It’s easy to track calories burned while at the gym; digital displays are on most cardio machines these days. But how many calories do you burn when you’re walking through the parking lot to your car? Or how about when you get home and watch television?
Everything you do burns calories. Everything. Sleeping, watching television, even sitting.
Take a look at some common activities and the calories they burn per hour below. These are estimates from a person that weighs 150 pounds — if you weigh less you’ll burn less, but if you weigh more (generally) you’ll burn more.
Basketball (half-court) | 405
Biking (no incline) | 441
Dancing | 370
Gardening | 324
Golfing | 240
Cleaning (light) | 240
Cleaning (scrubbing) | 432
Jogging | 675
Moving (carrying boxes) | 504
Mowing (push mower) | 324
Office Work | 240
Playing w/ Kids | 216
Racquetball | 740
Sitting | 81
Skiing | 740
Sleeping | 45
Soccer | 468
Swimming | 603
Tennis | 549
Sweeping/Mopping | 150
Walking (brisk) | 297
Watching Television | 72
Yoga | 360
It would be impossible to precisely calculate the amount of calories you burn everyday, there are just too many variables. But, for entertainment purposes, here’s my day laid out:
12 hours of sitting | 972
8 hours of sleeping | 360
1 hour of office work | 240
1 hour of watching television | 72
1 hour at the gym | 750+ calories
30 minutes of of brisk walking | 148.5
30 minutes of light cleaning | 120
= 2,662.5 calories burned daily
Obviously, I’m not close to 150 pounds so that number is much less than what I really burn. Interesting.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I disagree with the 30 minutes of light cleaning per day. Not so sure where those 30 minutes are going, unless he means cleaning his body.
The rest is true though. The results so far have been surprising and I’m proud of him.
Hey Tyler,
Way to go! I used to be more than 215 lbs at only 5 ft tall. I had got down to 152 lbs. Fell off the wagon and gained back 20 – ouch! I am currently 1/2 way through taking off that 20 and was surfing the net looking for a ‘lighter’ side of weightloss info: silly tips, humorous motivational tools etc. While looking into little ways to add more activities into even the smallest spots of the day, I found your site. Am happy I did – gave me that feel good feeling :) Sometimes during the struggle I get tunnel vision and only see those (like my boyfriend) who never think about food, activity, calories, healthy choices….and still maintain a healthy weight and body. The reality check is nice: I am not the only one fighting for this success. Thanks for having a site.
Tanya