Monday, August 30, 2010

A New Take on Exercise


I’ve returned home from traveling, but John has not. I’ve canceled my gym membership to save money. I know! I said I wouldn’t do that again, but John has signed up for online courses, the kids are about to start school, and it was the obvious cut, since I can run outside for free. Anyway, as I do not have a double jogging stroller, I’ve been going a little stir crazy not being able to go running.

This tip is for all the mommies out there who use their kids as an excuse not to exercise. Are you sitting around your house, wishing your husband wasn’t out of town? Wishing you were a member of a nice gym with a nursery? Wishing you had enough space in your living room to do a workout video? Trust me, I have used each an every one of those excuses before. All you really need to do is just get off your hiney and do something!

What did I do? Today, we went outside and washed the car. (I guess I just ruined that surprise. Sorry, honey. Surprise!) It really needed to be washed bad after a week and a half underneath the birds’ favorite maple tree in all of Franklin, I think. Once I finished, I noticed that my heart rate was up. Why wouldn’t it be? I’d spent an hour scrubbing a car, alternated with chasing my daughter halfway around the block. Out of curiosity, I did a little research about how many calories I’d burned. According to LIVESTRONG.com, a 145-pound person burns 296 calories an hour washing the car. Wow! Not too shabby. And with this one, there is also the added bonus of totally wearing the kids out. They have been super mellow this evening.

Some other ideas? Vacuum. A 145-pound person burns 165 calories and hour vacuuming. That’s some incentive to keep a clean house. Go outside and pull weeds. I actually did this one on Saturday, thanks to a fun notice from Pinnacle to pull them or else. Anyway, weeding the garden also burns 296 calories an hour.

Last but not least – you’re not going to believe this one – sewing! I looked to see if it was there since, you know, I happen to sew a lot. It burns 99 calories an hour. What? That’s pretty cool.

Suffice it to say, if you hop up and do something a little out of the ordinary, you’re going to burn some extra calories. It might as well be something that makes you feel productive at the same time!

2 comments:

  1. You didn't mention running up and down stairs. I've read that 13 steps, up and down, nine times is equal to walking a mile.You might want to check this for accuracy.

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  2. i didn't even think about that! i ought to start counting how many times i go up and down the stairs every day.

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