N.E.A.T, or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, is a reference to the energy expended beyond that which is spent during exercise and the energy cost of digesting your food. People usually can be classified into two categories: those that move all day long, (construction workers or personal trainers for example), and those who sit all day but workout (which is most of America except usually without the workout part). Both these types of people burn calories during the day. But surprisingly enough, the person who moves more often, who gets more NEAT, is often healthier (even if they do not formally exercise) than the person who works out an hour a day with has a sedentary lifestyle. When people are their healthiest, they are moving all day long and they workout, even if they eat more food too. Their daily energy expenditure is high which means the total number of calories they use each day is high. It is healthier to burn lots of calories and eat lots of calories than to burn very little and eat very little.

There are three main components of energy expenditure. The first is our resting metabolic rate. This is the energy that the body uses to maintain basic life functions like sustaining our organs, pumping our blood and for breathing. The second is physical activity. Our bodies use energy to move. From formal exercise like running 10 miles to getting out of bed in the morning, all movement takes energy. Some people have really high energy expenditure because they are constantly walking, fidgeting and just can’t sit still. The last component of our daily energy expenditure is made up of the energy we use to digest our food. It takes more energy to digest protein than carbohydrates or fat. There are many ways to calculate your daily energy expenditure, for example, the app RECORD and myfitnesspal can tell how many calories you can eat based on your resting metabolic rate and it factors in your calorie burn from exercise to help have the right balance of calories burned vs calories eaten. Click here to see how it is calculated and learn more about it from the American Council on Exercise.

When NEAT and exercise are used in conjunction with a diet plan and a negative calorie balance is achieved (meaning more calories burned then ingested) our bodies start to shift toward weight loss. But when NEAT is low, exercise is sparse and food intake is high, a positive calorie balance is achieved and our bodies start to gain weight. Unfortunately, our bodies don’t really know when our next meal will be and in order to protect ourselves from times of sparse food, we tend to gain body weight faster than lose it.

N.E.A.T.

1. Any activity that you do other than your formal workouts

   • A great way to track it is to use a step counter

2. Makes up the majority of calories you expend each day through activity

   • Increasing your NEAT can make a large impact in how many calories you expend each day, which will improve your ability to lose weight and keep it off

   • Building habits that no longer require a lot of willpower is the key

   • Making smaller activity goals help hit the big goal

   • Many people set reminders on their phone, computer or on an activity band to move every hour

Ideas to increase NEAT:

• Park further from where you need to go

• Take the stairs

• Do yard work

• Wash your car by hand

• Do the dishes by hand

• Walk around when waiting for something instead of sitting

• Meet a friend for a walk instead of at a restaurant

• Hold one on one work meetings while you walk

• Reducing your amount of screen time

• Play with your kids