Getting in shape is tough. If you hate dragging yourself to the gym, then don’t. There are a million other ways to burn calories and it won’t feel like a ton of work either. So instead of running on the treadmill, try surfing, swimming or just wading in the pool. Water is 700 times denser than air, any activity in it is an effective way of melting away the fat.
And if sweat and discipline is not your thing, eat right and burn calories by these fun non-traditional ways:
1. Water, Water, Water
Simply drinking 8 glasses of water will burn an extra 100 calories a day. Want another reason to increase water intake?
Some nutritionists say, the higher the consumption of water, the lower the amount of fat stored in your body. It turns out that, when cells are low in water, they store more fat instead of metabolizing it for energy. And if you hydrate before a meal, you’ll eat less too. Bottom line? Drink more water and burn more fat.
Sounds simple enough.
2. Clean Your Way Slim
Do you remember the last time you did the household chores instead of ordering your maid? It’s time. Scrubbing down the bathroom from floor to ceiling for 35 minutes burns as much as a 35 minute moderate walk on the treadmill, and it’s much more productive. For better results, suck in your tummy while you do the chores, it will tighten your core further.
And while you’re at it, why not lift things around and change the layout of your living room? Moving furniture for just half and hour can make burn 110 calories!
The CDC Atlants estimates that cleaning the windows of the Empire State Building can burn more than 4,200 calories a day!
That would be nearly a pound and a half of calories burned off! Woah! If only I lived in New York.
3. Try the Rubik’s Cube Diet
Finish a sudoku or solve a rubik’s cube (is such a thing possible?) and you’ll feel like you’ve run a marathon. Mentally challenging exercises, even taking quizzes for an hour will keep your brain young and strike off 150 calories as well. And you don’t have to leave your couch for it.
4. Sing At the Top of Your Lungs
If you’re having a good day, why not let the world know about it by singing your favourite pop song 20 times? Singing for about half an hour can burn close to 180 calories. Bonus, if you also dance to your tunes.
You can also practice the piano. This childhood hobby that you’re always pledging to pick back up can help you burn 100 calories in 30 minutes.
5. Make-out Workout
Who needs the treadmill when an hour of kissing can burn 100 calories. What’s more, a sizzling clothes-on make-out session for an hour with the person you love may burn 250 calories. And if things heat up, just half an hour of intense sex can burn an additional 200 calories.
Wow! That’s like the most intense caloric blaster yet.
6. Shiver Me Thinner
That’s an upside to winters. Shivering in the cold is your body’s warming mechanism and the increase in body temperature will keep you from gaining weight (again, if you eat right). A recent study done by Albania University found that just by being in a room at 4 degrees, people lost 90 calories an hour.
A pound of fat is roughly equivalent to 3500 calories. How many calories your body burns during these activities is also dependent on your size, gender and body make-up. For example, men usually burn more calories than women and even if you are large but have more muscle than fat, you will burn an additional 40 to 100 calories in all these activities.
So burn away!
(PS: All calorie burning figures are from the Mayo Clinic’s Nutrition Programme)
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