Customer Reviews

Move a Little, Lose a Lot: New N.E.A.T. Science Reveals How to Be Thinner, Happier, and Smarter

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

One of the commenters says it doesn't take a PhD to say that activity is good, but I have to say that I'm a PhD in a related area and I think this book is terrific. (I don't have any professional or personal connection to the author.)

Professionally: This book uses the best theories of health psychology to motivate readers to make changes in their lives. The main obstacles that most people face are not lack of knowledge or even the motivation to make changes. The most important obstacle is usually self-efficacy, people's beliefs that they are capable of making the necessary changes, including psychological thought distortions such as negative self-talk, perfectionism, etc.

This book prevents perfectionist thinking by asking readers to give themselves points. If you get more than 3/4 of the points for a 2 week period the book says you've been successful. By contrast, most books will assume you've done everything in the book, and people who have skipped steps may get discouraged and put the book aside. The book tries to build a reader's self-efficacy by asking her to work on other tasks, break larger tasks into components, and other experimentally proven techniques.

So, as a PhD in health, I can say that this book is cleverly designed.

Personally, I think this book is helpful because it reminded me that the time I'm spending at the gym isn't the only time that counts. After living in a walking/biking city for my whole life, I moved to a driving suburb and unsurprisingly gained 10 pounds. I'm going to the gym regularly and am careful with my diet and am gradually losing weight, but this book reminded me that I should think also about my non-exercise activity since that's what I'm doing for the 23 hours a day that I'm not at the gym.

I read the book 5 days ago, and it's really affected how I see my overall health picture. I've been treadmill shopping and am strategizing how to build an inexpensive treadmill desk (walking 1 mile per hour for 8 hours = 800 calories). I've read some blogs of people who have treadmill desks and am impressed at their weight loss no matter what weights they started out at. I have tried using my computer standing up and found that I'm much more efficient that way.

This book's plan does not replace regular diet and exercise, but it's an important reminder that the 23 hours you're not at the gym can help weight loss as well.

UPDATE: Four months after I read this book, it's still helping me. I did not get a treadmill desk, but I did buy a mini-elliptical and a 49" bookshelf, and it's a useful back up exercise. Especially useful now that the sun doesn't rise until after 7 am, I can get exercise first thing in the morning while watching TV or checking email and I truly look forward to this exercise. In addition, I also go to the gym, but the mini is a great backup.

Okay, so I have to admit I was skeptical when I first heard about this book -- can you really lose weight without going to the gym or doing strenuous exercise? I'm a former runner and bikram yoga addict, so I'm used to having intense workouts. But now that I have two small kids, I just don't have the time to exercise like I used to. This book helped me realize that I can stay in shape just by finding ways to keep moving throughout the day, while doing everything I normally do: take care of the kids, shop, clean the house, talk on the phone. I even type on the computer while standing up now, and it's amazing what a difference that small change can make. This book isn't a gimmick at all, but really smart. Read it. It will change your life.

Since reading this book, I have changed my life in small but important ways. I have a stepper in my office, I walk to my car (20 minutes each way) when I commute, I take walks with clients, I cook with my kids at night while dancing and I've completed several home projects I'd been postponing. I've not only slimmed down, but I've shifted the way I think so that I now welcome things that require energy and movement. I can't say enough about this book. Read it. Once you understand what sitting all day does to your body, you'll have no choice but to get up and dance and move and get healthy. And, the best part for a former sloth like me, you don't have to go to the gym.

What veggie girl fails to add in her comment is that cleaning, gardening, etc can be done for those 20 to 30 minute walks and is said in the book. ANYTHING that gets yourself up and moving instead of just sitting at your desk or on the couch watching tv all night counts. I guess she skipped that part. I am following Weight Watchers instead of the eating plan in the book which he says is fine to do. The whole point in the diet is to start you down a path to eating right if you aren't already. In the 8 week plan you work on upping your movement, eating, as well as some mental "NEAT Beats" as they're called to help transform you all around. My husband and I have both found the book very helpful in making us more active. If you automatlcally look at the book as another fad diet and don't give it a chance, no it won't help you because you're not committing yourself to it's concepts. Basically read the info on the following link. If you think it's BS then don't buy the book. [...]

