Just Doing My Part

Some of the members of my husband's family, including my husband John, are participating in a New Year's resolution contest. It is a get fit/lose weight challenge with a monetary payout that is nothing to sneeze at. John is taking this very seriously. For those that know him, I only have to say that he has not had one single drink of beer since January 1 for you to realize that I speak the truth regarding his seriousness.

Each participant has a team member, the most logical choice being that team member's spouse. If the participant wins, the team member gets to share in the rewards, which include better health, better fitness, and gloating rights.

I've been leading a pretty healthy way of eating for about two years now. I've found many helpful websites that provide calorie counts of restaurant menu items and, one of my favorites Hungry Girl, provides guilt-free recipes of some of my favorite foods as well as a shopping list of must haves to take to the grocery store. John and I are computer geeks somewhat, so any resources I can provide him online he finds very helpful. And I know he reads my blog, so under the category of just doing my part I thought I'd provide him with this list of awesome calorie burners:

Cooking dinner 96 calories
Dusting 120 calories
Grocery shopping 190 calories
Ironing clothes 190 calories
Making a bed 94 calories
Doing laundry 250 calories
Mopping floors 150 calories
Washing dishes 144 calories
Washing windows 144 calories
Vacuuming 196 calories

These numbers are for an average sized female performing these activities for 30 to 45 minutes. Think how many calories an above average sized male would burn doing the same activities for, say, an hour or two!

Go Team!