I’ve been thinking about days gone by of late, and I’m going to get a little nostalgic with you today.
(Probably because I’ve been poorly…)

We’re much more sedentary than we used to be.  As a nation, we simply move less than we used to, and people really underestimate the importance of it.

Just moving more, doing something active…

When we were kids, we walked everywhere. My mum only got a car when I was 11.

Before that we would walk everywhere, and we would think nothing of walking… I remember when we were teens, with my sister, we’d walk all the way across town, a good hour’s walk – at least – but that’s just what we did.  Sometimes we’d take the bus, but generally we just walked… A LOT.

I remember we had a black and white TV – we didn’t have a remote control. You just got up and changed the channel.  In fact, we barely watched TV… that’s the really interesting thing.

We didn’t have time saving gadgets or devices that nowadays you take for granted, we didn’t have laptops, iPads, and phones that we spent hours gazing at.  We probably only really watched TV one evening a week (who remembers Top of the Pops on a Thursday evening?)

We simply moved more – always out and about, riding bikes and playing in the woods, and as we grew into teens and going out more, we walked.

I moved back to my home town, Hastings, for 5 years, before my move to Espana.  I wouldn’t dream now of doing that walk we used to do multiple times a week – it was seriously a long old way.

But we thought nothing of it then….

Now, we’d hop in a cab, grab an Uber or as a last resort take the bus…..

But why is this so important? Just moving more …and how might that help you drop pounds easily?

We call it ‘NEAT’ in the fitness industry (non-exercise activity thermogenesis)…

Simply that means burning calories through moving / unstructured activity like walking, gardening, taking the lift, standing up and moving around.

One of the most important things I had the women in my FB group do this week was simply take a 10-minute brisk walk on top of whatever else they were doing.

Curiously the latest research from the Arizona State University suggested that three brisk 10-minute walks per day can be even more beneficial than one 30-minute walk per day….

But as I always say, start with one, then work it up to two, just add a little bit more each time.

Getting out and moving.  Just doing more.

I know you may be thinking can this really make a difference with weight loss when I go to the gym twice a week, or I play tennis (that’s me folks) or whatever it may be that you do.

Yes it will, because you are burning more calories and your body is becoming a more effective fuel burning machine.

Think of it this way, if you have an average working day of 8 hours and go to the gym 5 times a week and exercise for 1 hour a time that’s still 35 hours of doing a lot of sitting around.

Recently I bought a portable stand up desk so I alternate between sitting and standing, I use the bathroom upstairs, I set an alarm on my Fitbit to remind me to move every hour.

One of my clients recently told me how after a very successful weekly weigh in that what had gone well was she’d just done more – she’d moved, had been unpacking boxes, up and down stairs, walked to the grocery store, and put in her 3 exercise sessions for that week.

She’s highlighted this as an important thing for her to keep moving closer to her weight loss goals.

So what can you do this week, today to start to do more? Here are some thoughts…

1. Walk briskly for 10 minutes each day
2. Take the stairs (I used to when I was on the 8^th floor!)
3. Use the bathroom on a different floor
4. Walk to the water cooler further away
5. Get off the tube/underground/bus one stop earlier (or walk to one further away)
6. Need to send that email or could you resolve with a quick chat – it’s quite pleasant too!
7. As the evenings get lighter have a brisk walk after dinner

Let me know how you get on and if you’d like to join a small, friendly group of folk committed to losing weight, moving more, and feeling better; join us on Facebook here.