It takes discipline to lose weight, along with eating a healthy, balanced diet and getting regular exercise. But when it comes to burning calories, sweating it out in a spin class or doing a cardio workout aren’t the only ways to do it. Beyond your regular exercise routine, these are some surprisingly easy ways to burn more calories in a day, according to fitness experts.
- Laugh more - Research shows that laughing for just 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn up to 40 calories, personal trainer Michael Hamlin says. Laughing can also lower stress levels, which decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which also helps as high levels of it have been linked to weight gain.
- Walk after meals - Instead of collapsing on the couch after finishing dinner, put on your shoes and take a brisk walk, as it lowers the post-meal blood sugar spike. Integrative nutritionist Bria Gadd explains that just 10 minutes of movement after a meal can “significantly reduce glucose spikes in the body, reducing the workload on the body and allowing it to respond more efficiently in digestion and shift into fat burning mode.”
- Do your chores - Household tasks like folding laundry and cleaning may not be your idea of fun, but the upside is they burn calories, too. Vacuuming for 30 minutes can burn 99 calories for a 120-pound person, even more for those weighing more, up to 124 calories for those weighing 150 pounds. Mowing the lawn for half an hour can also burn 200 calories for a 185-pound person.
- Do some deep breathing - Just taking four or five deep breaths before you eat can impact your body’s ability to burn calories instead of storing them. “Conscious breathing will help to settle our central nervous system,” Gadd says, “Keeping our body out of fight or flight mode, where it focuses on storing calories for the response to the current stressful situation.”
- Take cold showers - Washing up in chilly water can even help burn calories. According to Hamlin, taking cold showers activates brown fat by causing it to burn calories to generate heat and maintain your body’s core temperature.
- Get enough sleep - When you get better sleep, your hormones function better and your cortisol levels won’t be as high.
Source: NY Post