Let’s put this into perspective – to lose 1 kg of weight, you need to cut around 7000 calories, either by reducing the calories in your diet or by burning the calories with exercise. So I hear you ask “if I only burn 100 calories, how’s that going to help?”
So many people want quick weight loss and get disheartened when they don’t see the number on the scales plummeting after a few days of healthy eating and a stroll in the park.
By becoming more active you will get to your goal weight sooner. You don’t have to become a gym junkie. In fact, I never set foot in a gym until after I lost my weight. The key is to consistently do activities to burn calories; 100 calories here and another 100 there will soon add up.
Here are 10 ways to burn 100 calories without going to the gym:
- Walk the dog for 31 minutes – Your furry friend will love it and the fresh air and sunshine will do you good.
- Vacuum for 27 minutes – Yes housework is going to help you get to your goal weight.
- Swim laps; freestyle, moderate or light effort for 14 minutes – Swimming is a great exercise for cardio as well as toning your muscles; muscle burns more calories than fat so it’s important to tone up.
- Dance to your favourite tunes for 15 minutes – Exercise doesn’t have to be boring, have a bit of fun and dance those calories away.
- Cycle for 12 minutes – Do you have a bike accumulating dust in the garage? Dust it off and head out for a ride, it will burn some serious calories.
- Garden for 24 minutes – Your garden will love it and while your hands are dirty you won’t be eating.
- Iron for 42 minutes – Okay it’s not much fun, but any extra activity that burns calories is worth doing.
- Ten Pin Bowling for 32 minutes – Here’s a fun way to add activity to your week! It doesn’t matter if you aren’t good at it, you can socialise, burn calories and tone up all at the same time. Sounds perfect!
- Skip rope for 10 minutes – Don’t have time to exercise? A skipping rope could become your new best friend. There’s no reason why you can’t do 10 minutes a few times a day to burn those calories as it suits.
- Yoga for 38 minutes – Many people think you have to be super flexible to do yoga but that’s not true. Look on YouTube for a class that is suitable for beginners and give it a go.
A few final thoughts
A healthy weight loss to aim for is 1/2 to one kilo a week. Experts say people who lose weight slowly are more likely to keep it off long term; and that’s what we want.
When you start out it can be tempting to take a gung-ho approach and burn out before the end of the first week. Here’s my three quick tips if you’re just starting out:
- Start slow and warm up those muscles to avoid injury.
- Start low and build up the amount of time spent exercising.
- Stay hydrated – always have a water bottle with you.
Oh, and if you think that exercise will burn off that block of chocolate or packet of chips, you might want to rethink that strategy when you consider the amount of time it takes to burn 100 calories.
Learn more quick facts about weight loss here
NOTE: Calories burned depends on several variables. The examples above were based on a 45-year-old, 80 kilo, 165cm woman – calculated using http://www.mydr.com.au/tools/calories-burned-calculator
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