The Easy Thing Skinny People Do

Burn an extra 840 calories a week without doing more exercise? Yes, and you can get it without a pill or a potion or a crazy exercise machine. This kind of calorie burning can be yours if you just hit the "off" button. Two recent studies prove that simply turning off your TV is a seriously powerful pounds-off strategy.

Average citizens from the United States and Canada are glued to the tube for about 5 hours a day. A steady diet of Entertainment Tonight and sitcom reruns -- or even the History Channel -- can attract flab by essentially putting your body's ability to burn calories on pause. In a new University of Vermont study, 20 people agreed to cut their daily TV viewing in half, to 2 1/2 hours. In their new-found free time, they paid bills, read books, or played board games with the kids. Some vacuumed, dusted, or walked the dog; others signed up for yoga classes. Here's the amazing part: Regardless of how they used their non-TV hours, they burned an average of 120 more calories per day than a control group who kept on watching for 5 hours a day.

Jennifer J. Otten, the lead study author (now at Stanford University), put it well when she said that TV is the ultimate passive activity -- just about anything else expends more energy. Turning it off adds up to a big weight loss advantage: 120 calories a day equals 840 per week, equivalent to walking an extra 8 miles -- without scuffing up the soles of your new walking shoes (although you're going to want to do that, too). Not bad!

That's not all. The fewer TVs you have, the easier it will be to keep pounds off. When California Polytechnic State University researchers counted the sets in the homes of 303 unsuccessful dieters and 167 people who'd lost 10% of their weight and kept it off for at least 5 years, they found an electronic divide. The more svelte folks owned fewer TVs (2.6 per household versus 3.4 for the heavier group) and watched less often (12 hours per week versus 18 hours per week). And they owned more exercise equipment and used it, burning about 2,800 calories per week in physical activity versus 882 for the others.

Ready to stop letting the tube rule your waistline? These strategies can help:

• Stick with 2 1/2 hours or less per day. Of course, we'd love to think you'll spend 1 of those hours watching The Dr. Oz Show! Even better, watch only from an exercise bike or when you're on a treadmill.


• Plan your viewing time. You wouldn't go to the movies without checking what's playing, so why not treat TV the same way? Instead of flipping it on, first check the listings (no, not the ones on your TV set). Circle shows you'd love to see, and resolve to hit the "off" button and walk away when they're done. It's OK to bank some of your time in case you want to watch a long movie or can't bear to miss any skiing or snowboarding event in the Winter Olympics. (That might mean a day without TV. Can you do it? We dare you.)


• Make "must-see" TV more useful. There are 18 to 20 minutes of commercials per hour during most TV shows. Use them to hop on your treadmill or exercise bike, grab a resistance band or dumbbells and bust a move or two, or just get off the couch for some crunches, leg raises, or jumping jacks.


• Don't eat meals or snacks in front of the set. Mindless eating means more calories now and later. Research shows that the human brain doesn't seem to form strong memories of food eaten in front of the set, leading to overeating later on.


• Skip Dave, Jon, and Conan (until tomorrow). TiVo-ing late-night TV and watching it the next day could help you slim down for yet another reason: You'll sleep better. Light from a TV screen interferes with your body's natural sleep/wake rhythms. In one recent study, dieters who were well rested lost more fat and less precious muscle mass (the "engine" that burns calories round the clock) than those who were sleep deprived.