NEAT Improvement Strategies to Improve Weight Loss
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@NovusDies, I think those are great ideas. "Gaming" ourselves with little cognitive tricks like that can be a good strategy to create change, IMO.
It works right up until I hit a day where I don't feel well and/or my mood is poor. I can be disciplined to keep up with some of my intentional NEAT but is turns into labor. My unintentional NEAT naturally dries up.
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I did buy some reusable grocery bags, though I have trouble remembering to grab them a lot of the time. I can get so much more into a bag when I do remember them, which correlates to a heavier bag to carry to the car - also means that if I have fewer bags, I have a better chance of just carrying them instead of needing the buggy!
I drive a Ram pickup truck, so in most cases, that necessitates parking at the end of the lot just so I can swing it into a space!
I do find myself fidgeting a lot - right now, I realized I'm sitting here tapping my feet. I still have a long way to go, though, when I'm at work; I do sit way, way too much. Friday, I remembered to wear my pedometer and tried taking the long way around the building to the bathroom, the breakroom, etc. There aren't any steps, so it's just circling the building!5 -
Through experience I've learnt the hard way. How under fueling, plus lack of proteins/fats. Can have such a negative impact on NEAT, (as well as my health), without realising at the time.
(Even under NHS care).
Through finding and using mfp, as a tool, balancing nutrition for health & calories for weight loss, then maintainance. I've improved my bmi & health issues.
Posting here as my neat also dropped, as my body was under so much stress. Even though I didn't know at the time.
Before MFP; on NHS approved diet. Weighed everything & kept accurate logs. 12 weeks dieting & only 2lb loss.
Ended up, giving in, stopping for a few months. To hard to maintain. Regaining much more than I lost.
So New Year & back on track, another 12 weeks & only 3lb loss, week 1, then no more.
At this point I thought I'd only be able to maintain my current weight, (bmi 39) on drastic diet. Or eat more & continue to gain.
I had a 2 week holiday, decided to ditch diet while away, but make mindful choices. (Since found out about diet breaks!).
I came home, gingerly stepping on scales. Secreatly dreading gain, I lost 4lb! How?
That day I found MFP and entered my details. Even choosing 2lb a week initially, it gave me a calorie target of 1,350.
I logged a lot of my average days, from previous diet. They all fell between 900 to 1,000 calories per day.
I know this was without exercise, as I'm disabled. I could eat more, and lose weight? Seemed to good to be true, but was worth a try.
Fast forward 1,410 days of accurate logging, lost 59lbs.
Currently maintaining much lower weight on 1,600 calories. Hence the extra fuel, improved my neat, without me realising.
All these little day to day things add up. Sitting more, rather than exhausted & laying down. Fidgeting etc.
Stretching & light weights.
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Great insight, @Wendyanneroberts! I'm pretty convinced - though without firm research to back up this opinion - that there's a "most efficient" calorie level for most of us, where energy/activity stays high, alongside reasonable weight loss.
One won't stop losing at too-low calories, but weight loss can slow below expected, and water retention (stress related) may also increase.
Refeeds or diet breaks can be part of the solution, for many.
Congratulations on finding your personal calorie "sweet spot" for weight loss!
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Weekend bump: perfect time to get NEAT!!
Ours is pretty well built in: driving the mile or so into town to do our weekly shop means being stuck in the bumper to bumper traffic our little market town has become, so we walk it. If it's not raining REALLY hard (and sometimes even if it is, hello Storm Dennis!) Little Man gets on his scooter and we walk the ~ 3 mile 'pretty way'.
Then of course picnic lunch at a pub
Start the meal-prep for next week Saturday night plus Little Man's bath; all this adds up to steps and activity, without doing a formal workout
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Okay, this might not be the smartest idea, but I love running to my car with the grocery cart. That little bit of running feels good. Alternatively, I'll leave the cart and carry all my bags (weight lifting 😉).
When I go to our town hall to conduct business, I'll walk up the 3-5 flights of stairs.
I think my VA facility has lovely murals in the stairs to encourage people to use the stairs.
