16 NEAT Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

How to burn up to 800 extra calories a day and feel more better!

We’ve been trained from birth to sit still. Society has wasted countless hours forcing us to conform and not move naturally. What if that was a mistake?

“Stop moving! Sit Still, you little monkey! Be quiet. Go to your room. Don’t run in the hall! Sit still at the dinner table! Keep your seatbelt on. Stay in your chair. Save your energy. Put that down! Don’t climb on that. Act like a human being!”

And now we are all conserving energy like good little robots. Although with the abundance of food, we’ve got plenty. We really don’t need to.

No problem! We can just save it all as fat. Problem solved.

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Wanna hear something NEAT?

There’s a way to get healthier, burn more calories, and boost your fitness. And you don’t have to go to a gym or change your diet. In fact, you could burn more energy through NEAT and do more for your overall health than any planned exercise.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): energy expended in activities that aren’t on-purpose workouts, sleeping, or eating.

Let’s face it: we could move more. A lot more. Modern society has us sitting around a lot. Compared to our ancestors, we are sloths.

Saving all of your exercises up for one special time is like cramming for an exam in the last few hours instead of studying bit by bit every day. It’s like doing your shopping on Christmas Eve. It's like waiting for the timer on the bomb to read four seconds before snipping the red wire. (Not the blue wire, for Dog’s sake! The red wire! I can’t look.)

Using NEAT to boost the numbers isn’t complicated. It involves spreading activity throughout the day instead of trying to jam it into one little block.

This includes walking to work, raking leaves, doing housework, and fidgeting. Even the smallest movements—chewing gum, bouncing your legs under the desk, getting up every ten minutes and sitting back down, or smacking your significant other when they're sassy—will affect the bottom line and the energy you expend.

• Cardiovascular Health: The more often we walk, stand, fidget, and move, the more blood flows. This increased circulation can lower blood pressure and give the whole system a low-level workout.

• The Lymph System: The secondary circulatory system, the lymph, has no heart and is pumped by muscle movement. So when we sit around like a lump on a log, the lymph is stagnant, can’t efficiently defend us with antibodies, and collects toxins that it can’t get rid of. Constant movement throughout the day keeps everything fresh and revitalized.

• Metabolic Diseases: Consistent low-intensity movement throughout the day helps prevent metabolic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.

• Mental Health Improvement: Regular movement throughout the day can have a huge impact. It boosts endorphins and lowers stress levels, which can alleviate depression and anxiety. What sounds like it will be better for your mood, sitting there with your shoulder slumped, or walking around on purpose?

• Fight Back Against Damage From Sitting: We all know that sitting is the new smoking. Movement is the cure for our sedentary ways.

• Improved Quality of Life: higher levels of NEAT correlate with longer lives and better health. More movement keeps us from losing muscle as we age. Use it or lose it! So, use those muscles by moving around.

All right, Tim. You’ve convinced me. So, how do I get more NEAT?

Here are a few ideas.

1. Set a step goal for the day and try to complete as many steps before noon as you can. Use your phone or smartwatch to keep track.

2. Get on the floor and play with your dog/ cat/ tiny human. They love this kind of attention, you love giving it to them, and all movement counts.

3. Stand up from your desk every hour and walk around the office or house. Use this as a stretch break to prevent stiffness.

4. Do you have a standing desk? Put in your earbuds, turn on some music, and turn it into a Dancing desk.

5. Park farther away from the door. If you park on the street, park a block over. Park at the far end of the Walmart parking lot, over by the campers.

6. Add a few dance moves to your household cleaning.

7. Walk or cycle instead of driving when you can.

8. Get a takeout coffee and meet your friends for a stroll around the neighborhood or park instead of sitting down.

9. Don’t just sit there—walk! If you’re on a phone call, listening to a podcast, or an audiobook, get up and move.

10. Brainstorm while moving—walking can be a great way to generate new ideas. Use the Notes app on your phone to record your voice into text and collect any thoughts that arise.

11. Do some Deskercise! Check out this article on 18 Exercises You Can Do At Work.

12. Is your gym close by? Then don’t drive, walk there…

13. Carry your groceries in a basket or bag instead of pushing a cart.

14. Always take the long way — no shortcuts! Go around the long way to the bathroom or lunch area. Walk around the back from the front, and vice versa.

15. Do I have to say it? TAKE THE STAIRS.

16. Is it cold, dark and scary outside? Try an indoor walking routine.

Move Your Body and Feel Better

Many small movements can add up to crazy health benefits. We have to get over the idea that we can build Rome in a day. Tiny bits of exercise every day are much more likely to build Rome (your healthy body) than putting it all in one hour. Don’t just do three massive gym workouts that leave you crushed and sore, or one yoga session that stretches you out like a limp noodle but no stretching for the rest of the week. Spread out the love!

Five short walks will equal more benefit than one flatout powerwalk, if you just sit around the rest of the week.

What do you think? Can you see the power of Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis? It isn’t just about burning energy. It’s about building a healthy body, keeping flexible, retaining muscle as you age, boosting your mood, and preventing metabolic diseases.

Move more. Your body will thank you.

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