Burning calories doesn’t have to mean a trip to the gym. Whether you have chores to get done around the house, you want to relax after a long day at work, or you’d like to have some fun, there are an endless number of ways to easily burn calories while doing something else!
Here’s a short list of 25 ideas to get you started. What you will need to do is get up and/or move. Sitting still won’t do much for you!
The suggested calories burned for these activities will vary from person to person. The values provided have been calculated based on a 150-pound adult woman. If you weigh more than this you may burn more calories in the given time. If you weigh less, you will likely burn less. However, the amount of energy you put into a given activity will influence the amount you will burn.
So choose a few activities from this list and get started!
1. Garden! Beautify your yard and plant flowers. Past the season for planting? Well then, pull weeds for about 20 minutes to burn 100 calories.
2. Dance! Grab your sweetheart and spend a relaxing and romantic half hour of slow dancing.
3. Rediscover bowling (30 minutes of actual bowling not sitting)!
4. How about Frisbee for 30 minutes? Doesn’t matter whether or not you are skilled. Just get outside, try it, and have fun. In a short half an hour you may burn 100 calories and maybe discover you actually can play!
5. How long has it been since you’ve played a few rounds of miniature golf? Only 30 minutes of walking around and putting golf balls can burn as much as 100 calories!
6. Take the stairs. Walking up and down stairs could burn 100 calories in about 15-20 minutes.
7. Wash your car! Get your kids involved and have fun! Make sure you use a little elbow grease and in just 30 minutes, you may burn 100 calories and have a sparkling clean car as well!
8. Housecleaning takes on a whole new light when you learn just how many calories you can burn in a short amount of time. All it takes is 35 minutes of light housecleaning to burn 100 calories.
9. Moderate housecleaning could burn 100 calories in only 25 minutes.
10. Have a safe place to go biking? Burn 100 calories with only 25 minutes of leisure bike riding. Grab the kids and the bikes and go!
11. Play with your kids. Don’t have any? Well borrow someone else’s kids! Keeping up with children whether walking or running at a moderate pace will burn 100 calories in about 25 minutes.
12. Mow your lawn with a push, hand mower about 20 minutes (powered by you!)
13. Take a baby for a walk. Burn 100 calories in only 35 minutes by pushing a baby stroller.
14. Play casual (not competitive) badminton for 20 minutes.
15. Shoot baskets for 20 minutes.
16. Join a local art center or Parks and Recreation class to do belly dancing or folk dancing. With a possible 100 calories burned in just 20 minutes, imagine what an hour-long class might do for you!
17. Spend 40 minutes doing laundry. Yes, sorting, hauling, loading, taking clothes out, folding, and then putting the clothes away burns calories. Add walking up and down stairs and you may burn even more!
18. Do hatha yoga for 35 minutes. This form of yoga can be an excellent way to stretch, flex, and unwind. That you burn calories as well is an added gift.
19. Give a loved one a massage for 22 minutes, burn 100 calories, and make someone very happy.
20. Play the piano for 35 minutes.
21. Play guitar for 45 minutes.
22. It takes about 10-15 minutes of step aerobics (6-8 inches) to burn 100 calories.
23. Find a friend and get caught up on each other’s lives while walking for about 20-30 minutes.
24. Want a great way to cool down in hot summer weather? Go to an indoor skating rink, cool off, and burn 100 calories with just 20 minutes of ice skating.
25. O.K. if you’ve tried one or more of these ideas and you’re now ready to sit quietly, go ahead. Spend an hour typing on your computer. Visit with your friends on Facebook, MySpace, 43 Things, Eons or wherever your favorite place online might be. Keep those fingers flying for an hour and you just might burn 100 calories.
Can’t type for an hour? What about half an hour? Every little bit helps. And while visiting with those friends, be sure to tell them about this list. Remember the more you type the more you will burn! So keep those fingers flying. Burn calories and have fun!
Comments on this entry are closed.