Midlife has so many positives, doesn’t it? We’re old enough to have lived and learned quite a variety of interesting and helpful insights over the years. We may have waved goodbye to our career with a big smile on our faces.
Our pace of life may have slowed way, way down. Our locale could look a whole lot different than it did before, perhaps with palm trees swaying and warm breezes blowing. We might spend some quality time with the grandkids, then hug them goodbye and toddle on to our quiet home.
Ahhh…the good life.
But one thing is for certain. As women over 50, the changes in our body lead to belly fat and weight gain. That, my friends, is an unavoidable result of aging. So I’ve been learning about some easy exercises to burn 100 calories.
I like the nice, tidy sound of that. And although burning calories isn’t the end-all to staying fit, anything we can do as women over 50 to keep active, even inside our homes, is a plus.
I’ve learned enough about midlife fitness to know that doing nothing, or very little, to stay healthy is a recipe for weight gain, health issues, and possibly even a shortened life. As our metabolism slows we need to find ways to keep it moving, and some simple, even sneaky ways to burn up some extra calories throughout the day can only benefit us.
Be sure to grab the free printable to keep these easy exercises (some are quite surprising ways to burn calories) handy! You’ll find access to it below.
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Best Easy Exercises to Burn Calories
For me, finding new and creative ways to stay active, perhaps gain some aerobic exercise, and be able to do this at home, is a winning combination. I’m still adjusting to a climate that doesn’t allow me to step out the door 365 days per year without anything more than a light jacket.
I also know that I have to switch things up with exercise, because I can get very comfortable doing the same aerobic, strength, and functional fitness exercises, and my body will respond better to variety.
Please take note that I am not a fitness or health professional, and I am providing the following for informational purposes only. Consult with your physician before starting any new exercise program, particularly if you have ongoing health issues.
Let’s look at some of the simple things we can do to burn up about 100 calories. We may not even consider them as exercise, but they do the job for burning up some calories. The exact amount of calories burned will depend on your overall weight, age, and other factors. But I think you’ll get the idea!
And remember, it’s not so much the fact that we’re looking for that magic number of 100 calories. It’s really more about keeping our midlife bodies moving, staying active, strong, and fit.
1 | Walk while talking on the phone
How easy is this, girls? We probably all spend some time chatting on the phone, so instead of lounging around, get up and walk about a little bit. Just 4, 10-minute chat sessions a day can burn up around 100 calories.
2 | Dance
About 30 minutes of casual dancing will work off about 100 calories. You don’t have to go out to a restaurant, club, bar, or take dance lessons, either.
Dance at home, around the living room, the kitchen, wherever you have space. Just have some fun and enjoy it.
If you want something a bit more structured, try Body Groove. I love these dance workouts, and most of them are no more than 30 minutes. Check them out!
Pin Me, I’m a great reminder!
3 | Clean the house
While we probably don’t clean every day, every 30 minutes spent on this activity will use about 100 calories. I don’t mind cleaning, and knowing that it’s part of my overall workout goal for the day motivates me that much more. So haul out the vacuum cleaner and multi-task. 🙂
4 | Shop and try on clothes
And you thought a try-on session at your favorite clothing store was just plain fun. Nope. You can burn up about 100 calories in 30 minutes of shopping and trying on clothes.
5 | Work standing up
This is something I’ve been doing for a while now, as I can’t just sit in a chair and work for hours at a time.
Standing and working at the computer (or whatever you’re working on) for 40 minutes will burn up about 100 calories. Cool.
6 | Meal preparation
I look at it this way. I want to eat healthy, clean food, and that takes some prep time, even cooking for one.
So the time I spend chopping, slicing, sauteing, and steaming is not only healthy eating, about 40 minutes of said activity burns about 100 calories.
7 | Surprising ways to burn calories:
Curious about the calories burned in different types of activities? Use this handy calculator from our friends at VeryWellFit.com to learn more!
8 | Hang art or photos
This is an activity we probably don’t engage in every day, but if you have some wall art or photographs to hang on the walls, about 30 minutes will burn up around 100 calories.
