by A. C. O'Brien

Created on: July 03, 2009   Last Updated: October 02, 2009

What Is NEAT and how can it help you loose more weight? "Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenecis," (or calories that you burn when you are not exercising). Yes, it can help you loose more weight.

You work out just as much as your friend or co-worker. You restrict your calorie intake to the same level that she does but your scale just will not move. She, much to your envy, melts like butter in the summer sun. The reason behind your frustrating weight stagnation could be simple, it could be from a lack of daily motion. You do not lack exercise, you are doing that, you just need more motion. Some of us fidget, remain standing, squirm around in their chair and wiggle our toes a lot more than others. Some of us would rather call on the phone than walk to the co-worker in the next cubical to share information or ask a question then get up and walk over to them.

After work do you just go home and microwave a pre-packaged dinner, than fall, into a lump in front of the TV? Your friend may be out at a PTA or Girl Scout meeting, or she may be walking her dog. She may be sewing her son's or daughters Halloween costume, working on a craft project or hanging her family laundry out to dry, folding cloths or ironing. On Saturday she may volunteering at the animal shelter walking the dogs or at local library or maintaining her garden. In short she is moving instead of living a sedentary life.

These are all activities that burn calories, this low level activity calorie burning phenomena is called "non-exercise activity thermo-genesis" or NEAT for short. What it means is that that co-worker continues to actively burn extra calories during the time that she does these activities. This NEAT behavior can burn up to a 350 more calories a day according to Dr. James Levine, MD, he is head of the NEAT laboratory at the Mayo Clinic. To give you an idea of what this means, one pound of fat is equal to about 3,500 calories not burned. That means that if you keep your diet and exercise the same and add NEAT you could loose a pound every ten days! That's three pounds a month, thirty- five pounds or more a year!

Here are a few ideas to get NEAT working for you:

1. At work, try to get up and move about. Go to the bathroom on another floor, push the phone further away so that you need to get up, or at least stretch a bit to reach it.

2. Go for a walk on your lunch time.

3. Fiddle with rubber bands or squeeze a, "stress ball," while on the phone.

4. Skip the elevator or escalator, choose to walk up

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