Now that the New Year is upon us, are you afraid to get on the scale? Is one of your New Year’s resolutions to get back on the Bootcamp program that you so conveniently set aside the past month to enjoy all those high-calorie celebratory foods and drinks?
If so, the best way to mitigate the damage is to start exercising regularly, but the cold weather and snow may have you intimidated. While you can always pop in a Barry’s Bootcamp video and start sweating indoors, I suggest you get the family together and get outside for some good old winter fun. You might be surprised by just how many calories you’ll burn while enjoying yourself.
- Building a snowman – Rolling and packing snow into a masterpiece Frosty will burn 238 calories an hour. That’s the equivalent of three glasses of wine. Roll your snowman’s body parts uphill and you’ll increase the burn.
- Shoveling snow and splitting wood – While neither one is exactly something people would usually choose to do, for many individuals both activities are something that need to be done. The fact that you’ll burn 408 calories in an hour of either one makes them less drudgery. That figure amounts to three slices of fruitcake.
- Sledding, tobogganing or ice skating – An hour of working your way up and down the hill or gliding out on the ice will burn 476 calories. That equals three cans of soda.
- Show shoeing – The Eskimos sure know how to burn the fat, to the tune of 544 calories an hour. That’s the equivalent of one and a half cups of full-bodied eggnog.
- Cross-country skiing – One of the most vigorous all-around fitness activities, you can burn a whopping 612 calories in an hour. That’s about the same number as you’ll find in three chocolate truffles. Not so worth it when you think about how hard you have to work them off, is it?!
*All calorie counts are based on a 150-pound person. Individual results will vary slightly based on your exact weight.