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Our healthcare professionals often remind Bestmed members that staying healthy isn’t only about gym sessions or strict diets. There is a hidden hero in your daily routine called NEAT - this is known as Non-Exercise Activity, simply put, as the energy you burn through everyday movements that aren’t formal exercise: like walking around your house, cleaning up, and yes, even fidgeting in your chair.

These spontaneous, low-level movements may feel insignificant, but the impact they have on our metabolism can be quite profound.

Why NEAT is so important

Your body uses energy for three main purposes:

• Resting metabolism (about 60%): keeping your heart beating and body warm.
• Digesting food (around 10%).
• Physical activity (20–30%): and here’s the surprise, most of that isn’t from workouts, but from NEAT.

It’s the “wild card” that accounts for why one person would gain weight while another doesn’t, all else being equal, even if they both eat the same diet. The variance may have to do with the fact that the second person spends a certain amount of time getting up and out of bed, moving around more in her waking hours, and expending energy without even realising it.

Unfortunately, modern life has reduced NEAT dramatically. Desk jobs, cars and gadgets mean we sit for hours. This inactivity contributes to weight gain, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even early mortality. Alarmingly, 30 minutes of daily exercise cannot fully undo the harm of prolonged sitting. That’s why experts now call excessive sitting a “sitting disease.”

Research shows that lean individuals move more throughout the day than those with obesity, often two hours less sitting daily. That difference can add up to 1,464 extra kilojoules burned per day, or roughly 18 kg over a year. Every small action counts: pacing while on a call, taking stairs, cleaning, gardening, or dancing with your kids.

How to boost your NEAT

• Stand up while talking on the phone.
• Walk to a colleague instead of sending an email.
• Park further from the entrance.
• Take short movement breaks every hour.
• Do light chores between tasks.
• Try ankle rolls or gentle stretches during meetings.
• Use a standing desk for part of your day.

Even standing burns 10–20% more energy than sitting, and a slow walk doubles your metabolic rate. These small changes, repeated daily, protect against chronic disease, improve energy, and help maintain a healthy weight.

The impact of small movements
The empowering message here is that simply by focusing on NEAT and trying to integrate more small activities into your daily life, anyone can begin to shift the scales in favour of weight control. Unlike a formal workout, ramping up your NEAT doesn’t necessitate special gear or a big-time investment. It’s less about incorporating that but rather weaving activity into your day and making movement a habit. The little daily decisions can make a major difference. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk over to a colleague to say something rather than pinging them. Park a bit farther from the store to squeeze in a little walk. Even fidgeting at your desk, getting up to stretch a bit every so often, counts. The magic is in sitting less and moving more, as often as possible. Over time, these micro-movements add up to significant benefits: improved circulation, better blood sugar control, and reduced risk of lifestyle-related illnesses.

Bestmed Advice: Don’t think of activity as something that only happens at the gym. Every movement matters. By weaving NEAT into your day, you’re investing in long-term health, one small step at a time.