Firstly, ask yourself….

• how much are you moving daily?
• are you tracking your steps / movements?
• are you aware of your NEAT?

NEAT

Non

Exercise

Activity

Thermogenesis

NEAT is the energy we expend (calories we burn) for all the moving we do that is not sleeping, eating or exercising. YES! There are several ways to burn calories and this is what I am going to share with you today…..

So to be clear, increasing your NEAT will allow you to expend more energy therefore burn more calories; you may have heard the saying…. the more you move the more you lose, there you have it!

Essentially remember that weight / fat loss is an equation of:

INPUT vs OUTPUT (calories consumed vs calories expended / burnt)

So, to lose weight your output needs to be greater than your input (creating a calorie deficit) so you need to ensure you are eating fewer calories than you are burning off…. make sense?

So to help you lose weight / fat just start moving more and you will drop weight providing you are not consuming more calories than you are burning off.

NEAT can help you lose weight gained and you can incorporate NEAT as part of your daily life and habits. Here are 10 ways you can increase your NEAT

1.Walking – by walking we increase our NEAT; increasing the number of steps we walk everyday 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:

• Go for a morning power walk before your morning shower – a great way to start the day and you can listen to audible at the same time and learn more too
• Park your car down the street from your house / work / gym / friends house / babysitters etc
• Park at the end of the car park when shopping

2. Forget the car – when you have a car it can become too way to easy and convenient to take the car which soon becomes a habit; try to drive less:

• Enjoy a stroll to the shop for the paper
• Walk to collect the kids from the park; condition your children to walk more too 🙂
• Opt for walking more or use your bike or skateboard….

3. Morning Routine – mix up your morning routine.

• Wake up 20 minutes earlier to go for a power walk or do some home based exercise even if it is once a week
• Add some lunges or press ups while you wait for the kettle to boil
• Do 10 pressups or squat jumps or burpees before you head into the shower
• Run up and down the stairs more

4. Take the stairs – don’t take the easy option!

• Use the upstairs bathroom not downstairs toilet
• If your office is on the 5th floor take the stairs more or even half and half rather than automatically opting for the lift – ladies carry your heels so you can take the stairs! I am serious!!!

5. Evening Routine – mix up your evening routine.

• Perhaps you are more a midnight owl, go for an evening power walk before your dinner or do some home based exercise
• Do some yoga or stretching as a way of relaxing to wind down
• Perhaps you will do the press ups, burpees, star jumps or squats before your evening shower instead

6. Work – be more active during your working day!

• Be conscious of sitting for a long time
• Try to move about perhaps while you are on the phone or at your desk just try to move around a bit more
• While sitting you can move your arms around doing some shoulder circles
• Add some lunges or surface press ups while waiting for the kettle to boil
• Make more team green teas
• Get your water from the water station at the other end of the office
• Use the toilets on another floor so you go upstairs or downstairs
• Moving your legs around under the desk
• Invest in a foot cycle he he 🙂

7. Your relationship – be more active with your partner

• Start an active hobby you can do together such as exercising, a sport such as tennis or weekly bike riding, a romantic walk
• Even a once a week hobby 30-60 minutes is progress
• It may also help your relationship by having a new hobby to enjoy together
• It is likely to have a ripple effect on creating good relationship habits such as both eating better together and perhaps drinking less etc

8. Housework – simply keeping your home clean and tidy means you are more active

• Washing the pots
• Hanging out the washing
• Cleaning the car etc are all activities to increase your NEAT

9. Watching TV – a great way to multi task

• You can use this as a time to stretch and work on mobility especially if you have been sat for more of the day, it is more important to stretch your hip flexors to prevent back pains later in life

10. Family / Children – if you have children, this is a great way to be more active

• Have more active quality time with children or family time
• Playing more
• Going for family walks etc

So where to start?????

START NOW by simply moving more!

My advice;

• Track your steps; a great way to track your steps is using a Fitbit I personally recommend a FITBIT – bit.ly/awesomefitbit – or any other tracker or even a phone app but you need to make sure you always have your phone on you.
• Start with hitting 5000 steps; 10,000 daily is what I recommend. You’ll be surprised some people are lucky to hit 1,000 steps e.g. drivers!

Increasing your NEAT will get you results as you increase your calories burnt providing you don’t increase your calories consumed. If you would like to know more about calories you should be consuming email me at prea@preafitness.com.

Of course to get the very best a good NEAT is best combined with the right Nutritional and Training Plan. If you would like to learn about my coaching services head to www.preafitness.com/services or email me at prea@preafitness.com.

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Prea xx