I've also just discovered the walkway in the back part of the VA campus - there is a nice outdoor U shaped walkway that connects most of the buildings. I can easily take an extra 20 minutes and get in a mile after an appointment.5 -
I work in the lines shop for the local power company. Traffic is 2 lane one way outside our door with no sidewalks along the road (welcome to rural WV.....even though this is the county seat....). It's 1/2 mile down to the grocery store where Wendy's and McDonald's are also located. If it's not pouring the rain or too cold, I'll chance the traffic and walk down to the grocery store during lunch break and pick up anything I'm needing and carry it back. It's a slight incline on the way back, so that's a little more effort along with the groceries!
This week, in an effort to up my step count, I've also started walking the yard behind the office building. If I circle the fence line and loop through the aisles where the stock parts are (power poles, etc), I can stretch the distance out to about a 10 minute walk. I find that a good way to break up my sedentary day hours sitting at my desk.9 -
I'm inspired!! Reminded me of so many things I used to do!! Thanks y'all4
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The weather is terrible here, storms raging since three weeks and no change in sight. To get a bit of walking done, I will go to the mall tomorrow and go around all three levels, taking the stairs instead of escalators. No plans of shopping, although that might be a side effect ! 2
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I've taken over all snow shovelling and leaf raking in our household. Also, forgetting where I put things contributes a LOT to my step count.9
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scaredofscale wrote: »I've taken over all snow shovelling and leaf raking in our household. Also, forgetting where I put things contributes a LOT to my step count.
Oh, man: I hear that one! That, and going to another room to get/do something, forgetting why I went, and having to go back where I started in order to remember.
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scaredofscale wrote: »I've taken over all snow shovelling and leaf raking in our household. Also, forgetting where I put things contributes a LOT to my step count.
Oh, man: I hear that one! That, and going to another room to get/do something, forgetting why I went, and having to go back where I started in order to remember.
You're all making me feel better! 💕
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Ok so as a mom I use my kids a lot for *kitten* I can do but just don't wanna so this week I'm forming a new habit!! Doing all the things that I can do my self that I usually have the kids do just to be lazy!! 😲It's a lot of movement I've been missing out on!!7
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Be_theBest_Me wrote: »Ok so as a mom I use my kids a lot for *kitten* I can do but just don't wanna so this week I'm forming a new habit!! Doing all the things that I can do my self that I usually have the kids do just to be lazy!! 😲It's a lot of movement I've been missing out on!!
I've been working on this, too! I'm sure my kid is glad, as well lol2 -
This is such an interesting thread. I think my NEAT needs a lot of improvement as I work from home at an office job, so its a rare day that I get 10k steps in, even though I love to walk in nature a few times a week for about an hour.
But without realising it, I do some NEAT increasing things. I always do 25-30 squats while cleaning my teeth. I do extra stretching when putting things away in the kitchen cupboards, do arabesques when emptying the dishwasher and knee raises or jacks while waiting for the kettle to boil or the microwave to ping.9 -
For me a lot of it comes down to living inconveniently and inefficiently. I put away the remotes for everything that has buttons. I avoid shopping online. I do not stock my pantry as much. When I cook I avoid doing a mise en place. I use much smaller cups. I use the garage refrigerator more. I avoid motorized tools when possible.
Surprisingly I do not see much of a time drain living this way. I just have a little less time being and doing sedentary things.7 -
Be_theBest_Me wrote: »Ok so as a mom I use my kids a lot for *kitten* I can do but just don't wanna so this week I'm forming a new habit!! Doing all the things that I can do my self that I usually have the kids do just to be lazy!! 😲It's a lot of movement I've been missing out on!!
Aha: Hoarding all those miscellaneous calories-out just for yourself. Good show!
There are so many shortcuts we get used to, like having the kids do things. Cutting out the shortcuts is a good start. It may be a small number of calories, but I think the habit of movement begins to get ingrained, and create a "bias toward movement" in us.
As an, ahem, older woman (age 64), I hear many of my same-age friends talk about it being hard to get up and down from sitting on the floor. I've begun noticing how I approach daily tasks, seeing where I may tend to avoid getting up and getting down . . . and making sure that I actually do it.7 -
For me a lot of it comes down to living inconveniently and inefficiently. I put away the remotes for everything that has buttons. I avoid shopping online. I do not stock my pantry as much. When I cook I avoid doing a mise en place. I use much smaller cups. I use the garage refrigerator more. I avoid motorized tools when possible.
