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Have you ever wondered why some people remain slimmer than others or are” naturally” thin? The answer may be in the amount of time these individuals spend fidgeting, standing and walking around compared with sitting still.  These “naturally” thin people may also workout on top of their active jobs, adding to their daily calorie burn. Did you know that just sitting for 2.5 hours less each day could result in an extra energy expenditure of 350 kcal/day, which could translate into preventing the gain of extra pounds?

Daily surplus of movement and expended calories adds up over time, just as non-movement and surplus calories can. The vast majority of people who complain about their slow metabolisms don’t have a metabolism problem at all. They have a movement problem AKA the sitting disease. The subtle but consistent differences in activity and lifestyle is the difference between those who stay thin effortlessly and those who do not. In other words, those who are active in a routine way find it easier to lose fat or keep it off than those who are not active because of something called N.E.A.T.

N.E.A.T. stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Dr. James Levine, author of “Move a little, lose a lot” is credited for his research and findings on NEAT. According to Dr. Levine, you can expend calories in two ways. One is to go to the gym and the other is through all the activities of daily living called NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). From his research It appears that NEAT is far more important for calorie-burning than exercise in nearly everyone. Therefore its important to engage in activities that make you move or create them! The N.E.A.T factor makes a huge difference in your calorie expenditure. The chart below shows that the N.E.A.T factor may more than triples calorie expenditure!

As you can see , you don’t need a dramatic lifestyle change to produce dramatic results…  Isn’t that amazing!  All you need to do is get up and live your life in action! Your best bet to lose weight is a multi faceted strategy. Our advice is to be aware of opportunities to move more than you already do.  If you’ve working out and are still not where you want to be physically, then consider the following.

For example:

• If you sit at a desk- every single hour get up and walk around for 5-10 minutes
• Park as far as you can from your destination and walk
• Take ¼ of your allotted lunch break and walk – eat then walk or walk first and then eat. You can still socialise – they just have to walk with you!
• NEVER go from dinner table to living room chair! Make it a point to spend at least 30 minutes immediately following dinner to be on your feet and moving around.
• Walk around while you’re on phone calls (it’s even better to walk around outside!
• If you have a meeting with your partner or work associate, do it while walking
• Make it a mandate to use the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator (this can get you an extra 50 to 100 calories burned on average each day).
• Stand or pace while watching your favourite show (This can burn thousands of extra calories each week!
• Consider using one of the stand up desks that are becoming extremely popular right now.
• Wash your dishes by hand, rather than using the dish washer.

Multiple studies have shown that people who engage in intentional exercise either unconsciously either eat more to compensate or overcompensate for the calories burned by moving less after the exercise and thus negating their efforts to a degree. Therefore, you can’t workout and then sit on your bootie all day and you must also be aware of  what your are eating. Translation: Do not negate your whole workout by sitting all day or overeating. So, move more, eat less!

Be Inspired…

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Resources:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

www. totalhealthmethod.com