At 60, Elizabeth Hurley, a.k.a. ‘The Deceased’ in new Channel 4 series The Inheritance, swears by one form of fitness to ‘stay in shape’: NEAT exercise. She doesn’t ‘go to the gym or do any set exercise’, she writes on Instagram, but she is ‘extremely active’. What she’s referring to is the movement you do within each day that isn’t formal exercise, like walking or climbing the stairs. ‘This can account for a significant portion of your total energy expenditure – the number of calories you burn in a day,’ explains GP and trainer Dr Folusha Oluwajana.
Hurley has very specific nutrition habits, too. ‘One question I get asked all the time is, how do you stay in shape and what do you eat?’ she says. ‘So here goes. My mantra is: don’t eat too much, too fast, too often or too late. Or put another way, eat smaller meals, chew properly, ban snacking and eat dinner earlier. This works for me. I don’t drink weird green juices or shakes and only take supplements if a blood test tells me I’m lacking something. I try to have vegetables or fruit equal to half of every plate I eat. For example, if I have a sandwich, I also eat an apple.
View this post on Instagram
I eat pretty much everything but only have junk food as an absolute treat – and I count junk food as anything that contains any ingredient that I don’t have in my own kitchen, so that includes ‘diet’ and ‘low-fat’ everything, all ready meals, all bought sandwiches, cakes and biscuits and all sodas. My best investment was a bread-maker, and I make a loaf a day. I also make cakes every weekend.’
But above all? ‘My advice is to move more,’ she says. ‘There endeth the sermon.’
View this post on Instagram
To clarify, NEAT exercise is nothing to do with being tidy, it’s anything that’s not working out or sleeping. Some examples include:
Walking your dog
Walking upstairs
Carrying your grocery shopping
Gardening
Using a standing desk
Walking to the gym, shops or office instead of taking public or private transport
Washing your car
Fidgeting
Playing with your children
As for how increasing the amount of NEAT exercise you do per day, there are plenty of benefits:
Improves muscle recovery
Helps relieve stress and improve mental health
Improves cardiovascular health
Helps control blood sugar
Reduces risk of chronic disease
Lowers inflammation
An easier alternative for returning to movement post-injury
Low-impact form of movement
Little skill required
Free
Good for beginners
Take Hurley's tips on training and nutrition as inspiration, but remember that what works for someone else may not work for you. For example, while Hurley says she has 'banned snacking', that certainly won't work for everyone – and that's ok. Pick out the points you think could slot into your lifestyle without becoming an extra stress.