NEAT Improvement Strategies to Improve Weight Loss

Not really anything to add. I think it has all been covered.
(And then I keep on typing and typing )

I do tend to squat, lunge, plank, and push-up, more than pace between tasks, do arm exercises while reading, and have little exercise routine while driving.


I have never really done the Fitbit type thing, and probably get under stepped compared to many, but my whole body gets moved a lot more than it used to during the day.

It will be 10 years at Christmas that I decided to lose weight and one of the first things I realized was that I had put on my extra 30lbs because I had succumbed to the getting older moving less general expectation. Not that I was eating more food.

Increasing my NEAT in subtle, and not so subtle ways* has been the biggest component, I think, for being able to maintain all these years.

(*SO walks into kitchen 'h why are you on the floor?' h 'doing some planks while watching the Yorkshire Pudding bake' SO leaves confused)

Great topic @AnnPT77. Increaing NEAT is something I will often bring up in posts.

I don't think a lot of people realize how NEAT can affect ones calorie balance, and how ones NEAT can drop when a deficit is too high- lethargy.

Cheers, h.

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

Counter push ups are another good kitchen maneuver to bust out while cooking.

Ooh yes they were a good one. I worked my way around the kitchen until I was on the floor. It made it feel like it wasn't hard work, just something I did while waiting.

Oh and while I am chattering away, slightly off topic- POSTURE.

OK it doesn't burn calories, but it can't half improve the way one performs and looks.
When you are doing all the extra NEAT enhancing moves, steps, add in good posture. .

Cheers, h.

I don't work and don't tend to venture outside very far, but here are my strategies (I know they don't seem like much, but when I first got a fitness tracker, my non-increased step count was about 1500-2000 steps, so this has all helped immensely)

Being less efficient in the house - every morning I fill the kids' water bottles. 4 bottles, each in the fridge in the study, walk back and forwards to get and return a bottle individually.
Walking around the kitchen island when I'm waiting for the kettle to boil, tea to steep, oven to heat up, etc
Putting my milk in the study fridge.
Using the upstairs bathroom instead of the downstairs bathroom (I have a dodgy knee so this might depend on how much pain I'm in)
Getting up from my studies whenever my fitness tracker exhibits the inactivity bar (or red bar of death, as my youngest quite charmingly puts it) - I used to walk around to clear it when this happened, now I do a little dance to music
Being less efficient at the store - I leave my trolley at the end of the aisle and walk up and down however many times it takes to get what I need from that aisle (it's really a good job that I go early on, before all the pensioners and parents with young children get there )
I have one of those door gym things on the downstairs bathroom door (one with resistance bands) - I have to walk past it to get to the study. Whenever I pass it, I do a short burst of pulling (I know this one really isn't doing much, but it makes me feel better, lol)
If the dogs go out in the front yard (which has about 8 stairs down into it), I walk up and down the stairs while they do their business (again, knee dependant)
When I go to pick up my other half from the railway station, I park and walk up and down the High Street, instead of sitting and reading while I wait.
Laundry - I have a small line on the deck that I used to use when the weather was bad, and a large line in the back yard (down a small flight of stairs). It had got that I would use the small line all the time - now, if the weather is good, I use the large line, and make more trips (knee permitting)
Sometimes, if my knee is really bothering me so that even walking on a flat surface is painful, then I'll put a couple of little dumbbells (don't judge!) by my laptop and do some arm exercises with those in between study units.

I can't really stand to do things slowly or inefficiently but I do have small habits/exercises I tie in to my daily routine. It doesn't take any extra time but it really helps.

• My mini trampoline is across the hall from my bathroom so every time I use the bathroom at home I jump on the trampoline for a bit - not long just to a count of 50 or 100.
  
• While I wait the minute or so for my coffee to brew I do chair dips or pushups.
  
• I walk in the morning while I drink my coffee now instead of sitting down and reading.
  
• And lastly, when I'm cooking dinner I look around for little odds and ends to take care of around the house, again, instead of sitting down.

- Walk the long way to work, walk home.
- Bring my lunch to work so I have more time to walk and window-shop at lunchtime.
- Walk my office mail to admin downstairs instead of putting it in our floor's mail-out tray.
- Walk to the shops when I need something, instead of waiting till I need lots of things and having to use a car.
- Put dishes away one at a time.
- I don't complain to others to do chores, I do them myself.
- Sort the laundry in the kitchen then put things away in very small batches. i.e. one batch per one person's socks, then their undies, then their jeans, then t-shirts, etc.

I've only recently found out about NEAT so I still have a long way to go. I feel like NEAT is the missing piece to the puzzle!
-I used to try and carry everything all at once upstairs but now I try and do it in intervals
-walk around whilst the kettle boils (before I used to sit down!)
-walk around whilst food is cooking
-squats or lunges whilst brushing teeth
-opting to do the dishes instead of the dishwasher (haven't us humans become so lazy?!)
-vacuuming all the rooms and doing it vigorously
-taking ages to fold the laundry and standing whilst doing it (before I used to sit)
-cutting fabric and making dresses for myself (I don't know if this counts but sewing can get tiring)
-standing whilst chopping veggies/fruit
-fidgeting!
-running up and down the stairs pretending I forgot something (so my family doesn't think I'm wierd)
-drinking 3 litres of water a day so I have to get up and pee

I know I still have a long way to go!

I love this! I have not done these things as much since I got married but they would be easy to add back in.
I dance while I’m in the kitchen (much to my children’s horror I might add)
Jog in place during commercial breaks/walk laps around the house.
Do tree pose while I stand (modified in public because that whole arms above your head thing draws attention).

I have a table in the middle of my eat-in kitchen that I walk around while I'm waiting for my kettle to boil or microwave to finish, cooking foods that need occasional stirring, and so on. (This is a common comment in this thread, but it needed a bump. )

I'd love to hear more about the exercises people do. I'd never thought of doing planks, lunges, or push ups while waiting on stuff. I need to try those!

I was thinking about getting one of those little under-the-desk foot peddlers to increase my NEAT a bit while I work. Anyone else use one and have opinions?

I jog in place when my video game is loading. Skyrim. Lots of loading.

I also do many of the techniques listed. I just wanted to add a variation.

In addition to walking around while waiting for stuff like little kettle or microwave, I'm less efficient with chores. I remember mentioning this here once and I got a reply that it's better to be more efficient with chores which would save time and that time can be used for exercise. I don't see how it's possible to add 1-2 extra hours of exercise on top of what I'm already doing. It would be physically and mentally taxing. When it's one minute here, two minutes there, it just feels like part of daily life. It just happens. I don't need to muster willpower to do it.

Edited for pesky autocorrect.