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 1,944 Member
    sargemarcori wrote: »
    probably been said before, but this awesome thread needs a bump, so...

    My Fitbit tells me to get up every hour, if I haven't already gotten 250 steps.

    My Apple Watch also tells me to get up if I haven’t walked in an hour.
    I have mine set to the minimum, six times a day, because reasons.
    But I do appreciate the nudge it gives me, for sure.
    BrightEyedAgain wrote: »
    (snip) Now I use a drop spindle standing up and walking around my living room.

    I miss being able to walk around with my drop spindle. I didn’t even know how to knit or anything when I first taught myself to use one. I just wanted to look cool at SCA events, walking around in my 10 gore linen dress.
    And I definitely did look cool. 😇
  • cowsanddogsarecute
    cowsanddogsarecute Posts: 156 Member
    Most of the time I'm walking up and down the hallway when I'm on MFP or FitBit.

    I generally don't allow myself to sit when reading the forums on MFP or flipping tiles for bingo challenges on FitBit.

    When I'm watching Netflix or Disney+ during the day, I usually watch on my phone while walking up and day the hallway.

    I work only 3 days a week hence the rest of the time I do fun stuff lol.
  • BrightEyedAgain
    BrightEyedAgain Posts: 196 Member
    edited September 2021
    @kshama2001 That's hilarious!! I haven't seen that one. I do have supposedly "squirrelproof" feeders, but I've about decided there's no such thing. That's ok. I can deal with them eating some food as long as they can't empty the thing. It's the raccoons I despise! Those suckers will dump all the feeders in one night if they can!!

    @AnnPT77 I love the idea of standing up for banjo practice. My only instrument is the piano, and I definitely don't have the Jerry Lee Lewis skillset to do it standing. I make enough mistakes seated, LOL. As for the sewing, I've heard that treadle machines are getting popular again, so you might look around. That would be such a cool thing to own. I'm really glad I didn't sell my spinning wheels back when they were gathering dust. As an aside...I started doing lateral leg lifts today after reading your coffee grinder habit. I don't grind beans, but I can do them while my Keurig works!! I was thinking I should do a different set of exercises each time I get a cup of coffee. Shoot, I could end up with a whole daily circuit doing that!!
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,351 Member
    This needs to be seen! (so I can read back for NEAT action advice) So .... Bumpity Bump Bump again.
  • AlexandraFindsHerself1971
    AlexandraFindsHerself1971 Posts: 3,065 Member
    I've never spun any way but on a drop spindle. And yes, I too learned to have something to do that looked cool at SCA events.

  • HickGurl73
    HickGurl73 Posts: 31 Member
    Thanks All! ;)

    I never miss an opportunity to DANCE when my favorite songs come on radio!

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