Your yard is your own personal gym! Thanksgiving week kicks off the holiday season and that means holiday snacks and food galore. And you know what I say – go ahead and eat. We’ll burn those calories off right in your own yard! That’s right; working in the yard is a great way to burn those extra Thanksgiving and holiday calories. Of course, before you start, do a little warm up and stretching. We don’t want you to be a couch potato because of a few pulled muscles! So, what can you do to burn those calories this time of the year?
-Mow the grass one last time, and use a push mower, not a rider or self propelled. This can burn about 480 calories an hour (150 on a riding mower).
-Pull those remaining weeds, cut off dead foliage, and hoe those beds. This can burn about 320 calories per hour.
-Plant that extra tree, shrub, or spring flowering bulbs you’ve always wanted. Or put a new edge on those beds. Digging and planting can burn well over 360 calories per hour.
-Drag the hose around and water evergreens before the winter. That’ll burn 100 calories an hour.
-Check the gutters for leaves, and when you move the ladder, only move it a few feet. That forces you to go up and down more, burning even more calories. Of course, always be careful when using any ladder! And one of my favorite burners – rake those leaves! By raking up those late leaves, not only do you help the grass, but you can burn as many as 340 calories per hour. And if by chance we get an early snow fall, get out the snow shovel and burn over 500 calories an hour!
-And when its all said and done, here’s one of my favorite calorie burners – just sitting quietly enjoying my fruits of labor. Yep, you can burn 70-80 calories an hour just sitting here. Hey, is that more turkey I smell? Gotta run!
[There are 3 towns named after Thanksgiving’s main course – Turkey, Texas – Turkey Creek, La – and Turkey, NC. Want some hard facts about turkeys? Its Meleagris gallopavo – gallus meaning cock, pavo meaning chicken-like, and Meleagris being Roman for guinea fowl. The wattle is the loose skin below a turkeys chin and the warts on the waddle are called carnucles. The male is a tom, the female a hen, and the youngsters are poults. By the way, it takes 75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 30 pound turkey.]
