There are some stuck ideas that we have to do some technical, detailed exercise regimen to be healthier. Have a look at these normal, everyday activities that can help you enhance or maintain your health.
Gardening
I’ll start out with an easy one.
Depending on where you live, you’ll have weeds to pull, flowers to plant and grass to cut. This takes a certain amount of physical activity.
Even if you pay someone to mow your yard, do some of the work yourself and still pay them. If you don’t pay anyone, well done. Spend that money on some exercise clothes or other clothes that you want to work in.
Taking care of your yard also happens to be somewhat therapeutic. But you can burn hundreds of calories just doing the usual picking of weeds and planting of seeds.
Clean Out The Garage
I’ve done my own survey of garages. I’m not impressed.
Move a few things around and you’ll find dirt, leaves, spider webs, maybe even a few mice. You’re doing a service to all those in your house when you do this, not to mention yourself.
Why be selfish and go to the gym for exercise when you can just move some things around in your garage and everyone benefits?
Recently I personally cleaned out my brother’s garage while he was out of town. The thing was a mess and took me more than four hours. I guarantee I couldn’t have spent four hours in the gym and been able to walk out.
He and his family were happy and I didn’t end up having a nightcap while watching the game on TV.
Bicycle Ride
Instead of taking your car everywhere, try riding a bicycle.
Depending on what type of neighborhood you live in, this could be either dangerous, silly, or completely normal. In Los Angeles it is somewhat dangerous, riding down a long farm road in Texas may seem silly, and in a college town it may be seen as completely normal.
It’s also a good way to get out of the normal beat of taking your car everywhere. When’s the last time you walked to the store and came home with grocery bags in your hands?
Look: Just because you can afford to pay money and outsource every form of physical labor in your day, doesn’t mean that it is good for your health.
Pressure Wash Your Driveway
There are all sorts of electric and gas pressure washers that you can use to spruce up your neighborhood.
Most people don’t think of this as exercise, but it really is. This is also somewhat therapeutic. You’re able to see the before and after of a job well done.
I’ve spent an afternoon doing this for my house and a few houses around me and the neighborhood looks great for months and months. Your neighbors thank you, you can easily ask them for any favor thereafter, and you got a workout that lasted for 5 hours.
Oh, and you also got some sun so there’s your Vitamin D.
While you’re at it, also look at pressure washing the siding on your house or any other thing you could use a pressure washer for.
Build a Fence
Recently, I saw some ranches where they had a bunch of “dry stone” walls. They basically took all the rocks out of a field and built a wall – with no mortar.
I was fascinated. It looks beautiful and you can tell just by looking at it that someone spent a great deal of time putting it all together.
Just imagine if TV wasn’t there to mesmerize us and get us fat. We would actually build things that last, work with our hands, use our minds and not get fat.
Not every area is conducive to this type of activity. In Texas, Arizona and New Mexico there are rocks everywhere. Florida doesn’t have so many. But even if you don’t have your own natural stock, you can have some delivered from Home Depot and build your own backyard paradise.
This is the type of stuff that increases the value of your home and is an amazing conversation piece.
What did it cost you? You burned a few pounds of fat and missed some reruns of Friends.
Worth it.
Go for a Walk
You can always go for a walk.
I’ve found that most people don’t go for a walk because they have nowhere fun or interesting to walk. Sometimes it is dangerous to walk around in their neighborhoods.
So, you’ve got to work out somewhere that is safe and interesting.
Growing up, I loved walking around the mountains. Hiking in the mountains was a wonderful way to pass the time and I am very thankful I had the opportunity to grow up in such an area.
If you’ve got to drive to get somewhere you can hike or walk, then drive. Find a botanical garden and walk around. Trust me: you’ll burn more calories than sitting down watching the Food Channel.
Make an appointment with a friend to go over upcoming holiday plans and just meet at a shopping center or somewhere else to walk around.
Household Chores
Things like vacuuming have gotten a bad rap as being “mundane” or “for people who can’t afford maids.” Or you may just find watching TV to be more interesting.
That may be true for some people, but it isn’t true for me.
I’ve made it so that I want to grab a vacuum. My trick: Put on an audiobook. These things can be so good that it’s like watching a movie, but your eyes are free to roam.
When I find a good audiobook, I’ll find household chores to do.
The baseboards get dusted, wiped down and touched up when I get a good audiobook. Every window in the house is clean when I’ve got a good audiobook.
But then there’s the truck…
Working on/Washing Your Vehicle
This can be a wonderful place to lose yourself.
Being a guy and liking big trucks, this is where I shine. I can detail, tinker, wash, wipe, loosen, tighten, take apart, put back together, and do anything else when it comes to taking care of the Ford. And trust me, they need that kind of love.
Look no further than your vehicle as your new weight loss method. If you want to lose a LOT of weight, get an old Ford that’s barely running. Sell your reliable mode of transport and piss of your mechanic, then you’ll be forced to do the work yourself and you’ll start to work off that dad bod.
Congratulations, you’ve just sealed your fate. You now can’t afford to make an extra trip to the grocery store, and you’ve now had to cut your food budget in half because your vehicle maintenance budget has tripled.
But you’ll be active, whereas before you were sitting on your butt with your “reliable” Honda.
Conclusion
There are all sorts of ways to burn calories. Look at projects as opportunities.
Volunteer to help a friend change his carpet over to tile. You’ll feel like you went to the gym ten times that day.
It is the accumulated years of sitting down and not doing these things that got you where you are today. Reverse it.
Get very creative. Find an audiobook that you might like and get started. Secret tip: I’ve found that people will get a running start if they grab an audiobook of a book they’ve already read.
Consign yourself to taking care of the kids for a weekend. If you don’t have kids, then offer to take care of a sibling’s kids. You will burn calories.
There are a thousand and one different activities that you can do while at home to increase your level of activity and get the excess weight off. Over two thirds of America is overweight right now. The other third is trying to get that well-defined six pack.
All of the above applies to you and if you’ve got an overweight family member, it’s your job to get them started.
I’m tired of hearing about obesity being an epidemic.