Has there been any discussion regarding NEAT?

tmoneyag99

I recently read this article on "Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenisis" and it suggests that our daily movements or NEAT have more impact on weight loss than does regularly scheduled exercise activity.

Thoughts? Comments

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12468415

Wheelhouse15

The problem is that NEAT vs EAT is a very nebulous topic. The terms are hardly solidified and basically depend on your daily activities for work etc vs deliberate exercise outside of those. An extreme example would be a professional athlete, say an NHL hockey players. He would have a huge NEAT for practise on ice, working out off ice, running, cycling, lifting weights etc should all be considered NEAT to him because he is doing it for his profession. Where as an office worker would have those in the EAT category.

A more mundane example would be a construction worker who does a lot of heavy labour and that also counts as EAT, but if they go to the gym it's now NEAT. Of course, they are going to spend a lot more calories on NEAT while the officer worker who is a marathoner would get a ton more exercise labelled as EAT.

To me these both belong together in an activity based category since it often comes down to splitting hairs.

RoxieDawn

For me, NEAT is anything that is outside the scope of purposeful exercise. Movements you make each day that is not recorded as EAT makes a huge difference imho. I exercise 6 days a week, and winter time causes me to move around a little less than other seasonal months and my NEAT is lower therefore my overall TDEE has changed as a result.

An improvement in NEAT could be parking further from entrances, taking the stairs, walk around brushing your teeth instead of standing in one place, standing at your desk instead of sitting, etc.. you get the idea..

EAT can impact your NEAT if you were to exhaust yourself too much decreasing NEAT which can negate calories burned during exercise. This is why a good balance in the type of exercise is important so that you don't move less during the rest of the day (particularly for early in the day exercisers).

I think adding in professional athletes is not really all that important to average person trying to lose weight, maintain weight and wanting to improve overall health and better fitness levels.

You might be interested in this thread.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

Wheelhouse15

RoxieDawn wrote: »

For me, NEAT is anything that is outside the scope of purposeful exercise. Movements you make each day that is not recorded as EAT makes a huge difference imho. I exercise 6 days a week, and winter time causes me to move around a little less than other seasonal months and my NEAT is lower therefore my overall TDEE has changed as a result.

An improvement in NEAT could be parking further from entrances, taking the stairs, walk around brushing your teeth instead of standing in one place, standing at your desk instead of sitting, etc.. you get the idea..

EAT can impact your NEAT if you were to exhaust yourself too much decreasing NEAT which can negate calories burned during exercise. This is why a good balance in the type of exercise is important so that you don't move less during the rest of the day (particularly for early in the day exercisers).

I think adding in professional athletes is not really all that important to average person trying to lose weight, maintain weight and wanting to improve overall health and better fitness levels.

You might be interested in this thread.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

I added that with the caveat that it's an extreme example of why the trying to distinguish between NEAT and EAT is rather subjective. A person with a heavy labour job vice light office work would be a more common example, but there are a lot of people that get a lot of exercise just doing their jobs e.g. a personal trainer that would not be counted as EAT for them but would be for others. I've had jobs where I was running a lot but that wold be considered NEAT but to me it's exercise and that's EAT.

In the end, to me it's more important to talk about activity in general and not worry about NEAT and EAT categorizations.

not_a_runner

For myself, NEAT accounts for around 2000 calories per day.
Compare that to say, a 30 minute run that burns 300 calories. The run is not a huge calorie burn in comparison. Unless someone is exercising for hours every day, I agree, NEAT has a greater impact.

That's not to say exercise is not important for health and cannot aid you in creating a calorie deficit though. That's still 300 more calories you can eat, or use to create a calorie deficit.

Azdak

My biggest problem with NEAT is that IMO most researchers and “health experts” grossly underestimate how difficult it is to sustain long-term changes in NEAT.

There is no question that increased general activity can have a significant impact on body weight loss and maintenance. On the days when I am not at work, it takes a concentrated effort to keep my TDEE levels up, even with the extended workout sessions I usually do on those days. NEAT can sometimes be 40%-50% of my BMR.

But, like our eating habits, we tend to fall into patterns of movement that don’t really vary that much over time. Just like people tend to revert to their old eating habits over time, they do the same with movement.

So while NEAT provides a great opportunity for weight loss/control efforts, I put it in the “easier said than done” category.

Wheelhouse15

Azdak wrote: »

My biggest problem with NEAT is that IMO most researchers and “health experts” grossly underestimate how difficult it is to sustain long-term changes in NEAT.

There is no question that increased general activity can have a significant impact on body weight loss and maintenance. On the days when I am not at work, it takes a concentrated effort to keep my TDEE levels up, even with the extended workout sessions I usually do on those days. NEAT can sometimes be 40%-50% of my BMR.

But, like our eating habits, we tend to fall into patterns of movement that don’t really vary that much over time. Just like people tend to revert to their old eating habits over time, they do the same with movement.

So while NEAT provides a great opportunity for weight loss/control efforts, I put it in the “easier said than done” category.

Very true, if it was so easy we wouldn't need to revisit weight loss so often.

jjpptt2

I agree with Wheelhouse's and Azdak's posts, and will simply add that, for me, both NEAT and EAT take conscious effort to do/increase, but EAT has a much greater return on investment. So, for me, working to increase EAT has a far greater bang for my buck than does NEAT.

not_a_runner

Ohh, I was thinking BMR+NEAT. Just ignore my previous comment, I am not properly caffeinated....

Azdak has a good point. It's much easier to keep your NEAT up when you're motivated to do so and actively trying to lose weight.

I've seen many people jump on the Fitbit step challenges, and most of them don't last long.