Don't forget total activity!

Azdak

I was going to title this "don't let diet and exercise sabotage your weight loss program". I have come across a number of recent studies lately that have suggested that some people decrease their casual activity in response to a calorie restricted diet and that many people significantly reduce their casual activity after starting an exercise program.

One group of women studied decreased calories burned in overall non-exercise daily activity by almost the exact same amount of calories they burned during their workouts. Another showed a pronounced decrease in casual activity in a group that participated in high-intensity type training.

These are mainly coincidental occurrences--that is, they do not represent a fixed physical response. It's important to remember to keep your activity levels high, or at least unchanged, when you start an exercise program. I think sometimes we subconsciously "reward" ourselves after a long or hard workout with extra rest--heck, I just ran 5 miles, I can take the elevator this time..........

A corollary to this also involves increases in casual or occupational activity that can affect one's workout routine. One of the reasons why I react somewhat negatively to posts by people who want to "count" their work activity as exercise is that, especially if one is starting a new job, an increase in work activity is very often accompanied by a notable decrease in exercise energy expenditure--decreases in exercise frequency, duration, intensity or all three.

I certainly experienced that when I started my new job last February. On paper, I should have seen a nice little drop on the scale. I went from being out of work and spending much of the day at the computer looking for jobs and doing a little housework, to a full-time job as an fitness specialist. I walk around all day, go up and down 20-30 flights of stairs per day, lift 500-1000lbs of weight plates left lying around, and demonstrate exercises.

Haven't lost an ounce, even though I haven't changed my food intake. Why? While I have maintained a pretty solid workout program, it's not what it was before. With a 1 hour (one-way) commute and 40-50 hours of work now on my schedule, there's almost no way it could be.

So, it's something to keep in mind--keep on movin', even after your workouts.

ladyangel74

Thanks for the info. I could use all the help I can get right now. I have been dieting and walking/exercising since sept.1 and have lost 30 lbs so far. I say so far because the goal is 50 lbs...not 30 and now I am in a bit of a slump. I will try to make the extra effort to do more physical activity even when not working out. Thanks again.

rescuepete

Daily activity is huge in my day since I have a desk job more-or-less. I try to get done a nice workout in the morning, and amazingly it gives me the extra pep in my step to maintain higher levels of energy throughout the day. So, I make every effort to park farther away than I need to from work, I purposely print jobs to the other side of the office forcing myself to walk the extra steps, and I just get up and walk around the office much more than I used to do. One suggestion I've heard, and I'm not very good at sticking to this one, is to simply fidget as much as possible during the day. It's been a hard transition from the sedentary slob I was just about a year ago back into a constantly moving, active person. It doesn't help though that my absolute passion is watching movies, as it's kind of hard to not sit still during those.

wanderinglight

This is a great reminder, thank you for posting!

HealthyChanges2010

good reminder! Thanks Azdak:drinker:

anu_6986

Thanks for reminding this! I am kinda stuck at my current weight! And I realize that probably this is the reason why....
Thanks :flowerforyou:

BoresEasily

Thank you so much for that Azdak. Great post.

HollyMac20

I 100% agree and found this out first hand over the past week when I started wearing a BodyBugg. Monday I went to my desk job, took at Turbo Kick class, then came home to sit at the table playing board games. My burn was 2600-2700 or so. Yesterday I went to work again as usual, then grocery shopping, cooking, shoveling, more cooking and decorated the christmas tree. I didn't sit until 10pm. I burned over 2700 calories. I was fretting about not getting a workout in, until I looked at my display and saw the burn from just moving around the house.

All those steps add up! Clearly not everyone has the budget for a BodyBugg, but I would suggest a pedometer. Set a goal of 10,000 steps!

binary_jester

Great point. Now I feel guilty for taking the elevator because my legs are too sore to walk up stairs.