Fidget Your Way to Weight Loss

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Are you one of those people that cannot sit still? Did you know that you are burning calories? It’s called boosting your NEAT, which in scientific terms means "non-exercise activity thermogenesis." In other words, it is possible to fidget off some of those extra pounds. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic report in the journal Science that NEAT may burn as many calories as a trip to the gym. The study shows that on average, obese people sit two and a half hours more a day than their naturally lean counterparts, therefore burning up to 350 fewer calories. This could be close to 30 pounds a year that’s not moving because you’re not moving.

The calories burned in everyday activities or fidgeting such as foot tapping or shifting in your seat is revealing information. Mayo Clinic researchers came up with a monitoring system that would detect any physical movement. They worked with twenty test subjects, ten obese and ten lean, and told them to go about their normal routines during the study period.

Are you wondering how they monitored each test subject’s every movement? The answer is high tech underwear! This special customized, data-logging underwear was embedded with sensors so they could monitor body postures and movements every half second continuously, 24 hours a day for 10 days. Researchers gave out a fresh pair each morning in the hospital where the test subjects had their breakfasts. The subjects were weighed and the data from their high tech underwear was downloaded onto a computer. Pretty NEAT! They concluded that naturally obese people are NEAT-deficient. It’s not a lack of motivation but appears to be more neurologically driven so increasing your NEAT or fidgeting more is something everyone can learn to do.