Exercise can mean anything from running a marathon to Samba dancing. When building exercise into your schedule, it doesn’t always have to mean signing up for a gym membership. A night out dancing is a great way to have fun as you burn calories. Walking the dog burns calories, so make the route a little longer! Engaging in a variety of activities will keep the pounds coming off more easily with less boredom.
Have a Plan Before You Start a Weight Loss Program
It is important to get organized and have a plan, in order for your weight loss program to succeed.
- Consult with your physician if you have been sedentary
- Buy vitamin supplements that will assist in your weight loss program
- Clear out foods from the pantry that might tempt you to go off track
- Shop and stock up on healthy foods.
- Determine what exercise activities you will commit to.
Determining your starting point is also important. How many calories are you currently burning? What is your starting weight? What exercise are you doing? How will you track your progress?
Free Internet Tools for Losing Weight
No matter which diet or program you have decided to follow, the "Calorie Count" Website is an amazing, free website with a wealth of diet and health information to help you get started and keep your program on target. With free registration, it provides a daily log for tracking your food intake, activity and weight.
At registration, the website asks pertinent questions about your weight, height, activity level, etc to customize the tools in their site specifically for you. It will tell you how many calories will maintain your current weight and how much you will need to cut back to reach your ideal weight. They even have great recipes!
When you enter into your food diary, the site’s program estimates your food entry’s calorie count and breaks it down by fat, carbs and protein. When you enter activities, it will add in the calories burned. At the end of the day, you’ll have your total day’s analysis and receive a grade.
Another website to check out is "The Health Status" website. This website has a multitude of tools and calculators that can measure your health status. You can take various assessments to determine cardiac risk, diabetes risk, fitness level, and more. They have calculators that estimate body fat, body mass index, frame size and even blood alcohol!
Calorie Burning Activities
Health Status has a tool that estimates calories burned by activity also. Simply enter your weight and the exercise duration into the box next to the exercise activity to calculate calories burned. Using their calculator, following are some examples for a woman who weighs 150, exercising for 30 minutes. (It's important to incorporate at least 30 minutes 3-4 times per week to lose weight).
Calories burned during a gym workout - Many people. when trying to get into shape, will visit a gym or purchase exercise equipment to help them burn those calories. Here’s an example of calories burned during a typical half hour workout.
- Low Impact Aerobics – 206
- Weight lifting – 117
- Pilates Intermediate – 175
- Stair Step Machine – 238
- Step Aerobics – 238
- Elliptical trainer 386
- Jumping jacks – 153
- Water Aerobics – 135
- Yoga - 297
Calories burned during outdoor exercise - Others prefer getting out in the sunshine in their neighborhood for their thirty minutes of exercise:
- Running 5 mph – 288
- Bicycling leisurely – 135
- Badminton – 153
- Walking 4 mph – 175
- Hiking – 202
Calories burned around the house - Most of us don’t realize the calories we burn around the house. Here are a few examples.
- Walking up stairs – 274
- Housework – 99
- Brushing teeth – 85
- Ironing – 76
- Cooking – 90
- Mopping – 153
- Raking Lawn – 135
- Gardening – 184
Calories burned having Fun - There are many hobbies and activities that help us burn calories as we are just having fun!
- Dancing - 170
- Bowling – 103
- Shopping – 80
- Billiards – 85
- Frisbee playing – 103
- Table tennis – 135
- Sex – 144
Getting healthy and losing weight requires the same planning as taking a trip; Know where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there. Then, once you’ve gotten started, you might even enjoy the journey!
References:
Calorie Count Website (caloriecount.about.com)
Health Status Website (healthstatus.com
Jan Peterson - I'm a retired banker, published songwriter, cyber journalist, and member of the advisory board for the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall ...
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