02 Feb What is NEAT and How it Can Potentially Help Shift 10lbs?
This week’s blog post comes from our latest FlexFood “Featured Coach” Miriam Sunter from Glasgow. Today, we are looking at the topic of NEAT or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenisis and how it is a powerful tool in your fat loss armoury.
If I told you that you could potentially loose 10lbs from just simply increasing your daily activities that don’t even require you to set foot in the gym? I bet you’d all be shouting…..‘SIGN ME UP IMMEDIATELY’. Well what I am talking about is increasing your NEAT – NEAT stands for Non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It is the activity that you are able to add into your normal daily routine outside of the gym that can help you in the long run towards your weight loss goal. It can help you lose those ten pounds, maybe not this month, but over the next 6-12 months. Would you not want to be ten pounds lighter come the end of this year, just by increasing things you do daily anyway?
So below are some easy ways to increase your NEAT.
1 Walking
Walking is an easy activity nearly every one of us can accomplish. All we have to do is increase the number of steps we walk every day and over time the extra energy used comes from our stores fat. It is also fairly simple to increase the number of steps you walk throughout the day.. Park at the farthest spot when out doing shopping, Park away up the street from your house, walk the dog for an extra 10 minutes in the morning. All the steps will add up over time. Activity trackers are great for keeping track of this or even download an app for your smartphone to keep track.
2 Morning Routine
Everyone has a morning routine that they go through during their work week and sometimes at the weekend. This is an easy time to add some extra movement to your day. The moment you get out of bed, lunge to the bathroom. When you go to start the kettle do some jumping jacks. Make a few trips to the bin outside with rubbish.. anything to add in extra movement. The moment you go and brush your teeth, do some squats before you start or maybe even while you are brushing your teeth if you feel like really multitasking. Just add in some simple movements or tasks that are associated with every step along your morning routine.
3 Cooking
Most of us cook at least one meal throughout the day. During this time you can add in some simple movements – waiting for the kettle to boil, try some squats. Reach up high a few times before taking the plate down from the cupboard. Anything that adds in extra movement. Those microwave minutes can also count towards weight loss.
4 Television
I would even be lying to you if I said I didn’t watch TV from time to time. However when watching my programs or if the dreaded football is on TV I do some stretching. I lay down and stretch out my muscles – hamstrings, shoulders, back , chest. Ideal opportunity if your suffering from DOMS and ideal opportunity to move that little bit more– also if you do this before bed then it should help you sleep better as your muscles are nice and relaxed.
5 Leave the Car
If you do not have a crazy distance to travel to work or are going out to eat at the weekend – ditch the car for the evening and walk to the bus stop or train station. Many people forget that they can walk places and it will in fact not take long at all. The walk will make you feel good, burn calories, and will help out our environment. If you only need a few things from the shop, why not walk?
6 Work
This is a no brainer. I myself work used to work in an office during the day and it pains me when I think how many hours a week I would sit and not move. Latterly I began trying to get up every hour for a quick walk, even if its to the printer (drink loads of water and you’ll be up every 20 mins to the loo). The girls in our team also have a thing called ‘3pm Yoga’ where we do some simple desk yoga moved to stay mobile. It actually helps refresh us and keep us focused until we finished.
7 Cleaning
Cleaning is a very efficient way to multitask. I tend to clean my house on a Saturday after taking my morning exercise classes and it’s amazing the amount of steps and calories you can burn from just cleaning your house. You are getting those extra calories burned while cleaning whatever you wanted clean anyway so it’s a double whammy. The fun part is make a game out of the cleaning. Taking multiple trips up the stairs to put the washing away, Hoovering and Mopping alone can rack up 1,000 steps.
The key is that you remember why you are doing everything. Keep in mind your own goal. I want you to remember on why you are trying to lose weight in the first place and make that your focus. If you focus on that goal and remember to have fun with all these easy steps and tricks, those extra lbs will be off in no time.
To contact Miriam about any coaching services, you can find her contact details in the “Featured Coach” directory with in the FlexFood app OR you can reach her on:
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