Burning Calories to Lose Weight
If you want to improve the usual rate of burning calories through doing your daily activities, you have to keep being active. Here are 12 great ways to burn extra calories throughout the day.
1. Instead of riding elevators or escalators, take the stairs. This uses your largest muscle group which means greater calories burnt. This is also a great way to tone up your legs, thighs and buttocks.
2. At the supermarket, park farther away from the door as you would usually. Pushing the trolley up and down the aisles for an hour may burn up to 240 calories, so make sure you take those extra laps around the supermarket, if you have the time. Don’t forget to pack your own groceries, take them to the car and return the trolley yourself.
3. Remain active whilst watching your favourite TV show by doing some sit-ups, squats, or leg raises. If this is too strenuous, even stretching alone will burn unwanted calories.
4. If you take the bus or the train, stand in the aisle and let someone else have your seat. Standing burns more calories than sitting does. Remain in good posture by sucking your tummy in and keep your spine in neutral position.
5. Fidget! Wriggle your toes, tap your feet in the air, think of your favourite song and tap along, etc. Research suggests that obese people tend to be much less fidgety than lean people and spend an extra two hours a day just sitting still! Fidgeting can burn up to 350 extra calories a day, meaning you could lose up to 10-20 pounds in a year.
6. At work, instead of taking coffee breaks, go out for a wander. This will get your body moving, elevate your mood, increase your metabolism and help you stay trim.
7. Whenever possible, try to ride your bicycle to work or to the gym. Cycling provides a wonderful lower body workout and it is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get those perfect pins!
8. Instead of sitting back and watching your (or someone else’s) children play, get on the floor and play with them. Have some fun and maximise your calorie burn by doing some power-walking with a buggy, skipping or bouncing around on a Space Hopper.
9. Walking is one of the best forms of exercise, so instead of letting the dog (your own or your neighbours’) out to roam in the garden, take the dog for a walk. Up the calories you burn by swinging your arms while you walk, or even better, try alternating between walking and jogging.
10. Gardening can tone up your body whilst burning tons of calories, so make sure you plan regular gardening sessions. For an ultimate full-body workout, try alternating between mowing the lawn, digging and weeding.
11. Learning to breathe properly during an activity increases fat burning due to the extra oxygen circulating in your body. To put it simply, relax for a couple of seconds before taking a deep, slow breath. Breathe in deep through your noise, push your belly up until it rises, then hold for a few seconds before you breathe out through your mouth. Practice this before you get used to it.
12. Housework is excellent for calorie burning. It works your whole body and you burn almost as many calories as you would walking. Hoovering, washing up (do it in a slight squatting position), mopping, ironing and re-arranging the furniture provide the best calorie expenditure.
Get some balance back into your life by choosing a Bodychef Home Delivery diet.
