What!? leave it to me to grab onto this idea when I saw it on the Seventh Generation blog, validation!..I thought, to something I am sure that all of us have felt each time we are cleaning! Apparently a person who weighs 145 pounds will burn 165 calories while vacuuming for one hour -- excellent! Although my house is too small to vacuum for an hour I can certainly figure out how to make that work. Recently I have found the 'dusting' attachments for my vacuum cleaner and life has become much less dusty in our home and honestly it's kind of fun! (did I really say that....).
So it goes a bit like this... find your favorite music, turn it on really loud and then take on a bit of dancing while cleaning! I love it and it makes it all so much more fun. I have used this technique when getting the kids to help and they love it! Personally I would prefer being alone... putting on a chanting CD (Krishna Das), really LOUD, and chant my way though chores!
To get a bit of a better work out while cleaning, strap weights to your ankles or wear a weight vest--this is sounding a bit like torture but I like the idea!
More ideas -- make sure that you switch hands so you don't end up lopsided in your 'workout' and really think about using your abdominal muscles (if you can remember how to use them... especially post-baby!) this will also save your back.
So have some fun, turn up the music!
click here for the seventh generation blog
