Activate with Added Calories

By Jeff, H3 Program Intern

Today I’m up to 10,000 steps and it is only lunchtime!  Man, I’ve already walked roughly 5 miles (2,000 steps per mile) and burned about 500 – 550 calories (100 – 110 per mile).  All the thermal walks and exercise classes are certainly paying off, but what about ordinary day-to-day activities, besides walking to the reflector tree and back?



What’s interesting is that some of the activities and things you are already doing are burning calories!  So for you calorie counters out there, here’s a list of common every day activities and the average amount of calories burned per hour:

Activity (1 hour)	Calories: 150 lbs	Calories: 200 lbs.	Calories:250 lbs.
Automobile Repair	204.12	272.6	340.2
Cooking, Preparing Dinner	171.46	228.61	285.77
Child Care	204.12	272.16	340.20
Coaching	269.44	359.25	449.06
Cleaning, Light Effort	171.46	228.61	285.77
Cleaning, Moderate Effort	236.78	315.71	394.63
Cleaning, Heavy Effort	306.18	408.25	510.30
Dancing, General	306.18	408.25	510.30
Gardening, General	338.84	451.79	564.73
Mowing the Lawn, General	375.58	500.77	625.97
Moving, Household Items, Boxes	477.64	636.85	796.07
Raking, the Lawn	269.44	359.22	449.06
Shoveling Snow, By Hand	408.24	544.32	680.40
Stroller, Pushing or Pulling Child	171.46	228.61	285.77
Sweeping	269.44	359.25	449.06

 

Pretty crazy huh?  Who knew gardening or even cleaning heavily for roughly an hour expends between 300 and 550 calories!

At H3, one thing that’s good to see is that many of our guests like to wear pedometers and who could blame them?  It’s their own personal calorie tracking device recording every step they take.  As individuals looking to lead healthier lifestyles, it’s definitely nice to have the ability to track our progress and improvements.  Baseline figures such as the ordinary activities chart above and pedometers allow each of us to track our calorie expenditure for the day.



So if you are an avid calorie counter, I hope you are surprised by some of the numbers above.  Also, come on down to H3 and complete a Star card, that way you’ll earn a brand new pedometer, compliments of us!  All and all, if you’re looking for even more of calorie burn, besides just treading classes – activate your life with added activities.  That way if it is one of those days that you just can’t possibly make the gym you’ll still be doing something.  Remember – something is always better than nothing!

 

Reference:

http://www.prohealth.com/weightloss/tools/exercise/calculator2_2.cfm