We all can’t have the posh lifestyles and bodies of Bravo’s collage of Desperate Housewives without lifting a finger. Don’t lose hope, though. You don’t have to carve out an hour for the gym, either, if you are stuck with the kids and domestic duties for the day. The most important thing is that you are moving! Every bit of movement counts towards caloric burning, and just look at how many calories household chores can burn in 30 minutes:

Gardening: 115

Washing Windows: 130

Vacuuming: 130

Sweeping: 170

Just by sweeping your house, you can burn almost twice as many calories as biking 5 mph. Gardening burns as many calories as briskly walking around your neighborhood for a half hour!

What do you do as a housewife to burn the calories? Do you have a unique chore that helps you keep in shape? Send it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and you might find it in next month’s breakdown of the most popular household activities that burn calories.

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