Want to lose body fat?! Do this simple activity which you're NOT doing...

Stuck with your weight and fat loss journey? I’ve got a secret weapon that will propel you towards your goal…

You've been looking after your diet and nutrition. You might have even joined a gym or started working out at home. You are focused, determined, and consistent. The first few pounds you wanted to lose have flown off your body. Great! A few weeks have passed since you started, and those pounds are still going away. Yay! And than…. The scale stopped moving.

A week has passed by and the number hasn’t changed. Okay, let's not get carried away. Wait. Be patient. Another couple of weeks has gone by and… nope. Nada. The scale isnt budging. It might have even gone up a little. What the hell is going on?!

A rush to google uncovers that dreaded word… "Plateau". Many dozens of lines have been written about the 'plateau' phenomenon. Some feel it’s the body's resistance to losing weight. Some blame the metabolic rate. Some even go as far as suggesting your hormonal system is now so messed up that your body is scared of being in "starvation mode". You decide to react. Get more aggressive. Cut more calories, work out harder and longer. A couple of days and still no change. "Let's stop with carbs at dinner", "maybe add a fasting day", "have a refeed day", and the list of so-called plateau-busting strategies goes on and on and on.

The simple fact is, each one might help *short-term* but none are sustainable. Our body is such a smart machine that it would adjust and handle every single hit, and carry on. Reality would always go back to energy balance. In order to lose any weight you have to be in a deficit. Expend more energy than what you put in. period. You can exercise for hours, eat salads all day, and still not lose weight. Why?! Because the body is smart enough to adjust its energy expenditure and slow itself down. Of course, that is extreme but it is reality.

During a weight or fat loss journey, we are usually very focused on the energy coming in through food and drink. We also know that exercise helps with the energy we expend and use. But we are less interested in some of the other energy sources, which for many people can have a significant impact!

Let's dive into one of those - NEAT. Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.

Behind the 'big' words lies a simple fact - our body uses energy for every single activity in addition to that during a workout. Thinking is an activity that requires energy. Moving your head requires energy. Getting out of bed is an activity. We all know that person that fidget like crazy when sitting down. That finger tap. That knee which keeps moving.

Did you know that a person who fidgets can expend as much as 800 calories a day from such movements alone?! In extreme circumstances more than 75% of our energy expenditure can come from NEAT. That's mind-boggling! For some people this can be the secret sauce. The ultimate weapon in their arsenal of weight loss tools.

One of the most common activities which contributes towards NEAT is…..Walking.

When we walk, we expend energy. The average person will use around 50 calories for every 1000 steps at an average pace. Spend around an hour walking, which would probably get your anything between 6,000-10,000 steps, and you've burnt upwards of 500 calories!

And if that's not enough, walking at a reasonable pace uses our stored fat as energy. Yes, you read that right. The stored fat, that thing we work so hard to lose, is being shed just by walking.

So if you're trying to lose weight and specifically fat, and your efforts have stalled, start walking. Now. The more you walk, the more energy you spend, the more fat you utilised. It is really as simple as that.

In order to add credibility to the statements above, I've set myself a challenge. For one week, I've upped my step count from 10,000 a day on average, to 25,000 every single day. An uptick of 150%. During the 7 days of the challenge I covered 179,617 steps, a total of 129 km.

As above, the caloric average of walking at a 5kph pace is 500 cals for every 10k steps, therefore during that week I used an additional 9,000 calories. I have not changed my usual food, menu or calories.

After the week, I've stepped on the scale, took pictures, and sat down to go through the numbers and differences. The results shocked me. Now don’t get me wrong… I am quite lean and carry little fat, I am also active and quite regimented with my nutrition. The absolute numbers are irrelevant, but I have lost 3.5 kg during that week, and even more significant lost nearly 2% of my body fat mass. Looking at the before/after photos, that loss is quite apparent. Specifically around the lower abdomen and obliques. I could see some saturation I've not seen before.. And that is without changing anything else about my energy balance. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

To summarise, the numbers don’t lie. Walking, apart from being good for your physique, joints, blood circulation, and mental capacity, is a significant contributor to NEAT, and therefore a great tool to use during a weight and fat loss effort.

Benefits include:-

• relative low intensity which allows anyone at any age to walk. There's hardly any pressure on the joints or other skeletal structure. VO2 max utilisation is average. There's no spinal twisting, and as a result it is a great cardio activity.

• Due to the low intensity, hunger before or after is a non-issue. That means you do not need to compensate and add pre or post activity additional nutrients, specifically carbs.

• It's an activity you can do anywhere and at anytime.

• Walking in fresh air stimulates positive brain activity, allowing you to "clear your head" and can even be fun with your favorite companion, podcast or music.

Some drawbacks might include:-

• Time. One of life's most sought after commodity… seriously though, walking is time consuming. If you could fit it in, go for it!

• It's pretty monotonic in nature, and to make it interesting you need to put an effort like add weight, walk in the forest or climb a hill.

• It's effect on your raspatory system is minimal, and therefore it won’t significantly improve your lung capacity or VO2 Max.

Please contact me directly if you've got any questions or would like a more structured plan to achieve your goals.

ncohen@fiixfit.com

Instagram @nc2211

Walk. Enjoy. Achieve.