Oct 28, 2013
One Simple Reason Why You Can’t Lose Weight!
The fact is you did not gain that extra weight overnight. It happened gradually a little bit at a time, then before you knew it you look in the mirror and wonder what happened to that lean fit body? You faithfully visit the Arena District Athletic Club three to four times a week do your sixty minutes of cardio and strength training and can’t figure out way you still can’t lose weight? The answer may lie in what you are doing when you are not at the club that is keeping you from losing those extra pounds and that’s sitting!
As we age we become less active. Maybe you sit longer at work, maybe you commute a little longer in your car, and maybe you are sitting a little longer watching TV, whatever the reason, just sitting two hours longer each day can cause you to be overweight.
According to a study done by the Endocrine Research Unit from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN., found that if overweight individuals adopted the non-exercise level of activity to that of lean individuals they would expend an additional 350 calories per day.
It’s amazing to think that just 2 hours of sitting a day can add up to so much. And really, 2 hours isn’t much if you break it down throughout the entire day. That’s like an extra 15 minutes of sitting to and from work, which is an additional 30 minutes. Add to that, an additional 1 hour of work…and maybe an additional 30 minutes of sitting in front of the TV winding down after a long day at work. And that’s all it takes to be seated for an extra 2 hours or 350 calories less that you expend.
If you’re expending 350 calories less per day, it’s equivalent to gaining 1 pound of fat every 10 days. And if you keep it up, that’s 126000 less calories you burn per year or 36 pounds of fat you gain in one year!
These statistics go beyond just gaining weight as well. Other studies have indicated that the more you sit the higher your chances are of getting serious diseases like diabetes, metabolic syndrome and heart disease.
So here’s a summary of what you can do, to effectively help increase your calorie burn, lose weight and achieve better health.
- Minimize sitting. The less you sit the better off you’ll be, to keep weight off, prevent low back pain and maintain optimum health.
- Replace sitting by standing. Even light muscle contractions like standing can activate fat burning enzymes and help burn more fat. If you can stand at work, even better.
- Walk as often as possible. If there’s an opportunity to walk during the day…do it. The more you can walk the higher your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) and the faster you’ll lose weight, as well as helping prevent serious diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
Just simple things that take a little extra effort on your part, can add up to a lot, especially if you keep doing them on a regular basis.
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