Can you really lose weight just by moving around more during the day, doing housework and stuff?

I think it depends how much you do.  If you include things like walking more on your commute, or using the stairs instead of the lift, then it can make quite a difference.

There's an acronym, NEAT, I forget what is stands for, that refers to people who never stop moving - fidgets we'd call them!  Apparently they burn up to 500 extra calories per day just from never sitting still.

I have a hyperactive sister - it wears me out just watching her - but she never gains weight.

There is a difference in activity patterns - i remember reading years ago that whereas an active person will run all over the court playing tennis, an overweight person stands in the middle of the court and moves a lot less.

That's true - people have very different activity levels.  I look at how my kids run everywhere, up and down stairs etc, and realise why they burn so many calories!  They never walk anywhere.

This is totally true - my friend has a million meetings all the time and she's always on the run...and weight just falls off her!  I think if you're very busy you don't sit around thinking about how you wish you were snacking - being busy totally curbs boredom snacking!

I remember reading that there's a direct relationship between how much TV people watch and how much they eat, or something like that.