Natural Activity = Everyday Activity
Tight on time? Can’t imagine fitting exercise into your busy schedule? Not interested in joining a gym or doing a workout video? Not to worry – you don’t have to!
When people think about exercise, they often envision a long, strenuous workout routine. But it’s not true. Exercise is just a fancy word for physical activity. It ranges from walking to the neighbor’s house to dancing at a party to running a marathon. Every move you make – vacuuming the house, hand-washing the car, taking the stairs – counts!
Where to start?
Set a goal to simply incorporate more “natural” activity into your everyday routine. Look at all the calories you can burn from daily activities.
Calories / 10 minutes
|Natural Activity||140 lbs||180 lbs||200 lbs||240 lbs||260 lbs|
|Playing Catch td>||28||36||40||48||52|
Blair SN, Dunn AL, et al. Active Living Everyday: 20 Steps to Lifelong Vitality. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2001:179-182.
Check out even more easy ways to move and lose.
Natural activity can be harder to track than planned physical activity like a 20-min walk or 60-min spin class so consider wearing a pedometer (or other activity tracking device) to track your daily steps. At the end of each day review your activity and plan to move more tomorrow than you did today.