10 Chores That Can Help You Lose Weight

Hate the idea of going to the gym or lifting weights? Then consider the chores you do every day. Do enough vacuuming, dishwashing, and gardening among other chores, and you can burn serious calories. But first, take a look at the numbers to get an idea of just how much activity you need to lose weight.

Weight loss by the numbers
The average woman should consume 1,600 calories per day, the average man2,000 calories per day, according to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.

But as we all know, most of us eat way more than that: The average person consumes 3,800 calories per day.

More than one-third (37%) of adults in the U.S. are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. (With the average weight being 196 pounds for men, and 159 pounds for women)

To lose just one pound of fat, you need to burn off 3,500 calories, according the American Council on Exercise. (Basically you need to burn at least 500 extra calories a day to lose some weight.)

Walking 10,000 steps a day can burn 300-500 calories. Do that with the chores listed below, and you can start to lose real weight.

Note: As always, before you start an exercise plan, even if it’s doing chores you normally do, talk to your doctor first.

• 1
  Tidying the house
  Calories burned in an hour: 238 Doing one hour of reaching into cabinets, bending to pick up things on the floor, and tidying the house can definitely get you into shape. An hour of tidying will burn off the equivalent of a small container of McDonald’s French fries (230 calories).
• 2
  Gardening
  Calories burned in an hour: 272 Gardening is a fitness powerhouse, and weeding is even better, clocking in at 306 calories burned per hour. Garden for two hours and wash away that 2-scoop hot fudge sundae with whipped cream (550 calories)you ate after dinner.
• 3
  Mopping
  Calories burned in a half hour: 119 Mopping can strengthen your arms and work your legs. And though you probably won’t mop for a full hour (238 calories), a half hour can work off those pretzel sticks you ate as you were watching TV (110 calories).
• 4
  Vacuuming
  Calories burned in an hour: 238 Get out the vacuum and instead of doing just one highly-trafficked room, maybe do your whole house. An hour of vacuuming will burn off a slice of chocolate cake (235 calories).
• 5
  Mowing the lawn
  Calories burned in an hour: 170 riding a power mower Mow the lawn riding a power mower and you burn 170 calories, mow it by walking with a power mower and you burn even more—374 calories. But for the best workout of all, mow it by walking with a hand mower and you'll burn 408 calories, enough to take care of thequarter of a big bag of potato chips you couldn't stop yourself from eating (425 calories).
• 6
  Child care
  Calories burned in an hour: 204 If taking care of your grandchildren involves helping them take a bath, getting them dressed, and playing, then you're burning a pretty good amount of calories at the same time. One hour of babysitting for them takes care of 204 calories, the equivalent of a slice of pepperoni pizza (180 calories). And think how much you're burning if you're caring for them all day!
• 7
  Shoveling snow
  Calories burned in an hour: 476 Shoveling snow is hard work, but it's also the MVP of chores, burning a whopping 476 calories, enough to erase that slice of apple pie (411 calories) from your waistline.
• 8
  Washing the dishes
  Calories burned in a half hour: 85 Well, you’re not going to lose serious weight washing dishes, but you do burn some calories—enough to say goodbye to the calories from one homemade chocolate chip cookie (80 calories).
• 9
  Doing the laundry
  Calories burned in an hour: 68 Like washing dishes, doing the laundry isn't the most strenuous activity, however, you can burn enough calories to get rid of 3 chocolate Hershey kisses (66 calories).
• 10
  Painting a room
   Calories burned in a hour: 306 If you're a DIY person when it comes to fixing up your home, you burning a good amount of calories, too! Painting a room for an hour in your house will get rid of 306 calories as will laying a carpet or refinishing furniture. That's enough to say "Adios" to two slices of garlic bread (300 calories).