If you move throughout the day, daily activities can help you lose more weight than formal exercises and sports activities. Playing with your children, for example, burns more calories per hour than numerous "training and sports activities," including walking 3.5 mph, competitive volleyball, gymnastics and golfing while using a cart, according to the "Harvard Heart Letter." You can burn more calories if you incorporate outdoor activities into your daily schedule.
Household Activities
Carrying boxes and moving furniture are the first- and second-best "home and daily life" activities, according to the July 2004 issue of the "Harvard Heart Letter." Carrying boxes for an hour will burn 622 calories if you weigh 185 lbs., 520 calories if you're 155 lbs. and 420 calories if you're 125 lbs. Moving furniture burns 446 calories per hour if you're 155 lbs.
You might not carry boxes or move furniture every day, but cleaning and cooking are far more common daily activities. "Heavy" cleaning for an hour, including washing windows, burns 400 calories if you're 185 lbs., 334 calories if you're 155 lbs. and 270 calories if you're 125 lbs. Cooking for an hour burns 222, 186 and 150 calories for 185-, 155- and 125-lb. people, respectively.
Child's Play
Vigorous play with children and children's games such as hopscotch are tied for the third-best weight-loss "home and daily life" activity. Doing these two activities for an hour will burn 444 calories if you weigh 185 lbs., 372 calories if you're 155 lbs. and 300 calories if you're 125 lbs., according to the "Harvard Heart Letter." Bathing and feeding your children for an hour burns 310 calories if you're 185 lbs., 260 calories if you're 155 lbs. and 210 calories if you're 125 lbs. Child-care activities burn more calories than bowling, billiards, Frisbee and water volleyball.
Sedentary Activities
Burning calories is difficult when you're sedentary. Sitting in a classroom and working at your desk for an hour burns only 156 calories if you're 185 lbs., 130 calories if you're 155 lbs. and 106 calories if you're 125 lbs. Sitting in meetings, light office work and computer work burn 12 to 17 fewer calories per hour, depending on your weight. The daily activities that burn the fewest calories are sleeping, watching television, reading and standing in line. Watching television for an hour burns 66 calories if you're 185 lbs., 56 calories if you're 155 lbs. and 46 calories if you're 125 lbs.
Outdoor Activities
You can burn far more calories if you make outdoor activities part of your daily schedule. You might not be able to chop wood, mow the lawn, garden or rake the lawn every day, but you can do a different outdoor activity to make up for it. Chopping wood and shoveling snow are the best outdoor activities for weight loss, burning 446 calories per hour if you weigh 155 lbs. Pushing a hand-powered lawnmower, gardening and raking the lawn burn 410, 334 and 298 calories per hour, respectively, if you're 155 lbs.
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