Grazing on food throughout the day can lead to slow progress, or even set-backs, if your goal is losing weight. Your body needs time to process (AND USE) the energy between eating occasions to help avoid storing fat. Eating food every hour is probably not a great idea. When it comes to exercise though, grazing can be just what the doctor ordered. If you find it hard to exercise because you don’t have 2 hours to go out to the gym and back, snacking on exercise may be easier to accomplish while still getting the benefits.

With exercise, good things come in small packages

1. Schedule wise, small bouts of exercise can be more realistic for many. Want to get over mid-day zombie mode?
2. An exercise snack will energize!
3. 100 push-ups at once – overwhelming. 100 pushups over 8 hours – achievable.
4. completing exercise snacks often sets the stage for other positive habits.

Snacking on exercise may lower insulin levels
In a recent study, when 11 adults with overweight or obesity spent 9 hours taking an hourly stair-climbing “snack”—which meant briskly climbing 55 steps—their blood insulin levels were 17 percent lower than when they spent 9 hours sitting. Each “snack” took 20 to 60 seconds! High insulin levels = greater risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. (source – Nutrition Action Newsletter)

Exercise snack tips

1. Stay committed to getting out of your seat every hour during the workday.
2. If you keep them frequent, 60 second exercise snacks can be enough.
3. Get your heart and breath rates up! these are sprints, not marathons.
4. Consider resistance bands for some strength training options.
5. The more involved the better – meetings are a great opportunity.
6. Don’t compensate for more activity with poor food choices.

Get your office munching on movement today!