This Is How Many Calories You Burn Doing Everyday Things

If you are trying to diet, then you are probably curious about caloric burn. In order to lose weight, you are going to need to burn more calories than you take in. That's the simplest explanation on how to lose weight, and why learning portion control is so important while you're trying to shed weight.

Obviously, going to the gym and running a mile will burn plenty of calories, but most people don't realize how many calories you burn just doing everyday things.

We decided to take a look to find out how many calories people will burn doing things everyone does on a regular basis. Here's what we found for 30 pretty common activities.

Grocery Shopping

Believe it or not, going grocery shopping can be a pretty intense workout if you're not feeling going to the gym. One study showed that walking around a grocery store while pushing a cart filled with groceries will burn about 260 calories per hour, if you're a person who weighs about 155 pounds.

You can actually up the amount of calories you burn shopping by carrying all the goods you want to buy, or by doing deep squats to get items that are low on store shelves.

Childcare

The same study that showed how calorie-burning grocery shopping can be also noted that doing things like feeding or bathing your kiddos can also be pretty good for weight loss.

A 155-pound woman who decides to do a little childcare in the form of feeding and bathing kids will burn around 260 calories per hour doing this, too. If you're an adult of the same size and choose to play with kids, expect to see burns of around 300 calories to 500 calories per hour.

Office Work

Office work has long been known to be pretty bad for your waistline due to its sedentary lifestyle. However, that doesn't mean that you aren't burning any calories while you're pounding on a keyboard during your time in the office.

A 155-pound person will burn about 108 calories per hour at a typical office job. Of course, you can burn more calories at work if you try to hustle a little harder.

Cleaning Your Home

Who would have thought that doing chores could be so good for your waistline? Cleaning your home or office apparently does your body good, but how good depends on what kind of work you're going to be doing.

If you are 150 pounds, this is how many calories you burn doing a variety of different cleaning practices:

• Vaccuming or Mopping or Sweeping. 4 calories per minute, or 240 calories per hour.
• Dusting. 3.3 calories per minute, or around 198 calories per hour.
• Making the Bed. 2 calories per minute, or around 4 calories per bed.
• Cooking. All that chopping is pretty good for you. You can expect to burn around 150 calories per hour doing constant movements while cooking.
• Cleaning Windows or Scrubbing The Floor. If you got the elbow grease ready, you're in luck. Cleaning windows burns around 150 calories per hour, and even more if you're scrubbing the floors.

Go ahead. Put those cleaning tips to good use.

Brushing Your Teeth

An average 150-pound person will burn around 2 calories per minute brushing their teeth. That may not sound like much, but it can add up. If you brush your teeth for two minutes per session, twice a day, you will burn an extra 100 calories in 12.5 days.

Tending Your Garden

Apparently gardening is a great hobby for people who want to lose weight. A 150-pound person can burn up to 171 calories for 30 minutes of raking leaves, or 338 calories per hour of regular gardening activities. Who ever thought that weeding would be so good for your health?

Driving

Driving might not appear to be that impressive an activity, but don't just diss your commute yet! If you weigh 150 pounds and are driving a regular car, you will burn around 171 calories per hour due to the wheel turning, leaning, and braking you will do.

Motorcyclists are even more active, with a single hour-long ride giving you a burn of around 226 calories. A lot of the calories you burn on a bike come from signaling and balancing your body. Not too shabby!

TV Watching or Sleeping

Sadly, watching TV and sleeping both burn the about the same amount of calories. A person who weight 150 can expect to burn around 80 calories per hour just sitting in front of the boob tube.

It's worth pointing out that there will not be a moment where you burn less calories than you do sleeping. Your Basal Metabolic Rate, which is the bare minimum you need to stay alive, is calculated by the amount of calories you burn while sleeping for a full 24 hours.

Taking a Hot Bath

Do you unwind after a long day of work by taking a hot bath? If so, you're going to be happy to know that bathing is actually a pretty calorie-burning endeavor. A recent study revealed that relaxing in a hot bath can burn as many calories as a 30-minute walk.

The calories you burn are burned because of the work your body has to do in order to keep your temperature stable. A typical 150-pound bather should expect to burn about 130 calories while they take a dip!