Lose Weight and Tone Muscle While Doing Every Day Tasks

It is inevitable that in order to lose weight you must work out, but you can also use normal activity to burn additional calories.  I have done these little movements for years thinking it has to make a difference and in the July issue of Fitness magazine I finally have proof!  Author of Move a Little, Lose a Lot, James Levine, PhD has proven that nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) can actually help maintain metabolism and increase caloric burn.  Levine says simple movement, using the stairs or pacing when on the phone, can increase caloric burn by up to 200 calories a day!  As I said earlier, I’ve been doing this for years.  So here are some of my routine nonexercise activities:

I blow dry my hair every day, which takes about ten minutes.  For more volume I flip my hair over my head so I blow dry upside down.  This is the perfect position for squats, so each morning I do 100 squats as I blow dry.

Living on the east coast requires a commute to my job.  I sit for an hour each morning on the train and the ride is simply time wasted.  So I use this time to catch up on current events and flex a few choice muscles like my calves, buttocks or upper arms.  Seems strange, but the movement is so small that no one can tell you are “working out”.

Turn on some music when you are at home doing your regular chores such as laundry or empting the dishwasher.  It is impossible not to move more when music is on!  Not only do you nod your head to the beat, but you will be free styling around your pad in no time.  Dancing is a fun and fast way to burn!

These are seriously simple ways to move without really moving.  Think about your daily routine and see what kind of movement you can add to make tasks less sedentary.  It doesn’t take much and it does make a difference!

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