Easy Ways to Burn More Calories After the Holidays

Shopify API January 05, 2023 No Comments
Sure, eating more calories during the holidays is easy. But what about finding easy ways to burn more calories after they're over?
 burn more calories
January 2023. This article is independently written by Shelby Golding. All opinions given are hers. Shelby has been certified as a personal trainer and nutritional specialist since 2007. In 2008, she found her passion for writing about these topics and hasn't looked back.
 burn more calories

The holiday season usually brings indulgent treats, bigger meals, tasty drinks, and other sources of calories into our lives. Unfortunately, this can lead to unwanted weight gain or at least derail your weight loss efforts over the past few months.

Ideally, you’d limit your calories over the holiday season, but that’s not always as easy as it sounds. And even if you do succeed at eating healthy during the holidays, you might want to start the new year off with weight loss!

Either way, here are some easy ways to burn more calories after the holidays. And you can keep using them year-round to continue your weight loss or maintenance progress!


Understanding Calorie Burn

Before we get into what burns calories and how you can encourage weight loss, let’s take a quick look at what it all means.

When you eat food, you ingest calories or units of energy that your body can use to fuel workouts and regular biological functions. And when you eat more calories than you burn in a day, your body will convert the extra calories to fat and store them for later use.

Your BMR (basal metabolic rate) refers to how many calories your body burns each day in a state of rest. You can use online tools to calculate your BMR, and many will give you an adjusted "BMR" according to your activity level. Once you know your number, you can calculate how many calories you’d like to eat each day.

Eating around 15% under your BMR is usually as low as most nutritionists consider safe. So, if your BMR (after including your activity level) is 2,000 calories, you can safely eat around 1,700 calories to encourage weight loss.

Note: Taking your calorie intake lower than this can be unsafe and should only be done with the supervision of a doctor.

Easy Ways To Burn More Calories

Burning more calories through exercise does more than torch fuel from your food – it also increases your metabolism for around 24 hours after your workout. This boost allows you to burn even more calories in a state of rest! And if you’re building muscle, this further increases your daily caloric burn.

Exercising will never feel as easy as streaming shows from your bed, but here are some easy ways to burn more calories after the holidays. Ready to get a head start on your summer body?

Drink More Water

Drinking at least eight cups of water each day

Drinking at least eight cups of water each day can increase how many calories you burn without any extra effort. Try to space out your water intake throughout each day and drink more than eight cups if you can.

Setting timers to drink one glass of water every hour might help you stay on top of your intake. Or you could carry a water bottle that holds all your water for the day, so you can quickly see how you’re doing.

Walk More

Walking burns calories and keeps your muscles toned, so look for small ways to get in more steps each day. Here are some ideas:

  • Make a habit of taking the stairs instead of the elevator
  • Park at the back of the parking lot
  • Set a timer on your phone to remind you to get up and move around every 30-60 minutes
  • Go for daily walks in the morning or afternoon
  • Walk around your home while you're on your phone (e.g., talking, texting, or scrolling)
It can also help to invest in a step tracker or fitness watch to see exactly how much you're walking each day. Then, set a goal of walking 5,000-10,000 steps per day! This can help motivate you to move more, even if it’s just pacing while you send a text.

Fidget

If you’ve been told to sit still, don’t! Fidgeting naturally burns more calories by moving your muscles and body. Here are some examples of how you can fidget while sitting or standing:

  • Tap your foot
  • Bounce or shake your leg
  • Play with a fidget toy
  • Drum your fingers
  • Play with a ring or coin
  • Balance on one leg for as long as you can
  • Stretch your neck or fingers
  • Stand and shift your weight from side to side
  • Bounce and twist to music

These small movements add up quickly! For example, one study showed that fidgeting more than doubled the participants' calorie burn throughout the day.

Work Out For 20 Minutes (or Less) A Day

High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is proven to help you burn an elevated number of calories in a short period. It involves short intervals of intense exercise broken up by periods of rest. And while those intense intervals aren’t easy, getting your daily workout done in 20 minutes is.

You'll complete 13 rounds of 60-second workout intervals followed by 30-second breaks for this workout. It'll come to a total of 19 minutes and 30 seconds (90 seconds per exercise). As you go, you'll repeat the following set of four exercises as many times as you can, pausing only to take your 30-second breaks.


Use the links for each exercise to review the proper form before you begin. Then, set a timer (you can find free interval timer apps on your phone) and get to work! Go as fast as you can while maintaining proper form, and try to exercise through each 60-second period. Then, enjoy your 30-second rest. After 13 rounds (less than 20 minutes), you're done!

Ready to Boost Your Calorie Burn?

Whatever you choose to do to burn more calories after the holidays, remember to take care of yourself and pay attention to the signals your body sends you. For example, if you’re experiencing chronic aches and pains, remember to apply your Kailo Pain Patch at the beginning of the day.

The Kailo Patch is designed to provide pain relief in seconds without oral medication, and scientists theorize that it works by interfering with the electrical system in the body. In addition, a recent clinical study showed that 98% of patients find Kailo “easy to apply” and “convenient” and that 99% of patients felt pain relief within 10 minutes of using the Kailo pain patch.

Disclaimer: Kailo should not be used if you have a pacemaker or are pregnant. Always consult your doctor or health care professional before using Kailo.

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