Comment by robinson7d

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.