NEAT Improvement Strategies to Improve Weight Loss
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When it comes to devices, they can be a great inspiration/incentive, with step counts, move reminders, and the like . . . but do keep in mind that there are movements that they don't recognize, but that still burn a couple of calories. The devices count a lot of things. Your body counts every little thing.
In your opinion do you think the devise underestimates then?
I still don't eat all the adjustment back even though I've been in maintenance for a few months. I've lost a few more pounds too during this period. Starting to think now that I should probably eat all the adjustment back to stop losing. Just so frightened of gaining.3 -
Enthusiast84 wrote: »When it comes to devices, they can be a great inspiration/incentive, with step counts, move reminders, and the like . . . but do keep in mind that there are movements that they don't recognize, but that still burn a couple of calories. The devices count a lot of things. Your body counts every little thing.
In your opinion do you think the devise underestimates then?
I still don't eat all the adjustment back even though I've been in maintenance for a few months. I've lost a few more pounds too during this period. Starting to think now that I should probably eat all the adjustment back to stop losing. Just so frightened of gaining.
Those two statements are a contradiction. If you're eating less than your device tells you to eat through MFP, then it is likely not underestimating anything. I think method three in this thread would help you determine the accuracy of your device:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level/p12 -
Enthusiast84 wrote: »When it comes to devices, they can be a great inspiration/incentive, with step counts, move reminders, and the like . . . but do keep in mind that there are movements that they don't recognize, but that still burn a couple of calories. The devices count a lot of things. Your body counts every little thing.
In your opinion do you think the devise underestimates then?
I think the devices estimate calories, they don't measure them. Heck, I don't just think that, it's objectively true.
As a generality, they could over-estimate or under-estimate, or they could be spot on. For most people, I think a well-designed, well-programmed device will be pretty close, because most people are close to the averages on which the estimates are based: That's the very definition of "average".
The devices will over or underestimate for some people (people further from average, not necessarily for obvious reasons), and be quite far off for a very few. This is just how statistics work.
The devices measure certain things; different devices vary in what they measure. What is measured can include arm movements (wrist based device, using accelerometer); speed/pace/distance (using gps, or motion-based step estimates); heart rate (wrist or chest belt); and elevation change (through altimeter). (Some of those values are measured more accurately, or less accurately, under certain conditions, or by certain devices.)
Some of those measurements correlate somewhat with calorie burn, but even taken in context with perfectly accurate user settings (height, weight, VO2max, maximum heart rate, age, stride length, etc.), they don't perfectly predict calorie burn. They're estimating calorie burn.
I'll give you a couple of examples where these sometimes go wrong, under and over:
Once in a while on here, we see someone report that their fitness tracker thinks they're walking, when in actually they're doing something like playing the piano. The arm movements have been interpreted by the device as walking movements. It's likely that calories will be over-estimated, in that scenario.
We also occasionally see someone say that their fitness tracker thinks they're not walking when they're pushing a grocery cart through a store, because they're not making the arm movements that are typical of walking. It's likely that calories will be under-estimated, in that scenario.
When I made the statement you quoted: " . . . keep in mind that there are movements that they don't recognize, but that still burn a couple of calories. The devices count a lot of things. Your body counts every little thing", I meant to be suggesting that there are things a person can do that are small calorie burners, compared to sitting still, that their fitness tracker won't register.
Any movement burns calories, even if your tracker-wearing arm doesn't move, your body doesn't move through space, your heart rate doesn't go up much, you don't change altitude, etc. If I sat here in my chair all day long, slowly waving my left arm over my head (a dumb thing to do, but just an example), I'd probably burn a few dozen calories in 8 hours. The fitness tracker on my right wrist wouldn't notice.
There's been research suggesting that persistent fidgeting can burn as many as low-hundreds of calories per day. How much of that do you think your fitness tracker would catch?
You go on to write:I still don't eat all the adjustment back even though I've been in maintenance for a few months. I've lost a few more pounds too during this period. Starting to think now that I should probably eat all the adjustment back to stop losing. Just so frightened of gaining.
Take the number of pounds you've lost in that period, multiply that by 3500. Compare that to the total number of calories from your tracker that you didn't eat back, over the same time period. If the numbers are close, you can eat all of the adjustment. If there's a gap, divide by the number of days to get a rough estimate of how many calories lower or higher than the adjustment you'd have to eat to maintain.
