Hey, are you worried about the extra calories you are piling on day by day? And is it showing in inches and pounds on your waistline or other places where you would not like it to be? Or are you plain health conscious and would like to keep looking trim? Would you like to burn off some calories the SMART way?
SMART is an acronym coined by Motivational experts for goal setting and stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Your goal to a fit and healthy you are set. 200 Calories is what you would define as your measurable unit. Please do note that this 200 Calories is only your personal unit of measure, you may actually like to burn more than or less than this unit depending on your individual body type and specific requirements. Just for a rough estimate of the 200 Cal chunk, 45 such units equals 1 kilogram. Now don’t take it as Gospel truth – there are too many variables and assumptions involved – but you get the general drift.
So how do you torch off 200 Cal? What are the activities that you can carry out for a specific time and say, “Hey, I bust 200 Cal”, with confidence? Here’s my list of 10 ways to torch off 200 Cals.
1. Golf
Apart from the jokes, golf is a great stress-buster and Calorie burner. The swinging, tee-ing, putting and the leisurely walk on the links burns off the Calories without you being even conscious of it.
It burns 210 Cal in 50 min
2. Yoga
This form of exercise is a way of life with many. Apart from the fat it burns, Yoga imparts flexibility, strength and stabilizes metabolism. It relieves stress and is a great anti-depressant.
On an average, simple Yoga burns 200 Cal in 1 hour.
The rate of Calorie consumption is different for different types of Yoga.
- Hatha Yoga: 1 hr 15 min – 200 Cal
- Ashtanga Yoga: 40 min – 200 Cal
- Power Yoga : 40 min – 200 Cal
- Vinyasa Yoga: 27 min – 200 Cal
3. Cycling
The pleasure of cycling along brings on fond memories of the time you were a kid. Using the humble cycle whether to commute, for your daily shopping, or even pedalling away for the fun of it, rewards you in terms of distressing, strengthening your muscles and improving body tone.
200 Cal in 23 min (or 4.6 miles)
4. Dancing
Let yourself go! Shake that hip and show that hips don’t lie! Dancing in its various forms is considered on par with swimming, cycling or walking. A half hour of vigorous dancing will take off 200 Cal. So put on your dancing shoes (or not) and groove to your tune.
It Burns 200 Cal in 30 min
5. Swimming
Swimming is the ultimate exercise for an all-round toning up of all the muscles of the body, without stress on muscles and joints. The Calories expended depends on the swim stroke you use.
- Freestyle: 200 Cal – 20 min
- Breaststroke: 200 Cal in 40 min
- Backstroke: 200 Cal in in 25 min
- Butterfly: 200 Cal in 15 min
6. Gardening
No greater good comes to the body and soul than by communing with nature, And you can do this in your backyard or kitchen garden, or if you are fortunate, in your own big garden. Gardening has great therapeutic value for the body and mind. The little actions of mucking around watering, weeding, kneeling, bending, all whittle away at the Calories.
It Burns 200 Cal in 40 min
7. General Exercise
You need not go to a gym to burn off your Calories. Simple vigorous exercises involving bending, stretching, squatting, etc can easily burn off your Calories. I am talking about freestyle exercises, no fancy names. Just warm up for 5 min, 20 min for doing your thing, and 05 min for cooling down. How difficult is that?
It Burns 200 Cal in 30 min
8. Sports and Games
Burn those Calories by indulging yourself in your favourite game. A healthy sweat from a good workout releases endorphins which completely destress, relax and strengthen the body and mind. Basketball, football, racquet games, bowling, the list is endless.
- Basketball: 192 Cal in 20 min
- Kicking ball into goal post: 200 Cal in 27 min
- Bowling: 200 Cal in 20 min
- Tennis and Racquet Games: 218 Cal in 25 min
09. Housework
You will be amazed at the number of Calories that you can torch just by doing all those chores around the house. The numbers add up throughout the day and it is not uncommon if you get exhausted at the end of the day after continuous hard work. So it’s good to know your Calorie morsels and chew off only what you can bite (LOL).
- Decluttering the House: 210 Cal in 25 min
- Re-lay the furniture and cupboards: 210 Cal in 25 min
- Painting: 208 Cal in 40 min
- Dusting/Cleaning: 216 Cal in 40 min
- Lawn Mowing (Manual) : 215 Cal in 40 min
- Car wash: 216 Cal in 40 min
- Raking Leaves: 120 Cal in 26 min
Walking/Washing your Dog : Walking for 40 min – 140 Cal, Washing dog for 10 min – 38 Cal, Taking a bath yourself for 15 min – 24 Cal. A total of 202 Cal torched away.
10. And My Most Favorite of Them All: Smooching
Did you know that you can pleasurably burn off 1, 1 Cal for every minute of kissing? With just 18 minutes of smooching per day (or night, or anytime the mood strikes you, whenever) you just need 10 eighteen minute kiss-days to torch off 200 Cal. And you really don’t know where things may lead up to and you may just burn up more Calories than what you aimed at.
Now isn’t that awesome?
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