I suffered a strange side effect after founding Graced Health and began writing about balanced, sustainable healthy living (with a lot of grace and a little chocolate).

I got fluffier. Not significantly, but I noticed a little more padding around my midsection and hips.

Turns out all that sitting and writing about healthy living prevented me from moving like I used to.

Before I started taking the words swirling in my head and sharing my vulnerable spaces with the world (why did I do this again?), I puttered. Up and down, all around. Creating healthy, homemade snacks. I ran more errands. Walked with friends more often. Taught more classes. My overall energy expenditure was higher.

Now, with the exception of my lightly-used makeshift treadmill desk, I sit through my day.

What it’s supposed to look like

Take a moment and envision a woman’s life 200 years ago. She had seven to eight children (God bless her and her epidural-free births). Food was harvested from the garden. The few clothing items each family member had (remember: EIGHT children!) needed to be HAND washed (no Whirlpool to help). Pots, pans, dishes, etc. also hand washed after each meal. And let’s not forget doing whatever was needed to be done to the animal the husband dragged home. (Ew. I thought sirloin came from a grocery store.)

The list goes on, but the bottom line is 200 years ago Mama MOVED ALL. THE. TIME.

Health wasn’t perfect, of course. Thankfully we’ve made great gains in preventing illness and diseases that afflicted so many during that time.

But still …

We were meant to move.

New eras, new types of movement (and lack thereof)

The addition of formal exercise, introduced in the 1970s, is a good thing. No, a great thing. Heck, it’s my job to lead women in finding accomplishment and health through movement.

But we tend to forget to move the rest of the day. Our jobs are vastly different now and often involve sitting in front of a computer. Most US adults sit 9-12 hours a day (1). Even if your job is a domestic engineer (aka stay at home mom), you may find yourself sitting paying bills, researching, and taxi driving from one after-school activity to another.

The NEAT thing

Dr. Len Kravitz (not to be confused with singer Lenny Kravitz) is a prominent exercise science researcher. I’ve attended speeches he’s presented.  Attendees hang onto every last word.  Brilliant, ever inquisitive, and a touch quirky, he’s gained enormous respect from the fitness community.

Dr. Kravitz has performed many studies on non-exercise activity thermogenesis, otherwise known as NEAT. You can read more about how NEAT affects weight gain and loss here, but the bottom line is this:

Increasing your NEAT does three things:

1. Encourages your body to move more often, as we were intended.
2. Increases your BMR, Basal Metabolic Rate, or the amount of energy the body uses to support itself.
3. Reduces mortality rate. I probably should have started with this one. Because, duh, isn’t that our goal here??

I can’t assume what your day looks like. My personal experience is when a writing project requires hours of sitting, I must be intentional about moving. Otherwise, I continue staring intently at the screen while my fingers tap-tap-tap away. (Hopefully. Often my writer’s blocked brain prevents finger movement.)

Studies and statistics

I’m a numbers girl. I love hearing statistics and data. Even at church, I enjoy when our pastor delves into the topological framework of the region in a sermon.

If you’re the same (or even if you’re not), here are a few study results that may encourage you to add more movement in your day.

• 20 lean non-exercisers burned an additional 350 calories per day above their obese counterparts by standing, walking and fidgeting significantly more during the day.¹
• Increasing NEAT helps individuals resist weight gain after weight loss.²
• A large (over 152,000 participants), seven-year study concluded that 1-2 hours of NEAT per day results in mortality reduction of 50-60% for women.³ (Wow!)   
• Moving three minutes for every thirty minutes of sitting lowers mortality and combats negative effects of sustained sitting.⁴
• Using NEAT to move consistently throughout the day can help sustain LPL levels and help the body maintain its ability to burn fat. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is an enzyme that plays a critical role in converting fat into energy.⁵

Small movement changes in your daily life may contribute to positive changes in your overall health and weight management goals.

Here is a list Dr. Kravitz provided on ways to integrate more NEAT into your daily living (scroll to the bottom of the article.)

This is great and all, but for me the important element is intentionality. Conceptually I’m aware I need to move intermittently throughout the day. I just forget.

Sustainable, balanced application

The bottom line: Find a way to authentically and naturally move throughout your day.  

I’m not suggesting you do walking lunges around your kitchen island as you make breakfast. We don’t need to turn this into an obsessive process.

We just need to intentionally give our body what it needs – movement and care.

Incorporate these mini-movements in your day. You’ll live longer, manage your weight better, and move as we were designed.

The eight children, however, is optional.

Click here to read how to incorporate 2-3 minute movements throughout your day.

How do you incorporate small movements throughout your day? Comment below!

Photo credits:

Autumn Mott

Patricia Jekki

Chris Liverani

Resources:

1. A “NEAT” new strategy for weight control, by Len Kravitz.
2. New Clues to Prevent Weight Regain by Len Kravitz.
3. Matthews, C.E., Moore, S.C., Sampson, J. et al. (2015). Mortality benefits for replacing sitting time with different physical activities. Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, 47(9), 1833-1840.
4. Move 3 for every 30 by Len Kravitz.
5. 6 Things to Know About Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis