A Dozen Ways to Burn More Calories Each Day

Maybe daily workouts at the gym aren’t for you. You find the treadmill boring (who doesn’t?). You’d be happy doing yoga, if you could only remember where you put that dang yoga mat. You can probably come up with a dozen more excuses not to get moving. Fortunately, we’ve thought up a dozen ways in which you can—without even putting much effort into it…

1. Go ahead…watch a few hours of TV on the couch. But, while you’re there, get in a few seated leg lifts and legs-up crunches (see the right sidebar for a ‘how-to’ for these exercises).

2. Whenever possible, walk, bike or roller blade to work instead of taking your car or public transportation.

3. Skip the coffee breaks while at work and energize with a quick stroll around the office building or grounds instead.

4. Take your dog for a walk instead of just letting him out the back door.

5. Pass the elevator doors in public buildings and dash for the stairs instead.

6. Practice good housekeeping. Believe it or not, mundane chores like vacuuming and sweeping floors burns calories, especially if you do it to music.

7. Park farther away than usual in parking lots so you’ll get in a few extra steps to the door.

8. Get down on your kid’s level. It’s a lot more fun participating in games than just watching them.

9. Lawn care is a great way to stay fit. Raking leaves, planting flowers or mowing the lawn burns extra calories.

10. Grab your spouse or a friend for an after dinner walk around the block.

11. Spice up your palate. Spicy foods help to raise your metabolic rate.

12. Reach for the cordless phone. That way, you can keep moving while chatting on the phone.