I ditched the gym & lost 3lb by cleaning the loo – how to burn off 3 Big Macs a week with easy household chores
IF you can’t face signing up to the gym this month, have no fear.
Science has revealed the numbers behind a novel way to get fit – without you even having to leave your home.
A study by the Good Housekeeping Institute found that you can burn up to 600 calories per hour simply by doing household chores.
So if you are struggling with the idea of dusting and cleaning now the Christmas decorations are going away, rest assured it is at least helping you to get in shape for 2024.
Lynsey Hope gave it a go, putting on her Fitbit while doing chores over seven days to check exactly how much she burns off as she cleans the family home.
Vacuuming
CALS burned in 30 mins: 120
Minutes spent: 120
VACUUMING felt like a good all-over body workout.
I was pushing the Hoover, walking around, crouching down and moving furniture.
Sometimes I worked up quite a sweat so I’m not at all surprised that it was one of the biggest calorie-burning chores.
Weekly calorie burn 480
Cleaning the bathroom
CALS burned in 30 mins: 180
Minutes spent: 90
DEFINITELY the worst of all the chores, I spend about 90 minutes a week cleaning bathrooms at home.
Nobody likes scrubbing toilets and there is always limescale that needs removing.
I got quite worn out and sweaty cleaning the bathroom.
I’m not at all surprised that it was the biggest calorie burner, working off the equivalent of nearly two and a half Mars bars.
Weekly calorie burn 540
Scrubbing the windows
CALS burned in 30 mins: 150
Minutes spent: 30
MY arms and shoulders felt tired after just half an hour because I was having to stretch up and scrub quite vigorously.
I was impressed that I could burn so many calories in such a short space of time – it’s worth doing it once a week.
Weekly calorie burn 150
Washing up
CALS burned in 30 mins: 75
Minutes spent: 160
EVEN though it usually only takes about ten minutes to wash up, I still burnt around 25 calories each time.
It doesn’t sound like much but over the course of the week that adds up.
I burnt off an impressive 400 calories simply scrubbing the dishes.
I suppose it also saves a few hundred pounds on buying a dishwasher!
Weekly calorie burn 400
Mopping floor
CALS burned in 30 mins: 100
Minutes spent: 45
MY kitchen and hallway are all tiled and it is quite a big area so there is always lots of mopping to do.
The scrubbing was quite hard work but lifting the bucket around also helped me work up a sweat.
I thought I would have burned off more calories while mopping as I had the music on too.
I will have to try to do it faster next time!
Weekly calorie burn 150
Dusting
CALS burned in 30 mins: 85
Minutes spent: 60
DUSTING is a bit boring and it’s nowhere near the hard graft that some other chores are, but I still burnt off 85 calories in just half an hour.
Most of this was probably me pacing around the house but there was a lot of reaching involved too.
Weekly calorie burn 170
Verdict
Total calories burned over seven days: 1,890
I WAS really impressed with my weekly calorie usage during this experiment.
Who knew you could burn off nearly 2,000 calories simply doing household chores.
This is the equivalent of three Big Macs with fries!
No one likes cleaning but it is reassuring to know it has some health benefits.
I actually lost 3lbs in the week of the experiment so it gives me lots of momentum to keep the house clean for the New Year, and when the weather warms up I might start doing more gardening too.
It goes to show you don’t have to spend hours at the gym to burn calories, lose weight or get fit.