Losing weight is game of numbers and by that i mean number of calories consumed versus calories burned. If you consume ie. eat or drink morcalories per day than you are burning off then you will gain weight. If you are burning more calories i.e exercising and moving, than you are consuming then you will lose weight.

A person who works an active job, always on their feet and moving such as waitress or engineer or construction worker will burn hundreds more calories per day than a person sitting down in an office. Most jobs these days are sitting or sedentary however It doesn't mean you're doomed to gain weight it just means you have two options : Either monitor and reduce your calories or move as much as possible of course doing both would be the best scenario.

There are formulas you can find online to help calculate how many calories you need to fuel your individual daily calorie needs such as this – (click here)

1 pound of fat has approx 3500 calories of energy stored inside it. So eating less and moving more can make a big difference when its comes to losing that 1lb of fat. For the purpose of this article we will focus on the moving more part. So what is N.E.A.T? N.E.AT breaks down to Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis which is a fancy way of saying burning calories without directly exercising such as housework, walking the dog, painting, etc. basically good old fashioned manual labour or movement.

There are other ways to burn calories besides going to the gym. Here is a list of common activities and how many calories they burn per hour for a person weighing 155 lbs/70 kgs.

Calories for 155 lb/70 kg person doing....

• Walking the dog – 225 calories per hour

• Painting/wallpapering – 250 calories per hour

• Mowing the lawn – 275 calories per hour

• Gardening weeding/cutting shrubs – 300 calories per hour

• Housework – vacuuming/sweeping/cleaning – 200 calories per hour.

• Washing/vacuuming the car – 250 calories per hour.

• Hiking/hill walking – 400 calories per hour.

• Kicking ball with the kids – 350 calories per hour.

• Chopping/stacking wood – 400 calories per hour.

*note : at a heavier body weight an individual will more calories and a lighter body weight will burn less per hour.

A few more tips to increase your daily calorie burn would be to

• Take the stairs more often and the elevator less.

• Park your car further away from work and walk in or do one better and cycle to work.

• Try clock up to 10,000 steps per day – use apps or a pedometer to track your steps.

• Take the dog for a walk in the evening.

• Some offices are equipped with standing desks which will not only help burn a few more calories than sitting down but also good for posture and circulation. Swap the chair for a standing desk for an hour a day.

• Get out for lunch. Have a walking meeting with your colleague and/or eat in the park.

Sitting for extended periods of time and low levels of activity has been linked with heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity so get off the couch and get moving!

Remember it's not just about burning calories, its about feeling good, improving your lifestyle, wellbeing and living a long healthy life.

- APG