Fidget Calories-How Much Do They Count?

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar 18, 2012 -
There have been some studies on fidget calories, but just how much do they count in an overall weight management plan?  Let us review on our basic calorie needs.  Our resting metabolic rate is the amount of calories we need to just keep all our involuntary body functions going.  If we just sat there, didn’t voluntarily move, then the body would burn calories to keep our digestive processes going, our cells functioning internally and us breathing, etc.  Anything we do past that takes energy or calories.  So, yes even fidgeting requires the burning of calories, which can count to an overall weight management plan, but still, how much?

Fidget calories and how much they count is different based on the type and quantity of fidgeting.  There was a study done back in 1986 by Eric Ravussin.  He had 177 subjects put into rooms about the size of an average bedroom.  He had them in there for 24 hours.  Subjects were able eat, sleep and use stationary bike.  It was the determined by this study that fidgeting played a big role in the calories loss in this study.  The people that lost more calories tended to pace, play cards and were just overall more restless.  It was not just a few calorie spread either, but 2,300 calories difference between the different subjects and their activity.  There are some other variables, which are always true for anyone burning calories, that being muscle mass, age, gender and metabolism.  The large calorie difference made this a very interesting study.

Fidgeting Only A Small Part Of Overall Weight Management Plan

If you understand the basic concept of a resting metabolic rate, then it stands to reason that any activity, even fidgeting, will burn calories.  And we know that if we take in less calories than we burn each day, we lose weight.  So, fidgeting could be part of an overall weight loss or weight management plan.  It’s not that easy, however.  For fidgeting to have much significance, you would have to do it consistently every day.  Researchers have found that there seems to be a genetic disposition to fidgeting.  So the tendency to fidget is not in everyone’s make up, so to speak.  That doesn’t mean that you cannot incorporate some fidgeting principles into your daily lifestyle, but you would have to make a conscious effort to do so.

Fidget Calories Add Up

An approximate fidget calorie count of tapping your foot vigorously and continuously for about one minute would be about 3 calories.  Maybe over the course of the day, you do this for a total of 15 minutes.  That is 45 calories.  Or maybe while you are tapping a foot, you are also tapping your pencil on the desk.  Between the two, you could be burning an extra 100 calories.  Actual amounts will vary depending on current weight, age, current lean muscle mass, metabolism, health status and the particular intensity of the fidget.   In addition to those fidgets, maybe you pace while talking on the phone for 10 minutes, that is another possible 30-40 calories.   You can see how the calorie count can add up to a significant amount of fidget calorie loss.    

When considering your fidget calories and just how much they count toward your overall weight goals, think about what you can consider as part of your fidget calories.  Some ideas might be to pace while talking on the phone, pace while brushing your teeth, tap your feet if sitting at a desk a lot, get up every hour to just stretch or walk around, do leg lifts or arm movements during commercials, etc.  Burning an extra 230 calories a day could equal 2 pounds a month or 24 pounds in a year just from fidgeting.  When you think of it that way, fidget calories do count in an overall weight management plan.

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