Health and Fitness Vault: Five Everyday Activities That Can Help You Burn Calories

In this day and age, people are busier than ever. Many of us have kids to take care of, social gatherings to attend, housework to do and careers to manage, so it makes sense that so many of us are struggling to eat right and exercise regularly. We all know how important it is, but who has the time?

Luckily, you don't need to commit to hours of exercise each day in order to prevent your body from slowly declining into middle-aged ruin. With a few simple tweaks, you can turn your everyday activities into mini workouts, helping you burn more calories throughout the day, lose weight, and experience a less stressful life. We all need to do housework so why not burn calories at the same time? Read on to discover how.

Dance with Your VacuumPushing around a vacuum isn't high on anyone's list of favourite things to do, but it can actually burn up to 150 calories per hour. In order to pump up the aerobic potential of this activity, put in some headphones and listen to some upbeat music and dance as you work that carpet!

Dust The Top Shelves
Doing a light cleaning on your house can burn up to 240 calories per hour, especially if you dust the top shelves of your bookcases and other elevated surfaces. Not only will going up and down a small stepladder burn extra calories, it will help tone the muscles of your legs and butt, giving you a sleeker look and you will have a nice clean house with no dust. Double win!

Mow the Lawn

Unless you have a riding lawnmower, mowing your lawn is an incredibly healthy way to get in some exercise. It is estimated that pushing a lawnmower around an average-sized property can burn up to 324 calories an hour. To help burn even more, consider wearing leg weights. Pushing a lawnmower really works the arm muscles and tones them up if done regularly.

Enjoy Starting a GardenGardening is a winner when it comes to health. Activities such as weeding and spreading mulch can burn up to 324 calories per hour, and gardening has the added benefit of relaxing your mind, forcing you to spend time outdoors, and giving you the opportunity to grow your own organic produce at home. Who wouldn't benefit from that? Gardening generally involves lots of bending and standing up and stretching which is great for the body.

Play with Your Dogs

It is obvious that taking a walk with your beloved pooch will burn calories, but on days that you don't have time, consider simply chasing your dogs around the backyard for a few minutes. They will love the attention, and you will burn up to 68 calories in the process. Or if you do have lots of time on your hands consider taking your dog on a long walk perhaps uphill to really work those leg muscles and get the heart pumping.

Many people turn to cosmetic surgery or drastic diets in order to lose weight but the best way of doing this is by having a healthier lifestyle. Try the housework fitness plan and see your body start to shape up.