New Year’s Resolution

5 Beneficial Daily Activities You Can Add to Your Diet and Exercise Regimen

It’s that time of the year. What is your New Year’s resolution for 2018? Is it to lose 10 lbs. in next 6 months? Is it reading 10 books for the year? Is it waking up early to get in your exercise every day? Whatever you might have decided, we all know that it’s not easy to keep that up for the duration. In this blog, I want to focus on helping you lose weight in a healthy and functional way by incorporating these specific activities to your daily routine.

In order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than what you have consumed through your diet. I don’t want to repeat what you already know such as different exercises or different types of diet that you may have tried or are working on now. I want to focus on everyday activities which you can supplement into your diet plans and exercises.

Have you heard of NEAT? It stands for (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis).

NEAT occurs every time you exert some force or energy during your daily activities. It is not something you have plan.  Rather, it happens spontaneously as you go about your normal day activities.  Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is an enzyme that plays a critical role in converting fat into energy. Being stagnant and sedentary for prolonged periods of time can reduce levels of LPL. Increasing NEAT to move consistently throughout the day can help sustain LPL levels and help the body maintain its ability to burn fat.

5 Ways You Can Implement NEAT to your Exercises and Good Eating Habits to Improve Weight Loss

1. Stand Up – Stand Up – Prolonged sitting is hazardous to your health. Our body is meant to be moving. Simply standing will increase your daily caloric outtake. You can accomplish this by using a raised table at work while standing. You can read a book while standing at your countertop.
2. Wall, walk, walk – I am sure someone of you have heard that we should walk 10,000 steps per day. Don’t be intimidated by that number. You can always work yourself up to higher step rates or adjust to your current physical/health status. But, I would definitely invest in a pedometer and see how many steps you take during an average day and find ways to increase that number of steps. It can actually be taking time to walk around the neighborhood or parking your car further away.
3. Do Extra Around the House and Make It Count – When you are vacuuming or cleaning the house, put extra effort and make it fun. Turn the music on and dance while cleaning the house. While you are watching TV, don’t just lay or sit there. You can simply add stretching or light ab workouts during TV/leisure time.
4. Play with Your Kids– If you can spend even 10-15 minutes playing catch, kicking a ball or riding a bike, you will be spending precious time with your kids while increasing your NEAT.
5. Cooking – Add some movements while you are cooking. How about adding 10-20 reps of sit to stand while grabbing a pan out of your cabinet? Do 10-20 reps of heel raises while reaching for spices on the shelf. While you are waiting for food to cook, you can bounce in place, perform jumping jacks, or simply move around the kitchen. The point is to not just standing still but constantly moving around while cooking.

What do you think about my suggestions? Do you think it will make a difference?

Let’s quickly do the math. Let’s make it simple and say that by doing NEAT, you can burn up to 100 calories per day. That’s 700 calories per week and between 2800 to 3500 calories per month. And, this is not even including what you are already doing with better diet and exercises incorporated in your New Year’s Resolution. An extra 3000 calories burned by simply applying NEAT can help you reach your goals in an efficient and natural ways.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time. I would be more than happy to discuss this blog or any other health inquiries you may have.

Sincerely,

Dr. Andrew Lee, L.Ac. DPT