| Diet and exercise are what we usually think of when it comes to losing weight.
In reality, one of the best ways to lose extra pounds for good and keep them off is to make daily habit changes that can help burn those extra calories during activities we usually do.
What I am talking about is increasing your NEAT.
What is NEAT?
NEAT is non-exercise activity thermogenesis.
It is the activity that we are able to add into our daily routine outside of our yoga classes.
It’s often what makes the difference between those who are slim and those who are not..
It’s all got to do with the amount of time we spend being non-active throughout the day (e.g., sitting when working, watching TV, and browsing social media).
More specifically, emerging research suggests that a variety of serious health issues—including metabolic syndrome, poor blood sugar management, and type 2 diabetes—are all related to large amounts of seated time, independent of how much you exercise.
Regularly attending your yoga classes is great, but even the best yoga classes in the world aren’t enough on their own to counteract the adverse cardiometabolic health effects caused by prolonged, unbroken periods of sedentary activities.
We all need to increase our daily non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) levels for fat loss and general health benefits.
How to increase your NEAT
All body movement requires calories.
Even very basic activity, such as standing up regularly, walking around, or doing household tasks, makes a major difference in the long run.
In obese individuals, NEAT may account for a significant portion of daily calorie expenditure due to the extra weight they have to carry around.
There are several ways in which you can boost NEAT.
If you spend a lot of time sitting, here are a few strategies:
- Stand up regularly and walk around
- Take the stairs whenever possible
- Do household tasks
- Fidget by bouncing your legs or tapping your fingers
- Chew calorie-free gum
- Use a standing desk
If you have a desk job, using a standing desk may increase the number of calories you burn by 16%.
One study showed that spending an afternoon standing burned an extra 174 calories compared to sitting.
Even seemingly insignificant activities like typing may increase your metabolic rate by 8% compared to doing nothing.
One study found that people who sat motionless for 20 minutes temporarily increased their calorie expenditure by 4%, compared to when they lay motionless.
Fidgeting can make a significant difference
Fidgeting while seated increased calorie expenditure by a whopping 54%.
Even light activities like walking around, doing household tasks, or fidgeting can give you an advantage in the long run.
Set a Daily Step Goal
One of the easiest ways to increase your NEAT levels is to aim for anywhere between 10,000 to 12,000 steps a day.
It’s all very well telling yourself that you will run hard regularly on the treadmill but very few people can sustain that in the long-term.
Walking is far more sustainable and has a far higher success rate.
Remember the tips on functional walking I give out regularly in class to help get the maximum benefit out of your walks!
Here are some examples of ways you can get those extra steps in:
- Treadmill desk: If it’s at all possible, try out a treadmill desk; this allows you to walk and burn calories while working. You’ll be hitting your daily step goal in no time. Talk about multitasking!
- Taking the stairs: Take the stairs instead of the escalator or lift whenever possible. If you have bad knees, only take the stairs up—but use the lift on your way down.
- Pacing around while on a call: Pace around on calls where you don’t have to switch on your laptop’s video camera.
- Tidying up the house: Between picking up clutter, dusting, vacuuming, and mopping, you would have gotten nearly all the steps you require for the day. Bonus? You’ll end up with a sparkling clean house.
Don’t Diet For Too Long
We covered this in a previous newsletter but it’s important to briefly touch on it with regard to our NEAT.
If you restrict your calories for more than 12 weeks in a row, your body will try to adapt by making you move as little as possible.
Your NEAT will dwindle down to practically nothing.
Instead aim to lose weight over a 10-week period then switch to a maintenance diet and hold on to the weight you lost and let your body get used to its new weight.
Your maintenance diet should last around 10 weeks. At that time you should be ready to go on another 10-week diet phase.
Remember to eat enough protein to make sure you keep your muscles while losing fat!
Continue this process until you reach your target weight.
I hope you found this newsletter useful! |
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