Did you wake up today and feel less than svelte? I’m here to help!
As a Certified Personal Trainer (yes- that’s true), I would like to point out….
The Top Five (Hidden) Workouts for the Holidays
5.) Wrapping Presents Burns over 400 calories. HOW? Because it requires running from downstairs to upstairs and hunting under the kids’ beds to locate the Scotch Tape they made off with while trying to “tape our room shut so Sammy doesn’t touch our New Moon poster.”‘
4.) Baking Cookies A wonderful way to tone your legs and thighs- since 34 deep knee bends are required to retrieve the residual dough off the floor after the kids come in and try to steal the bowl and you have to shoo them away with a wooden spoon and, in your haste, send the remaining dough flying all over the kitchen.
3.) Bringing In and Decorating The Tree. Initially only 5 calories burned since all you do is point and tell your husband, “Put it there.” And then look at your kids and say, “Well, get going. Put up those ornaments!” Couple more calories burned from laughing when the tree fell over on Husband and when oldest daughter nearly fell off the step stool putting the angel on top the tree. Where this workout really becomes effective is the bend, squat and reach movement require to RE-arrange the ornaments after the girls put them all at Patrick-level and he spends all morning systematically removing them and throwing them down on the floor. Feel the burn to those calves as you strain on tippy-toes to redecorate your whole home at Above One Year Old Height.
2.) Holiday Cocktail Parties Balancing a plate full of spinach dip and teeny wieners while running back and forth to the bar can burn up to 150 calories. Taking laps around the party in high heels in an effort not to get cornered by The Party Bore can also add resistance for legs and thighs. An effective cool down is going back and forth to the bathroom for touch-ups and then “oohing” and ”ahing” over the Hostess’s tree, menorah, lovely array of Spode china and homemade rum balls.
1.) Shopping: the Boot Camp of hidden holiday workouts! Schlep through a 90 degree mall (cuz now their selling swimsuits even though it’s Dec 22nd) in a winter coat with 4 screaming kids while trying to balance a soft pretzel, 4 Old Navy bags, your cell phone, the baby’s bottle and someone’s half-consumed Icee. Then wait in the 50-family-deep line to see Santa. Easily 500 calories burned.
Jill
Aren’t those kids-bawling-on-Santa’s lap pictures like a little hug from God?
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