Bonus fact: Some people find that when they go up to actual maintenance calories, they get an energy bump from doing it. After a couple of months, maybe sooner, they start losing slowly again, even at what was previously their actual maintenance calories. So: Go to maintenance calories, as best you can estimate them. If you want, add 50 daily calories once a week or so, and watch what happens, to find your stability point. You don't have to add all of the adjustment at once. Maybe you'll get a bonus TDEE increase; never know until you try.
(Note that you could see a small pseudo-gain on the scale from water balance, if you add an increment of calories, that is bigger than that calorie increase could cause as fat gain. Don't let that water weight adjustment make you think you're gaining fat.)
What's the worst that could happen? If you eat 100 calories more than your actual maintenance calories for a whole month, you will gain less than one pound. You know how to lose a pound.
Best wishes!11 -
This thread is great...reminding me that I have to move more...I admit that I tend to think nothing about sitting all day at a desk because I exercise 30 to 60 minutes at the gym.4
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Take the number of pounds you've lost in that period, multiply that by 3500. Compare that to the total number of calories from your tracker that you didn't eat back, over the same time period. If the numbers are close, you can eat all of the adjustment. If there's a gap, divide by the number of days to get a rough estimate of how many calories lower or higher than the adjustment you'd have to eat to maintain.
Thank you for taking the time to provide such a informative response. I really appreciate it.
I did what you suggested and I'm left with 5715 calories. What does this mean? I should eat all of them back or just some. Sorry if it's obvious! FYI it was 14000 minus 8285.
Really don't want to lose any more weight. Keep getting grief from my parents about needing to stop. That aside I'm also content with where I am. Also you are totally right if I gain a little bit it's not a big deal... I can lose again as I've done it before.0 -
Enthusiast84 wrote: »Take the number of pounds you've lost in that period, multiply that by 3500. Compare that to the total number of calories from your tracker that you didn't eat back, over the same time period. If the numbers are close, you can eat all of the adjustment. If there's a gap, divide by the number of days to get a rough estimate of how many calories lower or higher than the adjustment you'd have to eat to maintain.
Thank you for taking the time to provide such a informative response. I really appreciate it.
I did what you suggested and I'm left with 5715 calories. What does this mean? I should eat all of them back or just some. Sorry if it's obvious! FYI it was 14000 minus 8285.
Really don't want to lose any more weight. Keep getting grief from my parents about needing to stop. That aside I'm also content with where I am. Also you are totally right if I gain a little bit it's not a big deal... I can lose again as I've done it before.
You have to divide by the number of days in the time period to get a daily average gap, i.e., divide the 5175 by the number of days to know (roughly) how far off your tracker is vs. your typical average TDEE over the time period.
Without knowing how many days those numbers represent, it's hard for me to know whether 5715 is a big gap, or not. If we're talking about 90 days, then your tracker is within about 64 calories per day of your typical average TDEE (5175 divided by 90). If we're talking about 30 days, it would be 191 per day (5175 divided by 30). If it's longer than 90 days, the number would be smaller than 64 per day.
I'm not sure which number is which - Is 14000 the number of calories that represents the pounds you lost (pounds x 3500), or is it the number of calories your tracker gave you that you didn't eat? That's what would tell us if your tracker is high, or low, when compared to your typical TDEE.
I'm trying here, but it's kind of hard to do other people's math!
If this all seems too complicated for you to do, then I'd suggest considering adding 50-100 calories a day, weighing daily & putting it into a weight trending app (like Happy Scale or Libra among others), then waiting until you see a clear trend (up, level, down). If you're then still losing, add another few calories, and monitor again. Keep going until you stabilize (ideally), or see an up-trend (in which case back off part/all of the last increment).
For more info, there's a stickied post in "Goal: Maintaining Weight" that you can take a look at:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level
That would be a good place to ask questions, too, as there have been other contributors to that thread who're already in maintenance and might have suggestions. This current thread (about NEAT) isn't as directly realated to the subject.
Best wishes!1 -
Thank you so much. And it was actually a 90 day period... what were the odds of that so I guess 64 calories isn't far off. And yes 14000 did represent the pounds lost in calories.
I'm actually quire relieved knowing that the tracker is pretty close and now I also know why I have continued to lose weight and will continue to lose if I don't start eating back some of those calories! !!
Thanks again for all your help.5 -
Have kids. You’ll never sit down again15
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One of the most common things I do is how I put away laundry. I fold each one individually and walk and put it away, then the next one so on and so on. Takes longer, but the extra steps I take help.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Thought I was the only one who did that.1 -
psychod787 wrote: »One of the most common things I do is how I put away laundry. I fold each one individually and walk and put it away, then the next one so on and so on. Takes longer, but the extra steps I take help.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Thought I was the only one who did that.
