What if there were an extremely simple way to drop 50 pounds this year, ease your joint pain, and extend your life? No complicated diet plan. No grueling workouts. No deprivation.
Sound like the latest diet scheme that’s too good to be true? It’s not: A Mayo Clinic researcher has found that simply moving more — in simple ways that don’t require hours at the gym — will lead to a thinner, healthier body.
James Levine, M.D., developed the NEAT lifestyle – short for “Nonexercising Activity Thermogenesis” — and asserts that even the smallest movements can lead us to burn thousands of extra calories per day.
In his book, “Move a Little, Lose a Lot,” Dr. Levine explains how he went from sitting at a desk all day, carrying around a beer belly, and feeling fatigued, to burning more calories, dropping 30 pounds, and finding endless energy.
Dr. Levine's research found that people eating the same diet and who did not exercise had varying degrees of weight gain — largely due to various in simple daily movements, such as taking the stairs, pacing, performing chores, or simply tapping their toes.
According to Dr. Levine and other experts in the new field of “inactivity physiology,” sitting in and of itself not only makes you fat, it is hazardous to your health. No amount of exercising, he says, can make up for too much time sitting on your duff.
But small movements can help. Something as simple as ditching the electric tooth brush and brushing your teeth by hand can make a big difference in how much energy your body uses and how much weight you lose, when combined with other small changes throughout the day.
Experts agree that everyone needs to get up on their feet and incorporate many more movements — no matter how small — into their daily life.
Even if you sit at a desk throughout the day, you can make small changes both at work and at home that will boost your metabolism and up your chances of a longer, healthier life. According to Levine, simply standing instead of sitting triples the number of calories your body burns. Adding movement boosts your body's energy-burning machine even more.
Expert tips for incorporating small movements at work:
• Stand when you answer the phone and pace around your desk as you talk.
• Make your office less convenient. Place your stapler, calculator, and wastebasket across the room.
• Don't send e-mails or instant messages to co-workers. Instead, walk over to their desks or offices to have a conversation face to face.
• If you work at an office desk for long periods of time, get out of your chair every half-hour, stretch, and walk around.
• Instead of keeping a bottle of water at your desk, trot down the hall to the water fountain.
• Keep moving even while you're sitting. Swing your foot, tap your toes, or drum your fingers.
• Park at the far end of the parking lot or a couple of blocks away and walk to work.
• Use stairs instead of elevators and escalators.
• Take a brisk, 30-minute walk at lunch.
• Use a standing desk for at least part of the day. It's not a new idea — both Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson worked from standing desks. In modern times, former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld uses a standing desk.
Tips for small movements at home:
• Leave the remote sitting on the television and change channels manually.
• Stand and walk around during television commercials.
• Move your alarm clock to the opposite side of the room from your bed.
• Start a vegetable or flower garden.
• Take a walk before breakfast or after dinner.
• Skip the carwash and wash your car yourself.
• Mow your lawn and rake leaves.
• Put on your favorite music and dance while you're getting dressed.
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