Gadgets and Gear -
fitness
So, you want to lose a few pounds, but you can't quite make it to the gym? Maybe you can fidget your way to a new body. Fact is, as people squirm, move, shake, and fidget they burn extra calories. While it is not many calories for a given movement, spread out over the day they can add up. But how much of an extra burn are you sneaking in during the day? Alice Wang may have the answer.
As part of her Chairs for the Dysfunctional exhibit, Alice has designed a work called Constant Shaker that will count those extra calories and display them on an old school LED panel on the leg of the chair itself. While not exactly stealth in its design, it certainly would seem to get the job done.
Alice based her design on research done that supports an interesting concept - our brain triggers unconscious muscle movements for the sole purpose of burning extra calories when we're inactive. If that is true, then maybe all those times our parents told us to "stop fidgeting" or "keep still" was actually bad advice. Who would have known?
You can find out more about the Constant Shaker chair at Alice Wang's website. In the meanwhile, let's get those fingers dancing and legs shaking. And a one, two, three... Nevermind.
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Calories Math In Favor Of Losing
Fat contains about 3,500 kilocalories per pound (32 kJ/g).
- If you eat 3,500 kcal more than your body needs, you will put on 0.3 pounds (0.14 kg) of fat (assuming 30% digestion efficiency, or less depending on food conversion inefficiency not included in the "body needs" category).
- If you burn 3,500 kcal more than you eat, you lose about 1 pound
(0.45 kg) of fat, assuming that only fat is burnt (this is close to
100% since even the waste heat counts toward the 3,500 kcal). However,
energy sources can come from catabolism of protein (muscles), and fat
may be preferentially saved. The use of different body materials as
available must be considered.
source: wikipedia