Surprisingly I do not see much of a time drain living this way. I just have a little less time being and doing sedentary things.
I think those are good points, and I'd agree that I don't seem much time penalty in the extra movement I try to do, either. It seems like some of the "convenience" things people do as time-savers don't really save much time, they're just lower effort so it feels like less time. I've started watching the drive-up line occasionally at a coffee shop I drop in to once in a while. Most of the time (not always), if it's even a remotely busy time, I'm running in and coming out with my coffee, and some of the same cars are still in the drive-up line. They're just sitting, listening to the radio (or whatever), using up some gasoline ( ), while I'm running in and ordering.
I'm surprised to read you say that mise en place takes you less movement. For me, I think it would be slightly more . . . maybe because I do all the dishes by hand? (Not for calories, BTW: I don't have a dishwasher.) The storage areas in my kitchen are all short walk-routes, too, so mise en place wouldn't save much walking. Whatever works in one's own life is the good solution, though! :flowerforyou: 4 -
Be_theBest_Me wrote: »Ok so as a mom I use my kids a lot for *kitten* I can do but just don't wanna so this week I'm forming a new habit!! Doing all the things that I can do my self that I usually have the kids do just to be lazy!! 😲It's a lot of movement I've been missing out on!!
Aha: Hoarding all those miscellaneous calories-out just for yourself. Good show!
There are so many shortcuts we get used to, like having the kids do things. Cutting out the shortcuts is a good start. It may be a small number of calories, but I think the habit of movement begins to get ingrained, and create a "bias toward movement" in us.
As an, ahem, older woman (age 64), I hear many of my same-age friends talk about it being hard to get up and down from sitting on the floor. I've begun noticing how I approach daily tasks, seeing where I may tend to avoid getting up and getting down . . . and making sure that I actually do it.
Good plan!
I think my OH did his parents a disservice by getting them those chairs that go up so you can get out of them easier. His father had other health issues that landed him in a nursing home, but for his mother, it was the inability to get on and off the toilet unassisted.
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For me a lot of it comes down to living inconveniently and inefficiently. I put away the remotes for everything that has buttons. I avoid shopping online. I do not stock my pantry as much. When I cook I avoid doing a mise en place. I use much smaller cups. I use the garage refrigerator more. I avoid motorized tools when possible.
Surprisingly I do not see much of a time drain living this way. I just have a little less time being and doing sedentary things.
I think those are good points, and I'd agree that I don't seem much time penalty in the extra movement I try to do, either. It seems like some of the "convenience" things people do as time-savers don't really save much time, they're just lower effort so it feels like less time. I've started watching the drive-up line occasionally at a coffee shop I drop in to once in a while. Most of the time (not always), if it's even a remotely busy time, I'm running in and coming out with my coffee, and some of the same cars are still in the drive-up line. They're just sitting, listening to the radio (or whatever), using up some gasoline ( ), while I'm running in and ordering.
I'm surprised to read you say that mise en place takes you less movement. For me, I think it would be slightly more . . . maybe because I do all the dishes by hand? (Not for calories, BTW: I don't have a dishwasher.) The storage areas in my kitchen are all short walk-routes, too, so mise en place wouldn't save much walking. Whatever works in one's own life is the good solution, though! :flowerforyou:
I try to go in everywhere too now. It has two benefits. It keeps me moving and when it is a situation that involves food from a fast food place it adds a layer to make sure I really want it and I am not just settling. I still eat fast food but since I was quick to settle in my gaining years I want to actively avoid doing it now. I have also noticed I get serviced faster at least some of the time.
I said that I avoid doing a mise en place. This creates more movement because I am consistently returning to a place where I have already gotten an ingredient. Sometimes that is a step or two sometimes it is a trip back to the pantry area. Every step adds to the collective.
I own a dishwasher but I have always preferred to do most of my dishes by hand. I have always felt the dishwasher was overkill for many dishes that require very little effort to clean. Also washing the dishes by hand keeps me efficient in usage which is one of the few areas I do not wish to increase my NEAT. I always re-use a dish if I can and most of the time it is possible with just a quick rinse.
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