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Given the restricted timeframe and expensive gym membership fees, it might feel difficult to fit in adequate physical activity.
However, according to experts, you don’t have to go to the gym to torch calories. You can adopt various daily habits both at your house and workplace that might end up burning more energy than an ordinary exercise session.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, referred to as NEAT, is characterized as The process wherein the body consumes greater amounts of energy. And consumes more calories performing daily activities throughout the day compared to when exercising.
In addition to helping you maintain your weight, NEAT can also boost circulation, support heart health, elevate your mood, and regulate blood sugar levels — thereby reducing the risk of various conditions. diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Dr. Michael Dakkak, a specialist in sports medicine, clarifies: "NEAT encompasses the activities we engage in outside of formal exercise routines. These actions consume bodily energy, enhance performance, aid calorie burning, and contribute to efficient overall body function."
Here, CDRNEWS shares six simple daily activities that help you burn calories without much effort:
1. Walk More Often
2. Stand Up Frequently
3. Drink Cold Water Regularly
4. Use a Standing Desk at Work
5. Fidget Constantly While Seated
6. Opt for Stairs Over Elevators
Standing at work
Substantial studies indicate that when you stand rather than sit at your workplace, your body consumes additional oxygen, thereby burning more calories.
Research assessing oxygen intake discovered that standing typically demands about 0.15 additional calories per minute compared to sitting for the majority of individuals.
Although the discrepancy is slight, it can build up over extended work periods and result in significant variations.
A person working at an office and standing for about three hours during an eight-hour shift can burn roughly 15 to 30 calories each hour.
This totals almost 1,800 calories over a month period, which is similar to jogging for 18 miles.
Modifying your stance and adjusting your movements
Frequently altering your stance and movement rather than remaining static for extended periods can notably impact your caloric expenditure throughout your fitness journey.
Research utilizing advanced tracking devices indicates that individuals who regularly alter their stance or adjust their body position over the course of the day use additional energy, thus burning more calories.
Although fidgeting has typically been seen as distracting, it can help you expend more energy compared to remaining motionless.
Simple actions like tilting from one side to another in your seat, drumming your feet, wriggling your toes, spinning your hair, and performing shoulder circles can help maintain bodily movement and calorie expenditure throughout the day.
A 2005 study Suggesting simple actions like gently tapping your foot, moving your leg, and exhibiting various signs of unease could aid in burning up to 350 calories daily—potentially leading to a weight reduction of 30 to 40 pounds over the course of a year.
Everyday walking
You might be unaware of this, but wandering through supermarket aisles or strolling several blocks to reach your bus stop can actually burn calories.
Even pacing around your home while you talk on the phone can burn calories.
The study revealed that walking for just two minutes every half hour notably enhanced post-meal blood glucose management when contrasted with prolonged sitting and standing alike.
A woman weighing 150 pounds who takes a casual walk for 60 minutes each day could burn approximately 210 calories.
In contrast, a male weighing approximately 200 lbs who takes a one-hour walk can expend around 246 calories.
Household chores
Tasks like preparing home-cooked meals, tidying up, and washing dishes manually can significantly boost energy consumption.
Research indicates that vacuuming for 30 minutes can burn approximately 99 calories if you weigh 120 lbs, around 124 calories if you're 150 lbs, and roughly 166 calories if your weight is 200 lbs.
Tidying up beds, tending to gardens, cleaning windows, disposing of garbage, and scouring surfaces all help burn calories and engage various muscle groups.
While scrubbing the bathtub with some additional effort, flipping the mattress to tidy up the bed, carrying bulky garbage bags from the kitchen to the street, and going upstairs multiple times within your home, you’re getting exercise without realizing it.
For someone weighing 120 lbs, spending an hour doing various cleaning tasks at home will burn approximately 171 calories, whereas mowing the lawn can expend about 314 calories in that same timeframe.
Gardening is an excellent housework activity for burning calories subconsciously.
Participating in activities such as digging, weeding, raking, and planting—activities that qualify as moderate-intensity exercises—can help maintain bodily movement and keep your metabolism active for burning calories.
The CDC reports that spending between 30 to 45 minutes working in your garden can help you burn as much as 300 calories.
Despite staying indoors all day, going up and down the stairs and shifting items around can help you torch approximately 240 calories daily.
Taking the stairs
Choosing to use the stairs instead of elevators in places like your workplace, a clinic, shopping centers, or transit stations can aid in shedding roughly one pound over a few months.
Studies examining step counts among various populations have shown that individuals who average at least 7,500 steps per day tend to achieve notably superior weight management compared to less active counterparts.
An individual weighing approximately 160 pounds can expend around five calories per minute when climbing stairs at a slow pace, and roughly four calories each minute when descending those stairs gradually.
An individual can expend 19 calories each minute by jogging up a staircase.
Interacting with children or animals
Many of the games played by children, particularly those involving younger ones, consist of quick and impromptu actions like dashing about, leaping, squatting, and pursuing each other.
And all of these things can significantly raise your heart rate and burn calories.
Likewise, engaging in basic activities with your pets like tossing a ball or going for a leisurely stroll can contribute to shedding pounds.
According to a 2023 study conducted by Lloyds Pharmacy, an individual can burn approximately 250 calories per hour for men and around 211 calories per hour for women engaging in activities like playing with children or pets, with calorie expenditure varying based on the vigor of the play session.
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