NEAT – Are you getting enough?

NEAT refers to non-exercise activity thermogenesis. In English, that’s the energy you expend when you’re doing daily activities above resting – like getting dressed, typing at your desk, preparing dinner, tidying the house etc. All of these things burn calories above those which you burn at resting. Throughout the day they can add up to even more than you would burn in a 1 hour gym session. That’s why it’s so important to get up and move around as much as possible – even fidgeting at your desk is actually a good thing! That annoying friend who can eat anything and not put on any weight may simply never sit still and therefore have a high NEAT output.

Taking the stairs, walking to work, getting up to go and see a colleague rather than email them – these may sound like small things but put them together and you could burn off an extra 200 or so calories a day, without a visit to the gym. Training 3 times a week is great but if you’re mostly sedentary the rest of the time, you may not be creating enough of a calorie deficit to shift weight…take a look at your NEAT before adding another gym session. A great place to start is lunchtime – get away from your desk and go for a 30 minute walk, burning around 100 calories. Spring is here so it’s the perfect time to start 🙂