More ways to keep moving!
Diet and exercise, diet and exercise , diet and exercise ! These two words top the list in terms of what comes to mind for staying healthy or reaching fitness goals. It sounds so simple, but obviously in reality many people spend their whole lives chasing a number on the scale or battling to find a food or workout program that works well for them.
No doubt a big reason a lot of students come to class is to sweat and burn calories ( while having a blast!) for a couple hours a week. Just how many calories depends on your body composition and the intensity of energy you put in, however I’ve heard estimates of anywhere from 300-1000 calories per class!
Sounds pretty good right?
Here’s the thing, our physical activity ( and burned calories) is compromised of more than the time we are purely “working out” at the gym. A much larger portion of calories are burned and more of our time is spent doing NEAT or Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis ~ or simply put , calories burned through daily activities and movements. Walking the dog, doing a house chore, cooking dinner and so on are all examples of NEAT. NEAT can also explain why after hitting class two times a week we may not see the results we expect if we spend the rest of our days largely behind a desk, on a sofa, in a car or ordering UberEats. Convenience culture is always telling us to make things easier and quicker for ourselves , but as a result it’s much harder to get a big enough calorie deficit ( burn more calories than we consume) to hit our goals.
So, if you trying to trim down in the summer heat, let’s think NEAT! See if you can challenge yourself to walk or cycle somewhere you would normally drive, take the stairs, carry your heavy picnic basket and do a lap around the park, play more with the kids, or take breaks from the desk to get up to walk while you talk on the phone. Just like it’s extremely hard to out exercise an unhealthy diet, it’s similarly difficult to out exercise a primarily sedentary lifestyle!
Let’s keep moving on and off the dance floor!
xx,
Katie