One
of the biggest reasons we are getting so fat is no secret, we eat more
calories than we burn. For example, if you take in 2000 calories a day and
you only burn or excrete 1900 then you have a net increase of about 100
calories per day, which translates to about 10lbs of increased body weight
per year. Do this year after year and you find yourself 50lbs overweight
in just a few years.
There are three
main ways that we burn calories.
First, is our basal
metabolic rate (called BMR). These are the calories that we burn just
lying still. The calories we burn just breathing, pumping blood around and
basic physiology. In individuals that have a sedentary occupation and
dont exercise much, this accounts for most of the calories burned.
Second, are the
calories burned from eating and digesting food. These are called TEF or
Thermic Effect of Food. This accounts for about 10-15% of total daily
calories burned by most people.
Third, are the
calories burned by physical activity. Most people think of these as the
calories burned by the amount of exercise that you get. There are all
kinds of formulas to calculate how many calories you burn while exercising
and most exercise equipment can do this for you.
Activity is not
always as it appears.
However, there is
another form of calorie burning from physical activity that is under
appreciated. These are the calories burned from NEAT, which stands for Non
Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Kind of a mouthful, so lets just stick
with NEAT. Researchers at the May Clinic are heading up much of the NEAT
studies, but it is catching on elsewhere as well. In fact,
one of my colleagues at the University of Michigan is working with the
Mayo people to study NEAT in a pre-diabetic rat model that we are
studying.
NEAT is essentially
the energy that you burn just by moving around. If you have a job that
keeps you active then this will account for much of your NEAT. But tapping
your fingers, shifting your chair, bouncing your let, etc. all add up to
some calorie burn as well.
 Benefits
of Fidgeting
Some folds, like me,
are very fidgety when I was little my parents always told me to stop
fidgeting so much. Other people sit motionless much of the time. These
innate behaviors account for a lot of calorie burn.
It turns out,
according to estimates from the researchers, that fidgeting can actually
differ by a couple of hundred calories per day between fidgeters and still
people. If you think about that in terms of weight gain, that can add up
to 10-20 lbs. per year. Thats a huge difference and may be one of the
reasons that some people just dont gain as much weight as others, even
when they seem to eat and exercise about the same amount.
This doe not mean
that if you are a fidgeter and seem to be protected against weight gain
that you do not need to exercise. The benefits of getting your heart rate
up go far beyond burning calories and losing weight. Exercise also
contributes to cardiovascular strength, muscle tone and even brain
function, as I have discussed in the past.
NEAT things to do
Fidgeting is not
likely something that you can adopt if you are not a fidgety person. It
seems to be programmed in. However, you can do a lot of things to increase
your level of NEAT and burn a few more calories every day, which can add
up to big effects.
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Here are a few
suggestions: |
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Stand up and walk around when you talk on the phone instead of sitting at
your desk or on the couch. |
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Dont sit in your chair for more than 15 minutes without standing up and
stretching a little. |
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Take the stairs instead of the elevator. |
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Park farther away from the store and spend two extra minutes walking
instead of two extra minutes driving around looking for the closest spot
to the door. |
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Park a block away from work or get off the bus a block early. |
These are all simple
things that dont seem like much but when you think about these tin terms
of cutting 10-20 lbs per year off your waistline, it should be worth it.
Article
Source:
http://www.ArticleBiz.com
Published: The Capital Investor,
July, 2007
Train your Brain for
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