We burn calories every day to stay alive. Digesting food, staying warm and thinking all require energy. Of course we also burn calories exercising, but there is third way we burn calories; through the activities we perform every day like unloading groceries and walking up and down stairs. These activities are examples of NEAT, or Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis and for many people NEAT makes up the majority of calories they burn in a day. 

Burning calories the NEAT way is very important for weight management. When we take in more calories than we burn, weight gain occurs. And when we burn more calories through NEAT and exercise than we take in we lose weight. This is especially important to think about in the age of technology that we are in now; sadly we are moving less and burning fewer calories than ever. One of the best ways to increase calorie burn to support weight loss and maintenance is to move more the NEAT way. Take a look at your day and see where movement has been replaced by technology: dish washers, laundry machines and even drive –throughs are examples of the way our modern life has reduced our need to move. This doesn’t need to be the case, there are lots of ways to move more every day, you just need to know where to look!