Let’s talk about NEAT

Let’s talk about NEAT. Running on the treadmill or any other stationary cardio machine is unnecessary, especially if you don’t love doing it. If doing cardio is daunting to you then you do not have to do it. There are other ways that you can get your daily movement in and that is making an effort to move more throughout the day. When you move more throughout the day you increase your NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). Basically, this is energy that your body uses for daily activity that is not intentional exercise, eating, or sleeping. The more that you can increase your NEAT by moving around throughout the day the more calories you will burn and increase your metabolism. There’s lot of ways you can do this, a few of my favorites are: parking in the back of the parking lot, taking the stairs instead of the escalator, using the furthest bathroom at work, drinking more water so I’m always going to the bathroom, setting a timer on my phone to get up and walk around the office every hour. Another great tool is to use your phone and track your steps. If you make an intentional effort to move more throughout the day, you may find that you get more steps in than you would by devoting 30 minutes everyday to that cardio machine.

If you love your cardio machine, then, get on it every day. But, if you dread the thought of it, you don’t have to do it, just make sure that you move around a lot more throughout the day. Technological advancements have made our lives easier, however, it’s also making us more sedentary than we ever have before. That’s why I think it is very important to move around throughout the day as much as you can.