We Don’t Need to Move Anymore… The Hidden Cost of Lockdown
Lockdown has brought up a host of challenges for all of us.
For many, we kind of liked the morning gym session, daily commute and office environment. We do well with a bit of routine, and have crafted a healthy life around these rhythms.
Enter COVID, and most of these habits have been turned on their head. That morning workout? Gone. Your favourite healthy lunch place? Shut. That morning walk to work that you’ve grown to love? Maybe never again.
The new normal has created a situation that many futurists have long been predicting. For the first time in our history as a species, the requirement to move our bodies is becoming redundant.
Way back when, if we were to take 1000 steps a day, we’d probably get eaten. From hunting, foraging, and working with our hands, we chalked up a good amount of energy expenditure, so much so that we didn’t even have to measure it!
As a nutritionist, the past six months have been met with similar complaints from clients…. “How can I shed this” (points to midline). Yes, iso - weight is a real thing, and there is a perfectly good reason for it.
In fact, If I were to design an experiment designed for weight gain, I’d put subjects in a cage, allow them to order hyperpalatable food to their door via their fingers, shut down recreation areas and set “laws” around exercising. Oh and I’d promote a culture where it’s seen as virtuous to remain disconnected from others. Oh, and I’d shut down gyms and leave bottle shops open… okay I’ll stop.
Hunting and Gathering to Uber Eats comes at a cost
Thermodynamics matters!
If I had to prove the principle of thermodynamics on weight gain where you eat more calories that you burn, then I’d present this case study. It’s hitting nearly every mechanism we know that causes weight gain. On the calories in side we’ve given our cognitive oversight a kick in the face as it’s pretty hard to self regulate when we have delicious food at our fingertips, and are looking around our empty environment for the next dopamine hit. On the calories out side, our lives have been set up to move the least amount possible, and this is what is causing the most damage.
To look at how brutal the current environment is for your body composition goals, we need to look at the main factors that influence our total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
Exercise Related Thermogenesis (EAT)
Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
For many, our BMR, TEF and EAT may not have changed too much. You’re still working out (EAT), still eating protein vegetables (TEF), and you wouldn’t have changed your BMR too much in this period of time. For most of us, it’s our NEAT that’s truly been hit, and it turns out that it’s is much more important than what we thought.
NEAT refers to all of the movement that we do over the day that’s not planned exercise. Walking, commuting, gardening, standing, cooking, and even fidgeting (points for me). It may seem arbitrary, but NEAT makes up a decent portion of our daily energy expenditure. It also holds particular importance as it seems to be the factor that we have the most ability to change. NEAT makes up 6 - 10% of TEE in individuals with a sedentary lifestyle, and up to 50% of TEE in those who are highly active (von Loeffelholz & Birkenfeld, 2018). Yes, NEAT is highly variable, and of the factors that affect our TEE, it’s the one we have most control over. (BMR and TEF make up around 75% of our total output, though they’re relatively fixed)
You’ve probably worked out by now that your NEAT has been crushed. No more commute, no more walking around the office, no more lunch breaks, no more stairs, no more in person meetings… The need to move has never been less.
You kind of have to do this at the moment
So what do we do? Do we have to buy a hamster wheel or start counting steps? As a nutritionist, this is always something I refrain from talking about as I’m all about living a life that revolves around movement, and living as aligned to nature as we can.
Though the current landscape is as far from natural as you could ever imagine. This being the case, we actually do need to jump on the figurative hamster wheel and push up our NEAT.
How to bring up your NEAT
Delete your food delivery apps.
This one is killing two birds with one stone as it will force you to cook at home, which drives up your NEAT, and it usually means you’ll eat healthier as you have control of your ingredients.
2. Have a NEAT partner!
Sometimes we need an excuse to leave our desk, and having a NEAT partner can be that excuse! Block out this time in your calendar and enjoy the benefits of fresh air, connection and movement!
3. Count your steps
Okay, I’ve never been a fan of this, but for those of us who like data and competition, this could be a good time to try and hit your daily 10,000 steps.
4. Stand, kneel, squat, just don’t sit all the time.
Sitting isn’t the new smoking, but sitting constantly is. Instead of sitting, change it up to standing, kneeling, squatting… Any position that gets the body moving differently.
5. Engage in an activity
Learning an instrument, learning to cook, learning to dance… These are all things that you can do while you’re at home, AND you can drive up your NEAT doing so.
6. Perform manual work
There’s a reason that tradies are all in pretty good shape. And though we may not be able to work construction, we can take the bins out, clean our room or do the dishes.
Thank you for reading, now get moving!
References:
Levine, J. (2004) Non Exercise Thermogenesis: Environment and Biology. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00562.2003
Pontzer et al. (2012) Hunter Gatherer Energetics and Obesity. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3405064/
Von Loeffelholz & Birkenfeld (2018). The Role of Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis in Human Obesity. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279077/