In June I was at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Orlando, Florida and had the privilege of hearing Dr. James Levine speak of his research.
Most of the calories we expend are the result of activities of daily living, not from exercise. Exercise is important but we use allot more calories in our activity of daily living.
He explained that people that are lean "automatically" increase their activity of daily living after a time of consuming more than needed. Some of his suggestions include:
1). Walk more and faster all day long.
2). Walk, don't sit, in any meeting of two people.
3). Swear off elevators and escalators.
4). Do not sit while speaking on your cell phone, always walk up and down the hall.
5). Park as far as possible when you drive to work or the store.
6). Move your legs up and down while sitting at your desk at work.
7). Move your chair out of your cubicle and use a fitness ball to sit on.
Even more aggressive options are sometimes suggested including increasing the height of your desk and standing during much of the day, using a stair stepper at your desk during part of the day and even designing a tread mill at your desk!
You may have even better suggestions but each person must design more activity into our daily lives to maintain our weight at a healthy level.
I take the stairs every day at work, and there are signs on each landing. One of my favorites is "fight fat, feel fit, frequent these flights". It takes me longer than riding the elevator, but I feel better. The stairs are worth the time and effort!!
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