Diet & Fitness 

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The accidental exercise plan

Turn your household chores into a major workout with a little help from Helen Legh.

If anyone had glanced through my kitchen window this morning they'd have seen a wild haired woman in her nightie leaping into the air wielding a feather duster and shaking her bootie like it was going out of fashion. It's an enduring image I know, but this is my new fitness regime.

To be honest, I'm not really doing anything I wouldn?t normally do, and that's the point. I've given up the slaving on a treadmill, the back achingly difficult yoga, the taking on of Jade's Dance Challenge (I failed). I came to the conclusion it had all been in vain when I realised you can burn off as many calories doing accidental exercise as you can sweating in a gym.

The evidence
The average woman in Britain spends over 12 hours a week on housework. Trying to get your regulation three sessions in at the gym on top of this, and having a life as well, is a pretty tall order. So why not make the most of these housework hours for their fantastic calorie burning abilities.

Naturally if you're the kind of person who?s a bit slapdash with the squeegee mop, you're not going to be easily working off a double chocolate muffin without breaking into a sweat. With accidental exercise, it's all about doing what you?d normally do, but putting your back into it. You might look a bit daft but it's a damn sight less daft than paying money per month for a gym membership you rarely use.

Some accidental exercise calorie burners: *

• Dusting- 173 calories
  
• Sweeping the garage- 236 calories. The same as a water aerobics class
  
• Walking the dog-207 calories
  
• Washing the windows-180 calories
  
• Painting, Papering, plastering-266 calories

When you find out that an hour of simple childcare (standing, dressing, feeding) burns 246 calories an hour, just 40 calories less than an hour of low impact aerobics, you've got to wonder why you ever bought that exercise bike/clothes horse. You're doing the activities to get you fit already. You just need to step up the pace a little!

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