Now it’s time for holiday cheer: buttery cookies, fancy chocolates, colorful libations and rich cheese samplers! You can survive the holiday feasts without having to pull out your fat jeans.
Acknowledge the extra calories, and add movement to your day to balance things out. Here are 40 easy ways to burn an extra 100 calories.
Burn 100 after your regular workout:
1. Weight train vigorously with light weights (15 minutes)
2. Energize with high impact aerobics (10 minutes)
3. Run that set of stairs you pass by everyday (6 minutes)
4. Invigorate by jumping rope outdoors (10 minutes)
5. Power the hills on the elliptical (8 minutes)
6. Bike moderately and watch the latest episode of “Modern Family” (25 minutes)
7. Run at a comfortable pace to the lake or a park (9 minutes)
8. Swim laps to cool off and recover from a hard workout (15 minutes)
Burn 100 calories at work:
9. Set a timer to remind you to stand for 10 minutes of every hour for 8 hours
10. Walk the stairs in your office building or a nearby park (20 minutes)
11. Push away from the computer and flow through your favorite yoga poses (20 minutes)
12. Shoot hoops with your coworker at lunchtime (20 minutes)
13. Stand during your morning conference call (45 minutes)
14. Sit tall on an exercise ball at your desk (2 hours)
Burning 100 calories is fun:
15. Take your furry friend for a brisk walk (15 minutes)
16. Get your little soccer star outside to practice drills together (15 minutes)
17. Challenge your son to an intense ping pong match (25 minutes)
18. Join your hockey players and skate around the rink (20 minutes)
19. Sled down the hill and walk up with your kids (15 minutes)
20. Play tag in the school playground with your little one and her friends (23 minutes)
21. Turn up the volume and dance to your favorite tunes (20 minutes)
Burn 100 calories at home:
22. Vacuum up all the dog hair (25 minutes)
23. Organize, dust and clean out your desk (30 minutes)
24. Make their favorite homemade dinner from scratch and set the table (35 minutes)
25. Wash all the dishes, pots and pans from dinner (35 minutes)
26. Carry in and put away all the groceries, take out the trash, empty the dishwasher and wipe the counters (30 minutes)
27. Shovel a real snowfall (15 minutes)
28. Wash all the salt off the car (20 minutes)
29. Carry your groceries in a basket (30 minutes)
30. Blow dry and straighten your hair (30 minutes)
31. Clean your closet including changing seasonal items, dusting, reorganizing and discarding items you never wear (35 minutes)
32. Unload the laundry, fold and put away (40 minutes)
Burn 100 calories with a friend or loved one:
33. Shop and try on the latest fashion with your daughter (30 minutes)
34. Window shop the entire mall with your husband (40 minutes)
35. Enjoy talking with your mom as you walk outside (30 minutes)
36. Give a loved one a shoulder massage (20 minutes)
37. Carry your baby or grandchild (24 minutes)
38. Pick up trash on your block with a few neighbors (20 minutes)
Burn 100 calories without even trying:
39. Enjoy good belly laughs during your holiday get togethers (20 minutes)
40. Fidget all day-twirl your hair, tap your leg, move your shoulders, itch your leg, pet your dog (100 calories per hour!)
Get excited to enjoy the holidays and all the tasty treats, without neglecting your health and gaining weight. Keep the indulgences to a minimum and add movement to your day. Come January, you’ll be ready to show off your fit winter body.
