Are you someone who can’t seem to find anytime for exercise no matter how hard you try? Or just the thought of a gym makes you want to bury your head in the sand?  Well, there is something for you too! And it is called NEAT:  Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. May sound complicated, but could possibly be the easiest thing you can do to get fit without seeming to. Human energy expenditure (EE),which needs to be balanced against the input energy through eating for optimal health, is defined by three components – the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) and Physical Exercise activity thermogenesis (PE). There are also other small components such as the energetic costs of medications and emotion and the equation can be represented as EE = BMR+TEF+PE

BMR is the energy expended when an individual is at complete rest, just to keep all body mechanisms running (tested in the morning, after sleep, provided the person is not shocked into wakefulness) and accounts for nearly 60 per cent. TEF is the energy associated with digestion, absorption, and storage of food and accounts for approximately 10-15 per cent of total daily EE. The PE is a variable factor and depends on the amount of physical activity done as – Exercise and NEAT during any given day.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is thus the energy expended for anything that is not sleeping, eating or strenuous exercise. It ranges from the energy expended walking to work, typing, household activities, walking up the stairs or even fidgeting! NEAT activities are a great way to start incorporating some physical activity in your daily life in a non-time consuming way. However, for those who are still excessively over weight, a word of caution – while NEAT activities can be a great way to start off, this alone will not suffice to get you into optimum health.

How to get NEAT? Here is how..

Park your vehicle 50 – 100 metres away from your office building or elsewhere, and walk down the distance.

Avoid asking the newspaper guy to drop the newspaper at your home. Instead, make it a routine to walk down and pick up the newspaper yourself. Instead of asking for home-delivery of household items, pick it up yourself from the neighbourhood shop

Try to use the stairs while shopping in malls or even at office and home. Of course, in case of office or home, do choose the number of floors you can climb according to your fitness levels and time, and let the elevator help you with the rest.

Reduce the use of remote while watching TV, and instead physically get up and go to the TV to change channels.

In the lunch break during office hours, take the longest route to reach the canteen, or in case you eat lunch in your cubicle itself, make sure you take walk around for eight to 10 minutes at least either before or after lunch.

Take some time out daily to play with your children and take your pets for a walk atleast once a day, and watch your health and relationships improving.

While in office, keep your dustbin five or six cubicles away, and make it a point to get up and go over to it every time you want to chuck something. During the time that the computer is loading a page or downloading something, try some leg extensions, side bends, shoulder rolls or just stand up and walk around, stretch and then come back to your work.Walking meetings where the participants walk around the office and discuss issues are quite popular abroad! Walk down to the water cooler, every two hours and fill up your bottle, instead of asking the attendant to do it. Who would have thought humility could also burn some calories?

In the morning, while reading the paper, try walking around instead of sitting at the table. While climbing steps at home or office, try creative ways to climb – like criss-cross climbing, climb once-step down and climb again – repeat etc. For those who sit for long hours at work, consult an expert who can suggest some office exercises for you, considering your workspace. In fact, it has also been found that chewing gum can also contribute to NEAT!

Get creative with NEAT and remember that it’s the little things that make a big difference.

Sindhu Ramachandran is an engineer but with a passion for people and learning, found her calling in the domains of human behaviour and connection. What followed is an eight-year research into ‘Intentions of Human Behaviour’ which has now morphed into a project called “Simplifying Life!” Deeply spiritual in her outlook, she is an avid reader, an amateur documentary-film maker and very interested in mystical sciences, besides dabbling in writing when inspired by the environment around her!