Cereal Dieter

This is the start of a new series called Work Out At Home by the Cereal Dieter. Did you know that housework burns calories? Does that make you want to do more housework? Ok, probably not but here are some tips to burn more calories while you do housework.

• Lunge while you wait.  Waiting for anything? Do lunges while you do. This might be: waiting for a pot to boil, for the microwave to beep, etc.
• Wax on, Wax Off! Exaggerated motions done while dusting can tone your arms. Consider wearing weights on your wrists while you clean and you can help tone!
• While you do the dishes, tighten your core for the count of five and release over and over. Suck that belly button towards your spine!
• Take the long way around to do everything.  Carry groceries in the house a bag at a time, for example.
• Squats while you do laundry.  While you’re moving items from the washer to the dryer or putting them away, a deep knee bend / squat while you reach into the basket can tighten your fanny and your thighs.
• Gardening burns calories. Do more of it!
• Shoveling burns calories. Get out there with your spouse!
• Washing something on your hands and knees? Do some girlie pushups!
• Vacuuming? Tighten everything with each stroke and turn it into a lunge

Tip:  Music makes it more fun and gets you movin’ and groovin’!

There are a lot of ways to increase your caloric burn on a daily basis. Consider wearing a pedometer to see how you’re doing and don’t forget to drink plenty of water every day to help facilitate your metabolism.

Play your cards right and you could be slimmer with a sparkling clean house!

There are a lot of reasons that people prefer to work out at home but the problem with this is that they can often find that they don’t get as challenging a workout as they’d like due to lack of equipment. There are new portable pieces of equipment that make it easier.  The brand new BowFlex is out and much smaller than previous models but that might still be too big for some.

The Stamina Series products are much, much smaller. You can purchase a:

Stationary bike that can be used at your desk or while you’re on the sofa. It has just the pedals and can tell you all about calories burned and distance ‘traveled’.

There’s also a stepper as well:

This small piece of equipment can easily be stowed away when you’re not using it and some models come with resistance bands.

The below Stamina Elliptical trainer is only 25 lbs and gets a lot of rave reviews.  It isn’t going to have the full range of motion of a large machine of course but can provide you with a great workout.

Other equipment that can easily be put away at home that you might also want to consider could include: a rebounder, hand weights, stability ball, and consider buying a stability ball chair for time spent at the computer at home or at work.

A lot of people who do work out at home can get very effective workouts and the convenience of working out any time of day or night can make it easier to work out more frequently than you would if you had to leave the house.  A lot of gym goers purchase small pieces of home equipment and alternate going to the gym and working out at home.

January is ‘the’ month for diets. Diet companies are banking on your desire to undo that holiday eating and start your new year off right.  You’ll find a spike in fitness equipment sales, gym memberships bought and online diet ebooks downloaded.  What you’ll also find is that a lot of those same people are again in May or June hunting for more information having not lost any weight at all.

Serial Dieting: What’s the problem here?

Weight loss requires stamina that’s greater than your desire to eat your favorite foods. That’s the thing..you have to want to be thin more than you want that chocolate eclair or second helping of spaghetti and meatballs. You can buy a new treadmill and Pilates DVD in January and do all the fad diets you want in the month of January but unless you stick with it and change your eating habits, you’ll be petrified come spring when you realize it’ll soon be time to show more skin because you’ve not lost much or worse…you’ve gained MORE weight this winter.

So, what are you going to do?

Sure, it’s great to jumpstart with a fad diet. You’ll find plenty to choose from here on this very blog but you need to decide who’s going to win. Will it be food cravings or the desire to strip that fat away?

If you’re interested in jump starting 2009, here are some diets you might want to try:

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle: $59.95  I’ve got this ebook but am not finished reading it at the time I write this post. So far it’s very intriguing and is definitely a great option for those who are willing to exercise and want to go from fluff to buff and get ripped this year.

Day Off Diet: $77.67  This is one I haven’t tried yet but follows a metabolism tricking theory that I definitely believe in. If you try it, I’d love for you to come back and tell me how you’ve done.

Idiot Proof Diet: $39 for an ebook and an online menu generator.  This one can help you lose 7-10 pounds in 11 days by giving you a menu plan you can follow with ten rules as well. I’ve done this one and it works and you can reuse the program time and again when you need including lifetime access to the menu plan generator. It even works for vegetarians. What I really like here too is the lack of deprivation. Between each 11 day cycle you have three days of eating whatever you want and because you’re tricking your metabolism, you’re actually helping the process by pigging out. Not too shabby! The last time I did this diet I’d put on ten pounds in several months of neglecting my health. I lost 7.5 pounds in 11 days!

Whatever you choose to do, it is possible for you to get slim and trim this year if it’s what you really and truly want. Do it healthfully!