15 No-Sweat Ways to Burn Calories

15 No-Sweat Ways to Burn Calories
Posted on Jun 21st 2010 3:00PM by That's Fit Editors


1. Take vitamin D Several research studies have shown that women who are vitamin D-deficient take longer to lose weight than women who get enough vitamin D. The recommended amount is 2,000 milligrams daily.

2. Drink coffee Decaf won't do! It's the caffeine that works the magic here by increasing the rate at which you burn calories.

3. Sleep more If you sleep less than four hours a night over an extended period of time, your metabolism will slow. If possible, sleep between seven and nine hours for the best calorie-burning benefits.

4. Do your own housework Go retro. From cooking dinner to washing the dishes and even running the vacuum cleaner, do the work yourself instead of relying on others to do the job.

5. Wear a basic pedometer Aim to take 10,000 steps throughout the day, and let the pedometer do the counting.

6. Eat lightly and often Instead of eating two or three big, heavy meals, eat five or six small, light meals every few hours. You'll consume the same number of calories, but they'll be more spread out.

7. Walk briskly Move it! When you're going someplace, pick up the pace. "Walk like you're late for a meeting," said Gunnar Peterson, who trains Jennifer Lopez in Los Angeles.

8. Laugh If you laugh for 10 to 15 minutes a day, you'll burn up to 50 calories. No joke!

9. Eat breakfast When you "break the fast," you send a biological signal to your body that you are not starving, and it starts burning fat even when you're doing normal activities. The two best breakfasts you can eat are scrambled egg whites or oatmeal with fruit.

10. Time yourself Spend five minutes of each hour moving. Here's a trick: Set a timer once an hour to remind you to get up and walk around.

11. Fidget Whether it's tapping your feet, pacing or moving restlessly in your seat, you'll burn up to 350 calories a day just by fidgeting.

12. Drink more water When you get dehydrated, your metabolic rate plummets. The opposite is also true: Drinking about eight cups of water throughout the day will increase your metabolic rate by about 30 percent.

13. Chew gum Chewing gum not only burns a few calories, but also keeps you from mindlessly eating, especially when you're cooking. Just be polite when you chew!

14. Eat dairy foods Several research studies have shown that low-fat dairy actually inhibits fats from being stored in the body.

15. Have sex! Grab your honey and hit the sheets. Most couples burn an average of 300 calories an hour while they're having sex.

--From the Editors at Netscape