You can easily burn 500 calories a day through normal everyday activities.

Lee Labrada, a former Mr. Universe, has written a book titled The Lean Body Promise, in which he advocates burning more calories through the activities you already do each day. To make this work, you need to get a feel for how many calories you burn in your daily activities:

·        Activities That Burn About 4 Calories per Minute: calisthenics, slow cycling, light gardening, social golf, general housework, line dancing, table-tennis, doubles tennis and slow walking.

·        Activities That Burn About 7 Calories per Minute: aerobics, basketball, baseball, moderate cycling, active dancing, football, racquetball, skiing, swimming, singles tennis, and brisk walking.

·        Activities That Burn About 10 Calories per Minute: competitive basketball, fast cycling, strenuous dancing, competitive football, jogging, kick-boxing, running, cross country skiing, jumping rope, vigorous swimming, vigorous walking, heavy weight training.

These calorie burn numbers are just estimates. Your mileage may vary depending on how much you weigh, your metabolism, and how intensely you perform an activity. A good general rule is to figure your normal everyday activities to burn about 7 calories a minute. If you aren’t sure if the physical activity you are performing is 4, 7, or 10 calories a minute, then run your calorie burn calculations using 7 calories per minute.

You can use this information to create your own integrative workout. Your goal is to find between 1 to 1.5 hours of physical activity and integrate it into your daily routine. Here’s an example integrative workout routine from Mr. Labrada:

·        Monday: to burn 500 calories: carry your child, vacuum, do other housecleaning chores, carry and put the groceries away, run up and down stairs, squat and lunge.

·        Tuesday: to burn 600 calories: run up and down stairs, walk to the store, clean windows, play with the kids.

·        Wednesday: to burn 750 calories: walk the dog, play with kids, sweep the driveway, carry baby, run up and down stairs, squat and lunge.

·        Thursday: to burn 700 calories: push stroller through the park, play with kids, vacuum, mop floors, carry laundry up and down the stairs, run to the mailbox and back.

·        Friday: to burn 800 calories: run errands on foot, walk your dog, carry baby, do lunges and squats, carry and pack purchases, play with kids.

·        Saturday: to burn 500 calories: wash car, walk to the store and buy the paper, play with kids on the playground, work in garden.

·        Sunday: to burn 675 calories total: walk through park, swim and play with the kids.

What are the results? Let’s add up the calories. It looks like you’ll burn 4,525 calories a week on this plan, which is a weight loss of over one pound a week. That’s a remarkable result from everyday activities you may not have thought about burning a lot of calories.

Of course, you may not have a child to carry, but the general idea is sound. You just need to figure out replacement activities that fit your life. For example, if you spend two hours in the mall searching for that perfect shirt, you’ll have burned about 500 calories. A half hour of shoveling snow off your sidewalk burns about 350 calories. An hour of raking leaves burns about 200 calories. Walking around your neighborhood looking at Christmas lights burns off a lot of calories too. When you are on the phone, walk around instead of sitting. Carry in groceries one bag at a time.

With a little creativity, you can find more exercise almost everywhere. And as we have seen, the calorie burn numbers are not trivial at all. Searching out and finding more physical activity in your daily life is a very rewarding weight loss move.

To Learn More

·        Lee Labrada’s website is http://www.labrada.com.