When I was working full time, I had a very active job. I was non-stop for 8 hours, much of it being physical activity. You can’t work with dogs sitting still for very long. So being home, I’ve wondered about keeping active and wondered about the amount of calories I burn up in the course of some daily duties. As a reference point, most people burn 100 calories walking a mile.
Here are some calorie burners from Huffington Post Healthy Living:
1. Mopping: Take care of those dusty, dirty floors with an hour of mopping and you'll shed 153 calories.
2. Washing floors: If your floors require a little extra elbow grease, you can shed as many as 187 calories in just 30 minutes.
3. Scrubbing the tub: It might not take you as long as those floors, but some similar umph is required to ditch that soap scum. In 15 minutes, you'll burn more than 90 calories—and you might feel it in those arms, too!
4. Vacuuming: Depending on the size of your home, vacuuming could make a significant dent in your 10,000 recommended steps a day. In the process, you could burn 119 calories per 30 minutes.
5. Sweeping: A 30-minute dance with the broom will burn off 136 calories.
6. Washing the car: Winter road salt still covering your car? Skip the drive-thru and scrub it by hand to burn 153 calories.
7. Cleaning windows: Get the grime off the inside and the outside and let the springtime sun shine in. You'll burn 167 calories in 30 minutes.
8. Rearranging the closet: Ready to put away those sweaters and your heavy winter coat? Moving around some lighter options can burn about 85 calories.
9. Redecorating: Painting your bedroom a springy pale green? Knock off 167 calories in 30 minutes of indoor remodeling.
10. Moving: Got any furniture to move? You're in luck: You could burn another 100 calories in just 15 minutes, and even more if you have to move anything up and down stairs!
Hmm…I don’t think I need to worry about my activity level. One thing I learned from a BBC special on weight and burning calories - even if some activities don't seem to burn up a lot of calories, the physical activity can increase your metabolism for several hours after the exercise, even while you sleep. That's a good thing, especially for somebody like me whose 63 year old metabolism might not be as perky as it use be.
Cheerio then - I'm off to burn some calories and kick-start my metabolism for the day!
Tish