You may not be motivated or have time to hit the gym, but that doesn’t mean you can’t burn off some extra calories. Here are 10 simple ways to burn off calories without even noticing you’re doing so.
Start your day with breakfast
Jump-start your day with a healthy breakfast. The word literally means break–your–fast, and that’s exactly what you need to do to signal your body to start burning calories again. This will rev up your system and help you burn calories efficiently throughout the day.
Walk
An average person will burn about 100 calories by walking 2000 steps. To get more steps in, try parking your car a block or two away from your destination, doing some window shopping or walking your kids to school. Use a pedometer to keep track of your steps and you’ll be surprised how many more you can add to your day. This in turn will add up to a significant number of extra calories being used up.
Use the stairs
Forget about the escalator or elevator and take the stairs instead. Using the stairs as often as possible will help improve leg strength as well as burn a lot more calories than passively riding an elevator or escalator will. Burn off about 100 calories by climbing up and down the stairs for 15 minutes.
Do the housework
There isn’t any way around it, housework has to be done — but the bonus is that it can burn a major number of calories when you tackle your chores. Cleaning involves using your whole body: you bend, stretch and even do a bit of cardio. So mop the floors, vacuum the rugs and clean a bathroom, and soon 100 calories will simply disappear.
Laugh
Laughing burns about 100 calories in 40 minutes, so laugh out loud whenever you can. Pop in your favourite comedy and laugh to your heart’s content. It’s not only a calorie burner but a great stress release as well.
Play
A fun way to use up calories is to play. If you have kids, get outside and play a physical game in the backyard, or create an obstacle course to conquer. If you don’t have kids, try playing table tennis, Frisbee or interactive video games, which all seem like more fun than exercise. Just playing Frisbee with a friend will burn roughly 100 calories in 30 minutes.
Make love
It only takes about 30 minutes of sexual fun to use up about 100 calories (depending on the intensity level). Grab your partner and add sex to your non-workout routine.
Dance
Dancing is a fun way to burn off calories. Whether alone in your home, with a partner or out in a club, dancing will burn off about 100 calories in 20 minutes. Turn up the music and get your groove on!
Maintain your yard
Get your yard ready for spring and work off some calories while doing it. Gardening, sweeping and mowing the lawn are all great calorie spenders. Just raking your yard alone will use about 100 calories in about 25 minutes, so head outside for a spring clean and work off some calories.
Play with your pet
When you have a pet it’s easy to have some playtime or go for an extra walk. Playing with a pet is a great way to make your pet feel loved and get some exercise at the same time. An average 35-minute walk with your dog will burn off 100 calories.
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