Monday, April 19, 2010

Put the Work Back in Workout, as Nature Intended


Bee is right!!--good hard housecleaning projects will work up a sweat and get you moving! That's why I considered my 2-3 hours of cleaning appliances as my exercise for the day the other day.

One of my favorite authors, Jeff Yeager, who wrote the Ultimate Cheapskate, and who also is including our family in his next book, said this,
We are the only animals that have so dramatically altered our "normal course of living" and our diets that we need to engage in extracurricular exercise.

Here's a list of MONEY STEP AEROBICS that he suggests...(He says to skip the gym money step and work at home instead.)  CpH Calories Per Hour

Wash your own car       60 CpH  
Cut your own grass       648 CpH
Walk instead of drive    864 CpH
Run instead of drive     1080 CpH
Paint your house            540 CpH
Shovel your snow          648 CpH
Rake your leaves           464 CpH
Clean your own house   324 Cph
Pull your own weeds      503 Cph

He also lists the amount of money you save per hour by doing your own work instead of paying someone else. And he encourages his readers to
make a New Year's Resolution to spend at least one hour outdoors every day even if it's just reading because of all the health benefits.

Yard work alone would be as good of a fitness work out as anything I can think of!  If I could quit thinking of housework as just WORK and start thinking of it as Aerobics!! I would be really motivated to clean out the fridge and scrub the bathroom floor today!

Thanks Bee for the inspiration!

2 comments:

  1. I must admit I've been more inclined to get stuck into the housework over the last couple of weeks - the thought of burning a few more calories has definitiely made me see my vacuum cleaner in a whole new light LOL.

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  2. Thanks, Donna for the tips on how many calories we can burn. For those of you motivated by music, put on CMT and dance while you dust. I just hope nobody ever hides a video camera while I clean.

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