NEAT. What category are you in?
Have you heard of NEAT? If not, listen up It can make a difference in your health.
Throughout the day we all reach a certain activity level. This is a combination of working out and just life activities like walking to the kitchen to make lunch or going to the grocery store. All of the “life activities” add up and are what we call NEAT.
What is NEAT?
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis is a fancy way of describing the energy you expend doing everything throughout the day that’s not sleep, eating or purposeful exercise. NEAT is achieved by just walking around the house, doing yard work, walking from your car to the grocery store, cleaning and even fidgeting. This activity can significantly add up throughout the day.
Why does NEAT Matter?
We are all aware that purposeful exercise is important, but if you sit all day after working out, you are posing a major health risk. Unless you are reaching a certain amount of activity in your workouts, you still could be considered sedentary (less than 5,000 steps a day). Prolonged sitting is associated with risks like obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, anxiety and heart disease. It can even increase the risk of cancer.
NEAT activity can contribute to a lot more energy expenditure, therefore improving your metabolic health and decreasing your risk for many unwanted diseases.
How to Increase Your NEAT?
There are many ways to increase your NEAT. You can do more at home, such as cooking, yard work, gardening, and walking while you’re on the phone or taking meetings. You can grab a buddy and go on walks together, instead of socially eating and drinking. Or, you can just take the stairs instead of elevators/ escalators, move after eating or park further away from entrances.
Each of these are SO simple to incorporate into your daily life.
Do You Know Your Activity Level?
An easy way to know where you are on the sedentary-active scale is to track your steps.
Once you have an idea of your activity level, you can make a goal to increase your step count.
Sedentary: Less than 5,000 steps per day
Low active: 5,000-7,500 steps per day
Active: 7,500-11,000 steps per day
Very active: Over 11,000 steps per day