What if I told you there was an easy way to burn calories and fat throughout your day and it didn’t involve having to spend 30 minutes or more working out?
I know what you’re thinking — it sounds too good to be true, right?
Normally I’d say it is but this time that’s not the case.
According to research, focusing on this one thing, which I’m about to share, can help you burn anywhere from 100-200 calories per day.
You’ll discover what that is along with how to use it strategically in this article.
What to Do When You Can’t Squeeze a Workout In
I get it.
Life happens.
And sometimes workouts don’t happen.
Instead of throwing in the towel, you can focus on NEAT, or non-exercise activity thermogenesis, throughout your day.
You’ve likely already heard of it even if you don’t know the term.
It’s a fancy way of saying the calories you burn outside of exercising, sleeping, eating, and things like that.
These are basically calories you burn by simply doing more things throughout your day and keepin’ it moving.
Two common examples of NEAT in action are when health professionals tell you to park further away from a store’s entrance and take the stairs instead of the elevator.
These simple changes may not seem like much, but 100 extra calories burned per day from NEAT can lead to a whopping 10-pound weight loss in a year, which is why it’s worth paying attention to.
Bumping up your activities throughout the day can therefore help you lose weight and, as researchers discovered, maintain it better even while having a busy schedule.
If you’re like most of us, that’s huge and great news.
Even better, it doesn’t take much to do this.
Standing at your desk, for example, instead of sitting can give you an extra 70 calories burned per hour.
Now, to be clear, I’m not suggesting you torture yourself and stand all day to burn more calories.
But, weaving some standing breaks at your desk can be a simple but effective solution.
And that’s just one easy example.
I’ll share more activities you can do in just a bit but first I want to talk about some simple strategies you can do to increase NEAT without it being overwhelming:
How to Up Your NEAT Without Adding Too Much More to Your Already Busy Schedule
Before you start doing as many NEAT activities as you can from the list I’m about to share, consider taking these three steps first.
Doing so will help you identify the NEAT activities that make the most sense for your life and schedule.
Step 1: Write Down a Typical Day for You
Do you carpool your kids and their friends to school before heading off to work?
Or are you someone who works from home all day at a desk job?
Or maybe you have a combination of both — some days are more sedentary than others.
Or perhaps you work on your feet all day.
Each situation requires a slightly different plan of action plus it’ll change based on your daily schedule, which is why the first step is to write down what a typical day looks like for you.
Of course, each day could be different but, for the most part, you likely have a routine down.
Step 2: Try Anywhere From 1-3 Ideas to Start
Now, I want you to look at your schedule to see where you can maximize some pockets of time.
Maybe this looks like taking a slightly longer bathroom break where you also take a few laps around the building or you secretly pop out 10 bodyweight squats somewhere not too awkward.
Or maybe you spend the first half of your lunch break or even just five minutes taking a walk, doing some light cleaning if you work from home, or doing a short bodyweight circuit (static lunges, good mornings, arnold presses without weights, tricep kickback without weight, etc.).
You can also think about your commute or other ways you can add more movement in, such as a stair break every hour where you hit up anywhere from one flight to as many as you can handle every hour on the hour.
These little micro movements add up over time and they can make a huge difference when you’re consistent with them.
Choose one to three to start with and make sure they’re ones you feel fairly confident in tackling so that you’re more likely to do just that.
Then, from there…
Step 3: See How You Feel
Take a step back every so often to see how you’re doing.
Do you enjoy your hourly stair break or is it starting to wear on your knees?
Walking may be a better alternative in that case or even a light yoga session could help instead.
The litmus test is simple: if you enjoyed the activity and felt good and confident doing it, stick with it!
If it added stress or tension or was just too much to do, find something else that works for you.
There’s so many great options to choose from as you’ll see next and they’re all just as effective.
You can start with one to three at first and then add or subtract from there.
Find what works for you and you’ll see some incredible benefits in no time.
15 Easy Ways to Burn Calories and Increase NEAT Throughout Your Day
This list doesn’t include everything — like the typical advice of taking the stairs or parking far away, but there’s still plenty of great NEAT activities to choose from:
- Take standing or stair breaks every hour – start with five minutes on the hour or half hour and work your way up from there
- Take the long way into work – go around the building a few times if there’s only one quick way in
- Walk to your co-worker’s desk instead of texting or Slacking them
- Take laps around your house, job, or a local park
- Take some relaxing paces while on the phone or watching your kids practice sports
- Clean your space – vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, or doing the dishes are all great exercises to weave in throughout the day. As a bonus, you’ll have a nice clean house afterwards, which is great for mental health and motivation
- Carry your groceries instead of using a shopping cart
- Wash your car by hand instead of going through an automated wash
- Take some laps around your local mall
- Practice some bodyweight exercises – you can hold squats, lunges, planks, and more throughout your day (try holding a squat while you brush your teeth!)
- Squat down or perform a deadlift any time you have to pick up something, including your kids
- Spend 10 minutes gardening or pulling out weeds
- Move your garbage can out from under your desk and find another spot further away so you have to get up to throw something out
- Mow the lawn, shovel snow, or rake leaves by hand instead of using machinery
- Have random dance breaks where you release tension and get some movement in
Focus on NEAT to Up Your Calorie Burn and Get More Movement in Throughout Your Day
Take this article as a friendly reminder that you can still be active even if you don’t get in a formal workout.
By simply adding in more NEAT activities, you can burn calories and fat throughout your day and you’ll be so glad you did.
From here, see which activities you can work into your schedule and, once you’ve mastered them, add on some others.
Consistency over quantity is key here.
The more consistent you can be here, the better your results will be.
So here’s your friendly reminder to get in more NEAT activities — you won’t regret it!
Sending you the gift of movement today,
Devan
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