Comment by arpinum

1 year ago

Fidgeting.

Then why can't someone just make an exercise program that replicates this fidgeting. How is fidgeting more potent than 10,000+ steps/day , which a lot of people do but still stay fat.

  • Fidgeting can make a big difference, at least it’s appeared that way in a couple sources I’ve seen referenced here in the past - failing to have those handy I found this: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15681386/

    No idea how accurate it is, but an extra 350 calories burned is a pretty big improvement over _not_ having those burned.

    I doubt fidgeting alone is sufficient to keep most people skinny. There’s a lot that impacts our weight. But if somebody’s automatically burning calories because they have a hard time stopping fidgeting, that might ease the load a bit so they could eat a bit more or walk a little less than would be the case without it.

    EDIT: it feels worth mentioning that fidgeting can be an all day activity for some people, 8+ hours. Walking 10k steps takes maybe 1.5 hours, more or less depending on the persons speed. It wouldn’t be as much of a workout replacement as a whole lifestyle change.

  • You may as well ask if John Carmack is so productive because he's really motivated, why can't someone "just" make a productivity program that replicates this motivation, and then we can all be that productive. How is 'motivation' more potent than 8hrs/day which a lot of people do and still aren't as productive.

  • The problem is fidgetting seems to be a feedback mechanism.

    Often those who fidget a lot will fidget less on days where they have used significant energy intentionally. Or will fidget less if they are restricting calories.

    It would be hard to purposefully fidget a significant amount, but I suppose it could be trained with the right monitoring and stimulus. It would probably be better to train some other behavior though.

  • The question is about base metabolic rate, not energy expenditure from exercise.

    Fidgeting is a non conscious act performed throughout the day, it is not exercise. Exercise can actually reduce fidgeting and this shows up in athletes lower BMR that needs to be taken into account for meal programmes.

    It is easy to eat more calories than are used in taking 10.000 steps.

Well, now I have an excuse for when people asks me to stand still. "Sorry, I cannot, I'm burning calories".