NEAT: The small habit that makes the most difference

NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) is the energy (calories) used when you are not purposely working out. Think standing, walking from one place to another, housework, yardwork, fidgeting(!), playing with kids or pets, getting up out of bed, stretching when you feel sore or out of wack, sex(!)…. All of the movement that happens sort of incidentally throughout the day.

Energy balance, ie how much energy (calories / food) we take in (consume) in a day, versus how much we use (to maintain our body systems, to move, to think, to do whatever needs doing in a day) determines whether we will store extra energy as fat, stay the same, or use stored fat for energy thus losing fat.

One reason some people gained weight over the pandemic (and there are a lot of simple and complex reasons), is that they stopped going into the office, which meant they stopped a lot of little things that used up energy: simply leaving the house to go out to the car, walking in from a parking lot, walking around to colleague’s desks to chat or ask questions, walking a longer distance to go to the bathroom, even changing into and out of office clothes, etc. Many people who didn’t have young children at home sat a lot more than they used to, many without even realizing it, because all these small movements during the day are often under our radar, unconscious, some of it even effortless if we’re generally able-bodied.

Because most of us don’t put a whole lot of thought into this almost incidental movement, it’s easy for it to fluctuate with other aspects of our lives, like going into an office or not. Many people, when they change from being mostly sedentary to working out regularly, unconsciously reduce their NEAT, resulting in less movement and therefor energy (calorie & stored fat) usage overall. Because most people who are consciously working out probably do it for an hour or less, and probably don’t do it every single day, those workouts, despite feeling like a huge effort, actually use LESS energy than the all-day every day activities making up your NEAT expenditure. That doesn’t make them bad! In fact, working out regularly builds muscle, which improves our basal metabolic rate (BMR), the energy (calories) used by our bodies just to maintain itself, so we use more energy even while sitting around and / or sleeping, all day long. That BMR is actually the majority of energy (calories) used by our bodies every day. As we age, most of us tend to lose muscle mass due to a combination of biological factors and reduced activity, thus reducing our BMR, making it harder to stay in energy balance or create an energy deficit (taking in less energy than we use, causing our body to use stored fat as energy).

If you look at the chart above, you’ll see that the majority of energy, or calories, our bodies use in a day goes to maintaining our bodies (BMR). A little goes to digesting our food (thermic effect of meals), which we can maximize by getting lots of protein and consuming more complex carbohydrates like veggies and whole grains rather than refined flour, sugar, and super-processed foods. Some goes into exercise, but even more goes into NEAT.

So, what is the point of all this? It’s simply to say that NEAT is at least as important, and perhaps even MORE important, than workouts in determining our body composition, or our success in losing fat if that’s what we’re going for, and it’s both easy and hard to control. Easy because it doesn’t have to be anything difficult and we have a million opportunities throughout the day to increase it. Hard because it’s hard to pin down and quantify and really, really hard for most of us to keep in mind on the constant level that it takes to change our daily, often subconscious behaviors.

Here are some tips for increasing NEAT. Use all, or some, depending on what works for you and you’re willing to do!

1) Wear a step tracker or use the one on your phone, if you have your phone with you most of the time, and challenge yourself to increase your daily step count. If you’re competitive, do challenges with friends and family to see who gets the most steps. Ideally you’ll get 10,000 steps per day or more! But if you start using a step tracker and notice your usual baseline is very low, say 1000 steps per day, challenge yourself to get 2000. When that’s easy, get 3000, etc. If you don’t ever get into the habit of regularly taking 10,000 steps a day, that’s fine! Just try to increase to a level you can maintain. Steps can be a few here, a few there – you don’t have to go walk for an hour on your lunch break; you don’t even have to go outside if you don’t want to. Just walk around your home or workspace a bit whenever you have the opportunity. If being on your feet is difficult for you due to pain or other factors, wave your arms around a bunch. For real.

2) If you have a sedentary job or are sedentary most of your time at home, make a habit to get up and take a few steps every hour. You can set an alarm on your phone to remind you. It doesn’t have to be a lot of steps, but simply standing uses more energy than sitting, and your body will feel better too if it’s not in one position for hours at a time!

3) Consider a sitting / standing desk at work if it’s an option. You don’t have to stand all day, but if you can stand for some of your day it will make a difference.

4) Embrace opportunities to move a bit more. Make a habit of parking farther away from the office or the store. Take a flight of stairs rather than the elevator (if you have to go up 10 floors, then go up 1 and take the elevator the rest of the way if you want to).

5) Move around while doing things that don’t necessitate staying still. Walk around your home while chatting on the phone or doomscrolling Facebook. March in place and swing your arms while watching tv (maybe for 10 minutes out of 30).

6) If you like being outside, simply plan to be outside for a certain amount of time each day. Usually when outside, we’ll be spending at least part of the time moving.

7) Make social gatherings more active. Visit downtown and walk around with your friends. Meet up for a walk in the park or a leisurely bike ride or disc golf. Don’t always make it a sit-down meal or a movie.

8) Play music while you’re doing chores, cooking, etc. and don’t be afraid to dance a little should the mood strike.

9) If you have a pet, set aside a certain amount of time each day to actively play with or walk them. They’ll appreciate it and you’ll benefit from the activity!

10) If you’re motivated by helping others, volunteer or help friends or family with things like cleaning and organizing, yardwork, etc.

11) If you’re watching your budget, pick up a side hustle that involves some activity, like Shipt for grocery delivery.

12) Get in the habit of doing something physical to release stress when you’re feeling frazzled. A lot of us habitually reach for food or other not-so-healthy things when we’re upset or anxious, but if we’re in the habit of instead taking a brief walk around the block, punching a punching bag or pillow, or doing a 5-minute yoga routine to calm ourselves down, it can become our new go-to way of self-soothing.

13) Cook at home more often, if you can. Not only will you probably eat healthier, and fewer calories overall; you’ll also burn extra energy (calories / store fat) simply by standing up, walking around the kitchen, stirring, etc.

14) Most of us feel stiff or have pain in various areas like lower back, neck, etc. And usually we have some idea of what we need to do to help alleviate this (improve posture, do some stretching), but neglect it on a day to day basis. Commit to taking 5-10 minutes a day to do a few stretches you know help you feel better when you do them. And do it every single day. Tie it to something you do every day, like eating lunch or brushing your teeth, so that your mind starts to connect the two. “When I brush my teeth in the morning, I do a calf stretch to help with my sore feet.” Stuff like that.

None of these things on their own will make a gigantic difference, but if we start to stack a few on top of one another, the difference becomes big and you will start to see physical results, without requiring monumental effort.