If you're on a diet or just looking to lose a few pounds, you're also looking to cut or burn calories wherever you can. Losing weight is simple math: burn more calories than you eat on a regular basis and you're bound to shed pounds. Regular exercise is important, but there are other things you can do to help your body burn calories.
Build Muscle
Muscle burns more calories than fat, according to the Mayo Clinic, so doing small things to build muscle can make your body more efficient at burning calories. Make sure you're getting the recommended amount of healthy, lean protein in your diet. As your body burns calories, many times it looks to lean muscle tissue for energy. Eating plenty of lean protein can help replenish that lean muscle tissue. Incorporate some simple weight training exercises into your routine to build muscle as well.
Walk or Ride Your Bike
If you're going around the block to the store or the dry cleaner, instead of taking the car, strap on your walking shoes or hop on your bike. It may not seem like much, but doing all of your chores or even getting to work with your own two feet can make a big difference over time in terms of the number of calories burned. Look for opportunities everywhere you go to get yourself from one point to another by walking or riding your bike.
Take the Stairs
Even if it takes you a few more minutes, avoiding the escalator or elevator and opting for the stairs can burn a few extra calories, which can add up the next time you step on the scale. Walking up a few flights of stairs can give your body that extra metabolism boost you need to burn fat and lose calories.
Do House and Yard Work
Paying the neighbor boy down the street to mow your lawn may be easier but it robs you of another quality opportunity to burn some calories. Look at household chores and yard work not as drudgery but as a way to burn extra calories. Pull weeds, rake leaves, sweep and mop the floor, whatever it takes to get your body moving and your heart pumping.
Do Things Standing Up
Doing an activity standing up burns more calories than sitting, according to the Mayo Clinic, so look for opportunities anywhere you can to do what you're doing standing up. If you can, rig your office desk a few feet higher so you can do your work standing up. Take a few moments throughout the day to just stand and walk around for a few minutes.
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