By the end of week 8 of this program, you will be walking 215 minutes a day (that's 45 minutes, 3 times a day) and doing 44 Core Chargers and 16 Sunrise Stretches, as well as following prescribed dietary restrictions. That is a lot of planned movement, not a little. Thus, the book is clearly mistitled. Also, it is just another diet and exercise book: it has nothing new, nothing controversial, and nothing to distinguish it from a lot of other diet books.

My major complaint with this book is the author's advise to read the book while pacing around your house. Then, why didn't he just release it as an audiobook, or at least include an audiobook disc with the book? That would have made it much easier to "read" and pace at the same time. At the very least, it might have made the book appear to be interesting.

About a year ago, I traveled for a solid 2 months, in and out of airplanes, airports, hotels, all while pulling a suitcase behind me. When I returned home I was surprised to find I had lost 7 pounds without changing my eating habits. I tried to maintain the loss by going to the gym in the morning, but I was still sitting at a desk all day, then going home and sitting, so it wasn't long before I gained it all back. After reading this book, I realize I need to move all throughout the day, not just for 1 hour in the gym. Stand more than you sit, move more than you stand. Basic principles that work and are easy to incorporate into your daily routine. Great book, solid principles.

If you choose to do what this author tells you, i.e., the walks, the "core chargers" and the "sunrise stretches", you ARE formally exercising (as opposed to normal day-to-day activity).

All of the early articles I remember reading on N.E.A.T. focused mostly on people who naturally tend to fidget rather than sit still. You can probably stretch the definition a bit to activities like hanging clothes on a line rather than using a dryer (for lots of people, a dryer is much easier to do without than a washing machine), and standing up when using a computer (or doing any other desk activities, for that matter), instead of sitting, if the computer is on a counter rather than a desk. However, once you get into using a treadmill, that is actively "exercising", whether or not you're doing something else.

Yes, you can fit more activity in your day, but there are other books out there (Too Busy to Exercise? by Porter Shimer comes to mind) that cover this subject better.

I love the concept -- add small bits of low-intensity exercise and movement throughout your day to reap big returns in metabolism and weight loss. But I still have some reservations.

-Why are people who are on their feet all day (teachers, waitresses, retail people) often still overweight?
-Why does Levine say "without dieting" in the title, yet spend a lot of the book talking about restricting caloric intake?

As someone who is fairly active and who has had trouble losing the last 10 baby pounds (yup, the "baby" is turning 5 next month), I am having trouble believing that just strolling around more will burn off those stubborn pounds. But I'm willing to give it a shot.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Dr. Levine did the solid research and has shown the modern solutions for obesity and extra weight were not working. They have been going at the problem from the wrong angle, ie, eat a lot less and go to the gym and work out like crazy for an hour. Then go home and sit (or whatever). Instead, changing our everyday life to one of more NEAT movement (walking, washing dishes, playing with kids, dancing, whatever moves your feat) is the answer. I know Dr. Levine is right. I have known those skinny folks and they ALL move all the time and fidget. It is quite obvious now that I'm really thinking about it.

I'm one of those "tends to sit folks." I have been all my life BUT I used to force myself to go to the gym, etc. Then, I got pretty sedentary and the pounds packed on even when I was doing a bit of cardio or going to the gym. Now I know why. I have been using more NEAT in my life for the past maybe five days, and I feel soooo much better already-- energetic and happy. I will implement the NEAT 8 week plan after Christmas. [...]. For me at this point, I am making sure to get over 3000 calories burned per day. I will up that level as I go-- a bit each week. For my eating, I follow Radiant Recovery.

Sometimes, the answer to the problem that is staring you in the face (ie, all the chair sitting) is the right one. Thanks, Dr. Levine.

I have probably read just about every weight loss book out there. At 58, I can't run anymore, so walking and cycling are my cardio exercises. This book helped me create and implement an activity regime to help burn more calories. I eat healthily, and watch calories, so I didn't pay a lot of attention to the meal sections. The book starts your activity off small, say 15 minutes of walking 2 - 3x per day, working your way up in steady and doable increments. The goal setting section is a winner as well.
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