The Key to Staying Thin... Fidget!

Everybody is always on the lookout for the newest diet, the newest and most effective way to lose weight. The prevalance of thinness on magazine covers, ads, television, and movies only encourages our obsession with being slender. Interestingly enough, some of the most basic things you do, can keep you thin. According to the Washington Post, fidgeting is the most basic thing that will keep you lean. Somehow, children know this inherently. You ever try to keep a child still during a church service or a photo session? It's not easy.

Fidgeting in this context refers to everyday mundane bodily movement. This includes stretching, yawning, tapping your fingers while in a meeting... anything that moves any part of your body. You can fidget at almost any time, anywhere. Even if your in an important meeting and don't feel like rocking your chair back and forth and swiveling around, you can still tap your foot or wiggle your pen.

The studydone by the Mayo clinic regarding how mundane movement (fidgeting) affects weight and weight loss was the most detailed study done to date. The study concluded that a typicals days worth of fidgeting done by people who are already fidgety adds up to 350 or more calories per day which can add up to ten to thirty pounds a year. This means, thats by maintaining your current level of activiity and your current eating habits, you could theoretically lose weight, just by fidgeting more often.

The study also found that the propensity to fidget seems to be a genetic pre-disposition. People are either born with the disposition to fidget or they are not. This disposition runs the spectrum as well. Some people fidget more than others but both may have the disposition to fidget. Some may worry that because they were not born with the disposition to fidget they are destined to gain weight or stay heavy. However, this is not the case. The Mayo Clinic study suggested that this disposition could also be learned. That's good news for everyone.

The study used high tech devices to track even the smallest movements of their study objects for several weeks. The leaner participates tended to fidget much more and the heavier subjects moved considerably less. The researchers considered that maybe if the lean subjects gained weight and the heavier subjects lost weight that that might lend them to moving less or more often, respectively. The studies showed otherwise. People tend to stick to their fidgeting habits regardless of their weight, which is why it has be learned if you are not naturally fidgety.

Here's a list of suggested activities and fidgeting tactics to keep you moving throughout the day... even if you do have a desk job.

IDEAS: Tap your toe. Tap your fingers. Rock back and forth in your chair. Use your feet to swivel in your chair. Walk to your co-workers instead of e-mailing or calling them. Stretch. Don't use the remote, get up to change the channel or volume. If you can sit rather than lie, sit. If you can stand rather than sit, stand. If you can walk rather than sit, walk. Pace, you can pace just about anywhere, doing anything. Walk everywhere you can. Chew gum. Constantly change your sitting position. Slip your shoes on and off while you're sitting at your desk. Keep moving while you're waiting for something. Eat during the first half of your lunch hour and walk the stairs during the second half.

The next time someone asks how you lost all the weight, you can respond by saying "I tapped my toe a lot..."