Burn extra calories with these everyday activities

Burn extra calories with these everyday activities.

 

An important part of losing and maintaining weight is living an active lifestyle. Don’t be mistaken. Just because you fit in a 30-minute jog everyday doesn’t mean you lead an active lifestyle. Successful, lasting weight loss is best achieved by being active throughout your whole day. Yes, regular exercise is great, but if you sit around for the other 23 and a half hours, your workout does little good.

Make it your goal to add activities to your daily life that burn calories. If you burn an extra 300 calories each day just by being active, in 12 days that’s 3,600 calories and a pound of weight lost!

Here are a few simple things you can do throughout the day to increase your calorie burn and keep your metabolism humming. (Each calorie-burn estimate is for a 150-pound person.)

A Green Thumb

Instead of watching television in the evening, why not work in the yard? Why hire a neighbor boy to do the yard work when you can improve your curb appeal and lose weight at the same time? A half hour of raking leaves can burn 147 calories. Planting flowers or weeding the garden can burn 153 calories. Mowing the lawn (with a push mower) requires a little more energy and can burn more than 200 calories.

Sparkle and Shine

You may dread house cleaning, but studies show that a messy house increases anxiety, depression, and stress. When things are in order, it’s easier to relax, have company over, and find missing items. Get off social media, turn on some music, and dig in. Just 30 minutes of vacuuming can burn 119 calories. Scrubbing the bathroom, mopping floors, and dusting furniture can burn another 102 calories. Even folding the laundry will help you burn an extra 72 calories. Get serious and rearrange the furniture, paint a room, or clean the gutters and say goodbye to hundreds of calories.

Grocery Run

You may be tempted to order your groceries online these days, but you’ll be missing out on the potential of burning extra calories while shopping. After all, it takes energy to push a grocery cart around the supermarket, bagging your groceries, and returning the cart. You can expect to get rid of an estimated 240 calories in an hour of grocery shopping. Just stick to your list and fill your cart with healthy whole foods.

On the Job

You may have an office job that requires long days of sitting. Your goal is to be more active, so on and off throughout the day, get up and move around. Instead of calling your coworker on the phone, walk to his or her office. Rather than sitting in the break room at lunch, go on a brisk walk. Take the stairs instead of riding the elevator and every half hour, do a few bodyweight exercises in your cubical.

Walk the Dog

Maybe you usually let your dog run around in his fence or walk him just until he does his business. Why not take him on a brisk walk around the neighborhood? He’ll love it, and you’ll benefit, too. Instead of once a day, increase your walks to twice a day. A half hour walk at a moderate pace will burn off more than 100 calories.

Fun with the Kids

You may normally send the kids out to play, but you’re missing out on their fun. Since exercise is good for people of all ages, join the kids as they play tag, ride bikes, shoot hoops, or build a fort. You’ll burn extra calories while spending quality time with your children—a win-win!