Get creative and do some wall decor rearranging in your home!
9 | Stretch and do some easy yoga
Even if you’re not into a full workout, spending about 20 to 30 minutes doing stretching and/or easy yoga moves will burn around 100 calories.
When I’m tired and feel like there’s not enough steam for a regular workout, I try to at least stretch and tone for about 15 minutes. There is a definite benefit to that!
10 | Climb stairs
If you are able to do so, take the stairs whenever possible. About 15 minutes of stair climbing equals approximately 110 calories.
I have two sets of stairs in my home and try to build them into my workouts. Why not?
11 | Laugh…
Yep. You read that right. On the list of best easy exercises to burn calories is to make sure you laugh regularly and often.
About 20 minutes of laughing throughout the day can burn up to 100 calories. So go ahead and watch those comedies!
12 | Spend time in the garden
Do you enjoy putting your green thumb into action? For every 25 minutes you spend working in the garden, tending the landscaping, trimming the flowers, you’ll burn about 100 calories. So grab those gardening gloves and trim yourself up as well as the flowers. 🌻
13 | Fidget…
Tap your toes, fiddle with your fingers, cross your legs…all of those little fidgety things we do can actually burn up the calories, about 100 for an hour of fidgeting.
This works right into my daily routine because I can’t sit still for more than a few minutes. Oh, I might be sitting at my desk, but I’m moving around almost constantly. At least I’m burnin’ up some calories!
Grab your free printable from the Resource Library for these easy ways to burn calories at home:
How I’ve incorporated easy exercise adjustments into my daily workouts
Recently, I decided that I needed to change up my workouts. I can get pretty comfortable with a workout pattern and just go with it…and go with it…and keep it the same until my body is so used to the exercises it doesn’t really respond to them as it should.
Along with the decision to watch my food intake more closely (why? because I was getting lazy about it) and count calories, I looked for easy exercises to burn calories.
Indoor workouts were the priority with the weather getting cooler every day. I’m not a gym person and prefer to workout at home.
So I ramped up my brisk walking and added variation to it:
- walking in place/around the house for warmup
- marching in place
- marching in place with arms swinging
- holding light weights while marching in place
- light weight strength training while marching in place
- gentle jogging
- walking in place/around the house for cool down
My goal was to lose 2 to 3 pounds of weight that had accumulated over the last 9 months. No, it’s not a lot of weight, but on me, it was noticeable in my clothes, and I didn’t want to buy new clothes.
So I researched how many calories I would need to consume to lose 2 pounds in a month, a reasonable goal.
Once I had that number, I tracked my food and beverage intake every day along with the varied exercise routine detailed above.
You know what? Those simple adjustments to my walking workout, the marching in place, marching with arms swinging, gentle jogging (that’s my own term for a light jog indoors on carpet or rugs, with minimal jarring to my knees) helped me reach my goal.
I’ve lost those pesky two pounds and am working on one or two more. That’s it. I don’t need to lose any more weight than that. And I really enjoy my ‘new’ indoor walking workout.
My goal is at least 4 miles per day, and I split it up into 1 to 1 1/2 mile increments. When the weather cooperates I walk outside, too.
The changes I made to my workout routine were quite simple, and certainly not difficult to do. But they have made a difference for sure.
I’m all about a healthy lifestyle, enjoying my family and friends, and taking care of myself as I age. These simple, easy exercises to burn calories are just one way to ensure I keep that active lifestyle going, no matter what I do!
How about you? Are you committed to living a healthy lifestyle? I sure hope so! Tell us about it in the comments below.
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I like that infographic!!
Thanks, Dee, I like to create them for the how-to or list posts. They’re a nice, handy resource! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Hi Candi. We’re moving to Chiatura soon and I really appreciate the ideas on some great ideas for exercising at home, since we’ll between gyms, for about two weeks. Those dance exercises might be right up my alley. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve had great fun with the dance exercise, Christina. Give it a try!