Burning Calories

While you are already aware of the amount of calories you burn while working out, you may not realize just how many calories you burn doing everyday tasks. Daily activities like parking your car far away from your destination and walking the distance are not a replacement for a good aerobic workout but they do burn calories and in some cases, help tone muscles. The only catch is that one has to change the way of thinking how one does everyday activities and choose the more active option whenever possible. For example a person weighing 150 pounds jog through his neighborhood for about half an hour, he will burn off about 330 calories. But consider this: If you walk your dog or push your grandchildren in a stroller or your parents in a wheelchair for that same length of time, you will burn off about 150 calories. Not too shabby, especially if you add the more leisurely walk to a normal day that includes your half-hour fitness walk or jog. Also when you combine these everyday activities with a fitness routine such as running or walking several times a week, you will find you are feeling fitter than ever. So instead of giving up on fitting more exercise into your hectic schedule, be sure to schedule your workouts in your calendar and plan to be more active during the other daily hours. You'll notice the results.

In a study, researchers tested 20 men and 20 women on treadmills and sidewalks to see how many calories they burned walking at different speeds. They also determined their posture while walking. Half of the participants were obese and half were of normal weight. Researchers found that the obese people burned more calories when walking at the same speed as normal-weight walkers. This may be because obese people usually have heavier legs and wider stances, which causes them to swing their legs out more, making walking more work for obese people. They also say obesity leads to postural instability, so obese people require more muscles during walking to compensate.
Although walking slowly may help obese men and women burn calories more efficiently, researchers say walking slowly does not offer much in the way of cardiovascular benefits. Therefore, they advise a combination of walking slowly and other vigorous low-impact activities, such as swimming, cycling and elliptical training workouts for optimum health.

Foods That Burn Calories

The idea of foods that burn more calories than they contain is popularly known as negative calorie foods does seem rather far-fetched. Certain health experts have been advocating the consumption of generous helpings of fruits and vegetables for years. These foods, many of which are considered negative calorie foods, are supposedly a great way to naturally speed up metabolism as well as maintain optimum health and fitness. Black beans, broccoli, asparagus, grapefruit, celery, green beans, lentils, papayas, pineapple, spinach, water melon, flounder, sea bass, lean steak are some of the popular negative calorie foods.