Thoughts on moving more
 

Someone posted something about "NEAT" yesterday. I remember some of it stood for (non-exercise something something). :D Sorry! It caught my eye but that's all I remember!

Anyway...it got me out of my chair at work. I propped a Xerox box lid up over my filing cabinet drawer, second one down from the top. That's a good height for me. I put my laptop on it and it works! I have noticed great benefits. I fidget more and I find myself more willing to make quick trips across the office I'd otherwise put off. When I'm thinking I tend to pace. I can do squats or whatever. My mind is more alert and I was pretty tired at the start of my day.

Any thoughts on this of any kind? Other ideas and ways to make it work? Have you thought about doing this or maybe you've done it yourself?

The idea is that we weren't made for sitting and that we burn more calories by standing. I'm NOT considering replacing exercise with this, but it seems to me that every bit counts. It bothers me that I work out intensely for an hour in the morning and then I'm inactive the rest of the day.

I "forget things" upstairs so i will have to climb the stairs more often to go and get them. it's a bit masochistic (?) but it keeps me moving!

hehe

I used to bring my laptop in the kitchen in the morning and stand at my breakfast bar to check email etc while I was having coffee. I should start that again.

I bought one of these small pedal exerciser machines to put under my desk while I'm working, and I use it various times during the day while working to get a little movement in.

http://www.amazon.com/Sunny-Health-F...7205466&sr=8-9

I work in a fast food restaurant, so I'm on my feet for about 4 hours everyday (or 5 days a week depending on my schedule week to week). I usually work in hte lobby, so I'm wiping down tables, sweeping, taking food out to customers, and stocking ice machinces and things like that. Even working in the drive thri window is pretty much the same thing, running orders, stocking things, and bagging orders. The only differences are that I dont have to wipe down the tables and there is no sweepign invloved, unless we are really slow and the other people are doing prep work or something. Any thoughts on increasing this activity. I'm fairly certain that I would get some weird looks if I started doing squats or lunges in the middle of the kitchen...I mightt have to try that today when I go in for my shift. lol

Possiblesuccess, it souns to me like your job is already great for moving more. No need to change a thing, in my opinion! And you're doing bootcamp too, right? Heck, keep doing what you're doing!

Eliana, I missed the post yesterday, what did you do to your computer and xerox lids to make you fidget more?

:rofl: I pulled out my second to top drawer of my filing cabinet, stuck a Xerox box lid on top of it and set my computer there so I can stand instead of sit. The top of filing cabinet is too tall for me. Basically I just wanted to stand at my computer instead of sitting. ;)

Eliana, I thought about that post, too! I am a stay-at-home mom and I do a lot of computing in the afternoon. So I have set up my husband's laptop stand and adjusted it as tall as it would go. It is the perfect height for me to stand and compute. From now on, if I want to compute in the afternoon, I am going to make myself do it standing!

I also want to get something similar to this to use while watching TV:

http://www.amazon.com/Stamina-55-161...7210421&sr=8-1

I wear a GoWear Fit and I'm going to see how many more calories I burn today just by standing up to use the computer.

There's of course the old reliable - when you drive to a mall or any other place with a parking lot - park as far as possible from the entrance and walk across the lot to your destination.

Choose the stairs instead of an elevator or an escalator.

That was me that posted about Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). I stand at my desk to work, about 4 to 7 hours per workday. I haven't really converted over to doing this at home, but I keep thinking about it, and I do it a couple hours per weekend day--but I could do it a lot more.

Yes, I find that when I am already standing, I am much more likely to go check in with a coworker across the way or do some other physical errand in the office. I also put headphones on and listen to streaming music, generally something that will get me moving. I have no doubt, with all of this, that I am burning far more calories than if I were just sitting around on my butt.

NEAT probably helps me burn off an extra 200 to 400 calories per day, depending what I do. It's about 50 extra calories per hour of standing, based on what the activity calculators show me and what the Mayo Clinic studies showed.

I started parking farther away a month ago but earlier this week I got mugged coming out of the grocery store in the middle of the day. :( Pretty sure I was targeted because I was too isolated. Also because I was carrying my son in a baby carrier and he knew I couldn't run away. So everyone please be careful where you park!

Oh, gosh, so sorry to hear that! Stay safe!

I work from home a few days a week, and I walk on my treadmill when I take my conference calls (if I don't have to be near my computer). It's not a cardio walk, but it's movement. I'd love to find a way to prop up my laptop on the treadmill.

Everyone is fine, Thanks.

Yes, it was you! :D I loved that post. It inspired me, obviously. And my rear end doesn't hurt at the end of the day now.

I got to go see "Wicked" last night, and boy was I wishing we had the option to stand through it!