You’d be surprised by how easily simple everyday things can contribute to your tally of ‘calories burned for the day’. Sure, they might be small amounts but they all add up eventually. Here are 10 effortless and fun ways to lose weight.
JUST DANCE
The next time you’re home alone – or in your office with the door locked and the blinds down – turn on some music and dance like nobody’s watching. Choose up-tempo songs that will make you want to move vigorously or jump up and down. Get your arms involved in the action too, by moving them to the beat. Dancing for half an hour could burn more than 200 calories – while having loads of fun in the process too.
START EARLY
Not many of us have the energy or motivation to go to the gym before work but doing something energetic for just 15 minutes first thing in the morning will give your metabolism a good kickstart. You won’t even need any gym equipment, just do some jumping jacks, crunches or squats and you’ll burn more than 100 calories – a great way to start the day.
SIT DOWN
Sit on the floor instead of the couch when you’re relaxing or watching TV at night. Your muscles have to support you when you sit on the floor and it also takes a lot more effort to stand up, which means you’ll burn a few extra calories.
TAKE YOUR TIME
Don’t try to be a heroine and carry all your grocery bags in one go. Instead, bring them into the house one or two at a time, so you’ll be walking a lot more in the process too. Depending on the number of shopping bags you have, you could burn 100-200 calories doing this.
MOVE IT
Just because you have a desk-bound job doesn’t mean that you can’t burn any extra calories so let technology help you with this. Set your alarm at 30-minute or one-hour intervals (depending on how busy you are) and get up and walk around for a few minutes – to the water cooler, to the toilet, to your colleagues’ desk – just to burn a few extra calories.
CLEAN THE HOUSE
Housework might not be the most interesting activity (unless you’re a neat freak) but it’s a great way to burn calories. So vacuum the house, wash your dishes (instead of using the dishwasher) and cook your meals at home as often as you can. Every bit of manual activity that you do burns calories.
MAKE AD BREAKS PRODUCTIVE
Don’t waste time staring aimlessly at the TV or your phone while the advertisements are on during your favourite TV shows. Use that time to move around – do jumping jacks or jog on the spot. Here’s a bonus tip: Keep a skipping rope in your TV room and use it every time the ads come on.
DON’T TAKE SHORT CUTS
Take the longer route whenever you’re walking from one place to another. Even walking an extra three minutes to use the toilets on another floor helps. Take the stairs to and from your office and home every day, or stop the lift at one or two floors above or below if you’re on a high floor and walk the rest of the way.
WEAR FLAT SHOES
When your shoes aren’t comfortable, you’re not going to want to walk much. So wear comfortable shoes – or keep a pair of flats in your bag – so that you’ll always be able to move around and burn those extra calories.
HAVE MORE SEX
During an average sex session (which is said to last around 25 minutes), men and women burn 100 and 69 calories respectively. Having vigorous and active sex – keep changing positions, move your hips a lot – for half an hour could burn close to 150 calories. And just kissing your man for one hour could help you to burn up to 70 calories. Certainly a lot more fun than jogging.
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