I just did this the other night for the first time, trying to please my Apple Watch on a quiet day. I need 30 calories but I'm ready for bed... time to eke out this laundry putting away!2 -
psychod787 wrote: »One of the most common things I do is how I put away laundry. I fold each one individually and walk and put it away, then the next one so on and so on. Takes longer, but the extra steps I take help.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Thought I was the only one who did that.
Nope. I do it too.3 -
Thought I was the only one who did that.[/quote]
Nope. I do it too.[/quote]
I put away the dishes when I have the extra time by putting away one thing then walking around the kitchen island - repeat.4 -
They instituted a no vape indoors policy at the office...I'm a vaper so now I have to go outside to the smoking area which is at the very back of the parking lot corner if I want to vape...definitely getting more steps in, and vaping less because I can't just sit at my desk and do it.5
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bump
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I do dishes, laundry & putting away groceries that way as well!2
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bump. This is such an inspiring thread ... and we are in a new month now ...4
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Bumping for April
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Once a month bump3
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If I'm upstairs and need the loo, I'll go to the downstairs one, and vice verse. 3 lots of stairs each way has got to add something, right? 😁8
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Not quite a bump; just a gentle nudge. Rinse. Repeat.3
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I have now improved my NEAT by an average of 350 calories per day.
Bigger Things I have done so far:
1) Lose weight. I feel better so I move more. I know the goal is to eat less, move more to lose weight but since my BMR calories keep going down I appreciate that my NEAT is going up as a result to buffer.
2) Got a step tracker. Giving me a steps challenge makes me think about walking around more even when I don't have a good reason.
3) Got a puppy. My last dog died some time ago and I have missed having one but I admit that moving more was an added incentive and I made sure I got one large enough to handle walking. My activity spiked suddenly and I was actually losing weight too fast for a few weeks. It should go without saying though that NO ONE should consider getting an animal purely for weight loss purposes. A puppy especially can be and almost always are a MAJOR hassle at times.
4) Outdoor hobby for summer - gardening.
Changes in mindset:
1) Be less efficient - I am working on stopping my natural instinct to maximize my loads when carrying things. Multiple trips are better.
2) Do not let my wife bring me things - No more "while you are up can you..."
3) Cut back on home automation use - it is surprising the number of things I can control from my chair but now I get up
4) Park further away (weather permitting) - an oldie but a goodie
5) Do not get mail from vehicle (weather permitting) - now I walk back down the driveway to retrieve it
My next strategy is to read this entire thread and look for more ideas.18 -
I have now improved my NEAT by an average of 350 calories per day.
Bigger Things I have done so far:
1) Lose weight. I feel better so I move more. I know the goal is to eat less, move more to lose weight but since my BMR calories keep going down I appreciate that my NEAT is going up as a result to buffer.
2) Got a step tracker. Giving me a steps challenge makes me think about walking around more even when I don't have a good reason.
3) Got a puppy. My last dog died some time ago and I have missed having one but I admit that moving more was an added incentive and I made sure I got one large enough to handle walking. My activity spiked suddenly and I was actually losing weight too fast for a few weeks. It should go without saying though that NO ONE should consider getting an animal purely for weight loss purposes. A puppy especially can be and almost always are a MAJOR hassle at times.
4) Outdoor hobby for summer - gardening.
Changes in mindset:
1) Be less efficient - I am working on stopping my natural instinct to maximize my loads when carrying things. Multiple trips are better.
2) Do not let my wife bring me things - No more "while you are up can you..."
3) Cut back on home automation use - it is surprising the number of things I can control from my chair but now I get up
4) Park further away (weather permitting) - an oldie but a goodie
5) Do not get mail from vehicle (weather permitting) - now I walk back down the driveway to retrieve it
My next strategy is to read this entire thread and look for more ideas.
Bolded #1: I love that one so much! I never noticed, when I was fat, how much I was rationing trips up and down the stairs (in my 2-story house with living areas on 2nd floor) . . . until I lost weight and stopped doing it (without really planning it). Now I'm up and down all day. I think it's underappreciated, when one has gotten overweight (especially if one has done so gradually, or has always been overweight), how much easier it is to move when smaller. Some of that "move more" just happens automatically, when smaller! (But it's easy to add onto that, too, as you observe.)
Bolded #2: Love that, too! Next, you could start offering to bring her things . . . nah, that would be selfish NEAT-hoarding, wouldn't it? 10 -
I have now improved my NEAT by an average of 350 calories per day.
Bigger Things I have done so far:
1) Lose weight. I feel better so I move more. I know the goal is to eat less, move more to lose weight but since my BMR calories keep going down I appreciate that my NEAT is going up as a result to buffer.
