There are easy ways to burn calories, but will they do you any good?

We’ve all been told that we should exercise 30 minutes a day at least 5 times a week for our health and our waistlines.

Obesity, diabetes and heart disease are all believed to be caused or worsened by inactivity.

But new research from the University of Missouri-Columbia suggests that what we do during the rest of the day may be even more important to our health than the time we spend exercising.

In other words, it’s the easy ways to burn calories that may do us the most good.

Here’s What The Researchers Found

Sitting in your office chair or sitting when reading, using your computer, watching TV, or talking on the telephone can have a negative effect on fat and cholesterol metabolism.

Even if you exercise one hour per day, you won’t reverse the disease-stimulating effects of being inactive throughout the rest of the day.

But if you stand while you’re doing these activities, you’ll easily burn twice the number of calories as you would while sitting.

You can easily burn many calories through non-exercise activities, too.

Some Examples Of Non-Exercise Activities

You want to limit the time you spend sitting.

But instead of simply standing, you can do household chores, type while standing, go shopping, or even fidget while standing.

You can also do your office work at a standing desk like Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin.

But How Does It Help Your Health?

Within hours of sitting down, the fat-burning enzymes in your muscles’ blood vessels shut off.

But if you stand or move lightly, those enzymes will start up again.

So rather than sitting most of the 16 hours you’re awake, you can rev up your metabolism throughout the day with minimal movement. And burn more fat.

It’s easier to work into your lifestyle, too.

You don’t need to find time to go to the gym. You simply adjust your current activities and find alternatives to sitting.

With these small, but significant changes, scientists hope that people who can’t exercise regularly or who aren’t seeing good results from exercise can double their metabolic rates.

And that may help your health while trimming your waistline.

Best of all, standing and non-exercise activities are easy ways to burn calories.