Burning Calories in the Kitchen (and I don't mean sex)

I have been very busy these last two weeks cooking up a storm!  My dad and I plucked three 5-gallon buckets of apples off of his tree, the top ones being the size of man fists.  The first frost had already bit through, yet these apples seemed untainted, still dripping with dewy sweetness with each bite. I promised my dad that I would not let even a one go to waste.  Well...I kept my promise.  Lets just say I am not going to be opening a bakery any time soon...that is a lot of work!

This brings me to tonights point. We can burn calories even in the kitchen!  

Just to give you an idea of what I am suggesting, 

I found this chart from www.fitnessmagazine.com

Activity	Works	Burns
Mopping floors	Shoulders, biceps	112 calories/ 30 minutes
Painting	Arms, core	288 calories/ 60 minutes	.
Gardening	Arms, back legs	256 calories/ 60 minutes
Cleaning gutters	Shoulders, upper back, arms, legs	320 calories/ 60 minutes

(Source: www.fitnessmagazine.com)

Other websites that I looked at claim that you can burn between 120-200 calories by washing dishes by hand, sweeping, vacuuming, reaching for items (calf raises) and folding laundry.  

Some other ideas to increase the work out of your house hold chores are:

• wearing ankle weights while vacuuming
• folding laundry on a yoga ball
• dancing to music while washing dishes (inside/outside thigh)
• walking from room to room in high step (raising your knee in a marching motion up towards your chest)
• side stepping while carrying the laundry basket

These are just a few ideas, I am sure you can invent plenty more. I always wear headphones while I do my house work. If anyone were to look into my windows they would see me busting a move!  Another fun idea is to make a play list just for house work. This makes the idea of doing the work more personalized and serves as a daily outlet to unwind rather than another daily chore....if you get where I am going with that idea.

I hope some of these ideas are useful for you. There is an endless resource of information that you can find about alternative ways to burn calories if you feel like your day has been used up.  Try www.fitnessmagazine.com for some more fun ideas.

Have a good night.