2) Got a step tracker. Giving me a steps challenge makes me think about walking around more even when I don't have a good reason.
3) Got a puppy. My last dog died some time ago and I have missed having one but I admit that moving more was an added incentive and I made sure I got one large enough to handle walking. My activity spiked suddenly and I was actually losing weight too fast for a few weeks. It should go without saying though that NO ONE should consider getting an animal purely for weight loss purposes. A puppy especially can be and almost always are a MAJOR hassle at times.
4) Outdoor hobby for summer - gardening.
Changes in mindset:
1) Be less efficient - I am working on stopping my natural instinct to maximize my loads when carrying things. Multiple trips are better.
2) Do not let my wife bring me things - No more "while you are up can you..."
3) Cut back on home automation use - it is surprising the number of things I can control from my chair but now I get up
4) Park further away (weather permitting) - an oldie but a goodie
5) Do not get mail from vehicle (weather permitting) - now I walk back down the driveway to retrieve it
My next strategy is to read this entire thread and look for more ideas.
Bolded #1: I love that one so much! I never noticed, when I was fat, how much I was rationing trips up and down the stairs (in my 2-story house with living areas on 2nd floor) . . . until I lost weight and stopped doing it (without really planning it). Now I'm up and down all day. I think it's underappreciated, when one has gotten overweight (especially if one has done so gradually, or has always been overweight), how much easier it is to move when smaller. Some of that "move more" just happens automatically, when smaller! (But it's easy to add onto that, too, as you observe.)
Bolded #2: Love that, too! Next, you could start offering to bring her things . . . nah, that would be selfish NEAT-hoarding, wouldn't it?
My first 150ish improvement happened without me even realizing it was occurring. I started seeing in my spreadsheet and then one day I decided to adjust my thermostat with my phone and while I was doing it I realized it had been at least 2 months since I used that app. I had been getting up and going to the thermostat. Obviously that didn't account for the full 150 but it is what made me realize that I was moving a lot more than I had been.
I do go out of my way to bring her things. Hadn't really thought of it as NEAT hoarding. I may not be a good husband.7 -
Thank you OP for this thread. I was aware of this issue of movement before but it was kind of on a back burner. For the past 3 days since I read this, I've been looking for ways to increase my NEAT.
I've added pool cleaning to my chore list and doing my regular house cleaning chores more often so that the house will be cleaner as an added bonus to more calories burned.
Also I've added calcium enriched 2% lactaid milk to my diet after I read this: https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/features/calcium-weight-loss# I drink 1 cup of this milk a day and have for about a week. Just 1 cup gives me about 5 times the calcium that MFP recommends to be my minimum. Since June 21, I've lost 2.6 lbs. I'm very encouraged as the loss seemed to come easier than usual.
I will book mark this thread and try and check in here occasionally to let you know my progress.
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Bump. 1
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Bump. This is a very cool thread!
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Here are things that result in my higher NEAT.
1. One of my weird quirks is that I pace while I think and flap my hands around. It looks strange and I've trained myself to only do it at home (in public I rub my hands together instead, which makes people think that I'm cold, but it's just my 'thinking thing'). I used to be self-conscious about it but hey, it probably ads to my NEAT so whatever.
2. We had an exercise bike I could never be bothered using except occasionally when I watched TV (but it was annoying to drag it out of the spare room and then put it back, so I was often too lazy). I got a drop down shelf desk from Amazon, installed it on the wall, and slid the bike under. Now I have a bike desk. I go through periods where I use it more than others. On a rest day like today I'll use it so my legs muscles get some gentle movement. (Hello from my bike desk)
3. I live in Edinburgh, don't have a car, and walk a lot of places. I usually walk home from work when the weather is nice, which is over 3 miles, but it takes me through the centre and I get to stare up at the castle and it's pretty great. A good way to sort of come down from a day of work and prepare to relax at home. I'll be sad when it gets cold/dark again and I'll have to take the bus. In Scotland it gets dark at like 10 pm in summer so it's easier to do various outdoor activities longer.
4. I live on the 2nd floor and have to climb 60odd steps to get to my house.
5. Inefficient with cleaning etc as discussed.
6. A gym opened up a 5 min walk from me, so it's much easier to go 'oh I wonder if any classes start in 20 minutes...' and just go spontaneously if I feel like it.
7. Stretching while watching TV.17 -
Here's a bump, for the shorties in the back
I'm off to take the long way to the ladies room on the second floor!8 -
Bump! Very useful!3
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