Best ways to burn calories

Calories are important - if you want to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume, roughly 500 per day. Nothing shifts excess fat better than regular heartbeat-raising (cardio) exercise, but even small changes can help make a difference to your overall fitness and health and increase the number of calories you burn each day.

All physical activity burns calories, even activities like standing, sitting and sleeping. The more vigorous an activity, the more calories burned. Here are some simple tips to work in to your every day life to help burn extra calories:

• If you take public transport to work, jump off one stop early and walk the rest of the way
• Do some 'window shopping' in your lunch break - brisk walking can burn up to 250 calories per hour
• Use the stairs instead of lifts and escalators, do this on a daily basis and the calories used all add up
• Park further away from your destination and walk that little extra
• Take "walking breaks" instead of coffee breaks in order to get your body moving during the day
• Go for a walk, bike ride, roller blade, or play pool instead of going out to dinner or sitting in the pub
• Play with your kids for at least fifteen minutes every day
• Do leg exercises whilst watching TV
• Stop putting off that pile of ironing - an hour's worth of ironing burns up to 110 calories!

Do you have any tips on getting exercise? Send them here and we'll add them for everyone to see

Our top 10 calorie shifters

With enough exercise, you can still occasionally treat yourself to some of your favourite foods.

Burns off...		A 30 Minute Workout...
A Big Mac (490 calories)		Jogging
A Burger King Cheeseburger (320 calories)		Tennis
A medium portion of McDonalds French Fries (330 calories)		Circuit Training
Subway Low Fat Chicken Sub (297 calories)		Football
A Chocolate Feast ice cream (280 calories)		Swimming
A Starbucks Caffe Latte (Grande) (190 calories)		Salsa dancing
A 37g packet of Maltesers (187 calories)		Low impact aerobics
½ can of Heinz Baked Beans (151 calories)		Golf
A 25g packet of Walkers Ready Salted Crisps (133 calories)		Brisk walking
A Milky Way chocolate bar (98 calories)		Weightlifting

Next >> << Previous