Some examples include standing, rising from a seated position, pacing, or fidgeting. Are you a person that uses a lot of hand and arm gestures and movements to communicate? This too qualifies as NEAT movement!

Studies conducted by James A. Levine, MD, PhD, from the Mayo Clinic Rochester, have shown that for two adults comparable in stature, daily energy output varies by as much as 2,000 calories per day. This difference was not because of exercise but was simply from one person moving more regularly from day-to-day activities than the other person.

To counter the time spent sitting that comes along with our modern sedentary lifestyles, Dr. Levine and his team of researchers have urged people to find strategies to increase movement throughout their days. This also includes re-examining the environments where we spend the most amount of time, like schools, offices and our homes.

What might this increase in movement look like in action?

• Dancing in the kitchen while doing your weekly meal prep.

• Parking at the back of the parking lot when grabbing your groceries.

• Playing with the kids or grandkids.

• Taking standing water breaks away from your desk.

• Planting a small veggie patch to maintain on the weekends.

• Taking a moment in the morning to do a quick five-minute tidy of your home.

• Choosing the stairs instead of an escalator.

These simple changes are not only great little hacks to help you feel your best throughout the day (hello fresh veggies and folded laundry!), but they’re also sneaky little ways to increase your movement and in turn, increase your well-being. Let’s get moving!

1 Levine, A James, 2006, Non-exercise activity thermogenesis: the crouching tiger hidden dragon of societal weight gain. National Library of Medicine, Pub Med.