Most of us aren’t able to spend all day in the gym working on our fitness. We have jobs, kids, and other responsibilities that eat away at most of our time and it can feel impossible to fit in a workout at the end of a busy day. Now, while it is crucial to take the time to prioritize physical and mental health with a healthy diet and exercise, some days we need a win when we can’t make it to the gym. This post might sound a little crazy and, before I get into it, I want to say that I’m not trying to justify any annoying habits of your coworkers here so don’t get mad at me if someone starts tapping their toes and clicking their pen a bit more after reading this! Okay, let’s get into it.
We burn calories with everything that we do. Even lying in bed, asleep, our bodies burn calories to keep our organs functioning and to keep us alive. Wake yourself up and sit on the couch instead of lying down, you’ll find yourself burning even more calories. This is known as non-exercise activity thermogenesis (or NEAT as I’m going to call it from here on out because burning calories even when we aren’t exercising is NEAT! *ba dum tss*). If you can’t make it to the gym, here’s what you can do instead–bounce your knee while working on excel spreadsheets, focus on your posture in your next meeting, drink extra water so you find yourself having to walk to to bathroom a few more times a day. Okay that last one might be a little more effort, but I bet you aren’t hydrated enough so its a good way to get that NEAT going while also checking another healthy habit off your checklist. Go you!
Exercise is necessary and I’m still going to push you to break a sweat, but who doesn’t want to burn some extra calories without much effort? Keep your body moving, no matter how small a movement you may think it is, and you will benefit from it by increasing your NEAT. And for all you fidgety people out there, now you have the perfect excuse for why you are annoying everyone with your constant pen tapping 😉
Sarah Zimmer Fitness 